- Starting this fall, NMC will offer a new culinary arts certificate with a maritime emphasis. In other words, the college will train students to be chefs on ships.
- NMC has had an unofficial culinary-maritime partnership in recent years.
- They’re targeting markets more familiar with the maritime industry, like parts of Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
As culinary school enrollment dwindles nationwide, leaders at Northwestern Michigan College asked themselves: “What are we doing to stand out?” So they partnered with their maritime academy.
Chefs on ships
Starting this fall, NMC will offer a new culinary arts certificate with a maritime emphasis. In other words, the college will train students to be chefs on ships.
The certificate requires one extra class culinary students don’t already take – a new course called galley cooking. Galley is the name of a kitchen on a ship. The course will train students for the many realities of cooking on ships.
“In a lot of commercial kitchens, very rarely do you find electric (because everything is gas),” said Kerry Fulcher, an NMC admissions specialist for the program. “On a ship, you only have electricity.”
Other differences students will prepare for include working with less up-to-date equipment, preparing food with less kitchen space, cooking buffet style and managing supplies until the next shipment of food arrives.
“A fine dining chef can run to the farmers market on Saturday,” Fulcher said. “You do not have that luxury.”
Culinary-maritime partnership
NMC has had an unofficial culinary-maritime partnership in recent years. Culinary students have had summer internships on the Great Lakes Maritime Academy’s training ship, called the State of Michigan. Carolyn Fairchild, who graduates this May, was one of those interns.
Fairchild, from Durand, lived on the boat nearly two months straight for her internship.
“You get a lot less supplies, so you really have to get creative with food,” Fairchild said. “It was about every two weeks that we got food, so you’d really have to plan ahead to make sure you had enough food to feed everybody and you weren’t just repeating the same thing.”
Organization and planning are more crucial, compared to cooking at a restaurant on land, Fairchild said. But that doesn’t mean the food can’t be tasty.
“I got really bored one day and I made chicken alfredo from scratch – including the noodles,” Fairchild said. “I think I became their favorite after that.”
Cooking on cargo freighter
After graduation, Fairchild hopes to sail the Pacific Ocean on a freighter as a chef.
Fairchild came to NMC knowing she wanted to work with food. She didn’t know cooking on a cargo freighter was an option until she saw a flier on the internship board.
The drawbacks to the job are obvious: You’re required to work 12-hour days at sea for weeks or months at a time without being able to go home. But there are perks to make up for that.
“Just like the mariners, (employers) know the sacrifice (the cooks) are making,” Fulcher said.
Pay is high. One of Fulcher’s former students is making $83,000, and only working seven to eight months per year.
Depending on the ship, people often work four to six weeks on the ship and then get four weeks of paid time off, Fulcher said.
Many maritime cooks also get pensions and health insurance, unlike most restaurant gigs.
Maritime industry shortage of chefs
The maritime industry has a shortage of chefs – especially ones specifically trained for the job.
Fulcher doesn’t know of any other colleges in the nation offering a certificate like NMC’s. The closest example is a school that relegates students to the kitchen who didn’t make the cut in the engineering and deck programs.
“But they lack the passion,” Fulcher said. “Our students, that’s their passion.”
When ships are docked, mates occasionally have time for casual fishing.
“A first mate shared a story that they would have all of this fresh fish,” Fulcher said. “But a lot of times, they had a chef that didn’t know how to cook it. That’s where our students have such an advantage.”
NMC certificate program
Students in NMC’s certificate program will be trained on how to identify fish, cut them up and cook them for the ship, Fulcher said.
NMC is still accepting applications for the program. Once it gets rolling, Fulcher thinks the uniqueness will draw students from outside of Michigan.
They’re targeting markets more familiar with the maritime industry, like parts of Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota.
“(We’re looking for) those kids who grew up watching the ships go by,” Fulcher said. “It’s a really hard sell for someone that doesn’t really understand the industry.”
Fulcher graduated from NMC’s culinary program 13 years ago. Until now, she said the program hasn’t changed much since she was a student.
“It’s one of a kind. I wish I knew about it 13 years ago,” Fulcher said. “I would have jumped on (it) in a heartbeat.”
Did you subscribe to our Newsletter?
It’s Free! Click here to Subscribe.
Source: M Live
