In a recent major career questionning (and identity) crisis brought on by eGullet
, have taken a great interest in what the qualifications of the "Maitre Fromagiers" in restaurants outside of France are. From what I understand, this is becoming a more and more common position on the staff of many U.S. and U.K. restaurants. Their job is to choose, purchase, age, and serve the restaurant's platter, somewhat akin to the sommelier, with sometimes the sommelier wearing both hats. My big question is how does someone become qualified for this? Is it simply enough to know cheese? My thought was to work on obtaining the required certification and bring this expertise back home to the States with me one day.From what I have been able to gather so far, it seems like something people fall into, working in a cheese shop, then getting a job in a restaurant, or promoted from busboy... I have not been able to find standardized French training in this field, although the state does sponsor/require some training courses for French cheese retailers that entails the science of cheese temps and bacteria control, etc. The Insitute Bocuse features cheese/wine pairings during one day of a wine seminar - but I would hardly count that as training.
In the restaurant industry, is this a job taken at random ?
Thank you for any info you might be able to offer.
