Program Overview
Prepare and serve exquisite meals for clients, family and friends, and develop your natural talent for cooking with ICS Canada’s online Caterer Career Diploma program. The Caterer Program will cover the professional skills of catering and gourmet cooking, as well as how to start a catering business of your own. You will learn how to prepare everything from appetizers to a ten-course meal. And, you'll get hands-on practice with the cooking labs and detailed video tutorials included in your program.
With ICS Canada’s Caterer Career Diploma training program, you can learn at home, at a pace that’s right for you, and graduate in as little as six months.
Program Goal and Outcomes
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Program Goal
To prepare students to prepare meals for friends, families, and others, while also beginning students on their journey to starting their own catering business.
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Program Outcomes
Upon completion of the program, students will be able to:
- Know the services commonly offered at catered events and identify a wide range of styles of events
- Recognize market research, management styles, branding, and how to create written agreements
- Recognize many types of alcoholic beverages, the history of beer and wine, and the characteristics of the most popular categories of wine
- Identify the elements of buffet design and setup
- Understand the basics of food and nutrition and of monitoring food safety and sanitation practices
- Understand the basic principles of modifying and converting recipes
- Comprehend what is needed to choose the correct equipment and tools
- Know how to plan menus, ensure quality of meals, and season and cook food according to recipes
- Understand preparation, cooking, garnishing, and presentation of food
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Instruction Set 1
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Learning Strategies
The advantages of learning at home; types of study materials; types of examinations; accessing and using the features of our website; determining what kind of learner you are; establishing a study schedule; using study tips; preparing for and taking examinations.
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Introduction to Catering
Catered events; levels of catering; assessing clients’ needs; written agreements.
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Instruction Set 2
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Dynamics of Catering
Wine and beverages; table service; beverage service; importance of etiquette; fast cleanup.
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Food Styles of Catering
Garnishing techniques; food presentation styles and design techniques.
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Alcoholic Beverages
Marketing strategies to maximize profitability; efficient bar layout and operation; intoxication warning signs; legal concerns.
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Instruction Set 3
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The Gourmet Kitchen
Kitchen layout and design; buffet presentation; buffet design and setup; goals of presentation; simple garnishes; basic and advanced presentation.
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The Culinary Professional
French kitchen brigade; food-borne illnesses; balanced diets; developing a foundation of flavor; nutrition and food science; food and kitchen safety; measuring ingredients; converting recipe yields; calculating edible portion quantity and cost; identifying kitchen equipment and its uses.
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Additional Material
Textbook: The Professional Chef
Supplements:
- Cooking Lab: Seared Beef
- Cooking Lab: Caramelized Onion Frittata
DVD: Chef Skills
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Instruction Set 4
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Stocks, Sauces, and Soups
Identification and uses of bouquet garni, sachet d’épices, mirepoix, and clarified butter; preparation of stocks and sauces; soup ingredients and preparation.
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Fruits, Vegetables, and Herbs
Identifying fruits, vegetables, and herbs; basic vegetable preparation; decorative techniques; cooking methods for vegetables; effects of herbs in recipes.
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Additional Material
Supplement: Cooking Lab: Stir-Fried Beans
DVD: Stir-Fried Beans
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Instruction Set 5
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Meat
Mise en place for beef; elements of beef fabrication; basic beef cuts and cooking methods; basic veal cuts and cooking methods; cuts of lamb and pork; cooking methods for lamb and pork; elements of lamb fabrication; braising; principles of curing pork.
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Additional Material
Supplements:
- Cooking Lab: Chateaubriand
- Cooking Lab: Rack of Lamb
DVD: Filet with Red Wine Mushrooms
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Instruction Set 6
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Poultry and Game
Poultry cuts; poultry fabrication and trussing; roasting, deep poaching, and sautéing poultry; identifying types of game.
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Additional Material
Supplement: Cooking Lab: Stuffed Chicken Breast
DVD: Stuffed Chicken Breast
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Instruction Set 7
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Fish and Shellfish
Identifying fresh and saltwater fish and shellfish; cleaning and preparing fish and shellfish; cooking methods.
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Additional Material
Supplement: Cooking Lab: Striped Sea Bass
DVD: Seared Tuna
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Instruction Set 8
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Grains, Legumes, and Pasta
Identifying grains and legumes; cooking, simmering, and sorting grains; using dried and fresh legumes; cooking pasta; making fresh pasta.
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Additional Material
Supplement: Cooking Lab: Sesame Shiitake Noodles
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Instruction Set 9
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Baking and Pastry
Functions of baking ingredients; cooking sugar; whipping egg whites; yeast breads and quick breads; dessert sauces and creams; preparing pastry doughs and cookies.
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Additional Material
Supplement: Cooking Lab: Phyllo Pear Tart
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Instruction Set 10
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Breakfast, Garde Manger, and World Cuisines
Dairy products and eggs; cooking methods for eggs; omelets, souffles, and quiche; primary elements of garde-manger; creating charcuterie; culinary traditions of the Americas, Asia, and Europe.
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Additional Material
Supplement: Cooking Lab: Preparation of an Entire Meal
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Computer Specifications
As you know this is an online academic program. This means you will need access to high-speed internet to begin your program. In addition, you will need access to a Microsoft® Windows® based computer running Windows 10® or later or an Apple® Mac® computer running macOS® or later, and an email account to complete your program.
Sample Lesson
To view a Caterer sample lesson, click here.
Catering Training Program Details
In ICS Canada’s Caterer training program, you’ll cover topics such as:
- Kitchen techniques and preparations
- Food styles and being a culinary professional
- Types of meat and seafood
- Baking and pastry
