Red seal test

[vinnecooks]

I was thinking of going to challange my red seal test and was wondering if anyone out there has written it in the past year or if anyone has any info on what you need

to write it because i've looked online and there is alot of mixed info.I've read that you need anywhere from 3000 to 8000 hours and that it is just a written test of 300 questions and that there is no practical exam.So that being said any info would be great.

cheers!!!!!!!!

vinnecooks

[Dave the Cook]

What's a red seal test?

[Marlene]

It's a Canadian thing. red seal test

[Edward J]

Vinne...

All depending on the province you're in, the requirments ar different. In Alberta I know that you MUST do a practical exam--the only Province I know of. In B.C. it's 6,000 hrs and supposedly the hours must be done in "quality establishments".

If your reasons for doing the "Red seal" are to BS the HR people, by all means go ahead and do the test. If you wnat to impress the Chef--any Chef, don't mention it on your resume or to their faces, they'll either spit out the coffee thye've just swallowed, or roll on the floor howling.

Why, you ask?

The test is nothing more than 2-300 true or false questions. They deal with the normal, expected items: How to saute, how to roast, critical temperatures, food safe procedures, etc.

[HKDave]

Vinne...

All depending on the province you're in, the requirments ar different.  In Alberta I know that you MUST do a practical exam--the only Province I know of.  In B.C. it's 6,000 hrs and supposedly the hours must be done in "quality establishments".

←

Edward, you wouldn't happen to be "foodpump" on another forum, would you?

You now need 8,100 hours in BC. Details:

http://www.itabc.ca/TrainingPrograms_Profi...deProfileID=147

If you want to apply for hotel or institutional jobs, it helps to have a red seal to keep your resume from being tossed in the garbage before you even get to an interview. If nothing else, it shows you've been in the industry for 4 years.

[Matt R.]

I don't think EdwardJ's advice is very good.

All of the Chefs I know and have worked for look at the Red Seal as a level of commitment, and look at it favourably. There are many well paying industry jobs out there that require it.

True, it does not always mean you know how to cook like a star, but by going through the apprenticeship program or challenging your exam you are showing prospective employers that you are serious about cooking as a career.

Learning to cook a menu is easy. By taking the initiative to apply to write the exam (my application was 14 pages long) and hopefully pass you are proving that you care at least that much, and this is a skill that has proven very difficult to teach.

I wrote the exam in 03, and it was not true or false, but rather multiple choice and not quite as simple as other posters have implied. You will need a well rounded skill set in order to pass, ranging from food safety to business concepts to industrial cooking techniques.

Does everyone remember the proper utensil to use when making choux paste? It might be on there.

If your prospective employer starts laughing when you tell him you have earned your Red Seal, thank him or her for his time and excuse yourself. It is most likely them who will regret it, not you. It's an employee's market right now, and that won't change any time soon - there is always something else around the corner.

Go ahead and contact the ITA, they can answer all of your questions. It might also be a good idea to ask around at community colleges etc, as they sometimes offer a short, intensive pre-exam course. I did one like this at Camosun at the time, and it helped immensely.

-- Matt.

[Edward J]

Ah, mulitple choice, not T/F. Yeah, sure , that would make a difference....

Look, I think we can agree that writing a Red Seal shows that you are dedicated to the industry, but it does not demonstrate that you can cook.

In order to get a driver's license, you have to demonstrate that you can drive and can follow the rules of the road. A road test, a practical. I don't think anyone would have it any other way.

In order for me to get my cook's papers this is what I had to demonstrate:

A 3 year aprenticeship program, with all of the tests, including the 2-day battery of tests PRIOR to the practical only make up 45% of the enitre mark. If you ace every test and bomb on the practical, you bomb. 3 years gone.

This is what I cooked:

Goujons of Sole "Prince Murat"

Choice of salad, two dressings (one emulsified, one vinaigrette)

Jarret de Veau Glace (shank had to be butchered in house, dish accompanied by a selection of glazed turned root vegetables)

Braised Fennel

Asperagus with Hollandaise

Spaetzli

Raspberry sorbet (made infront of the inspectors)

Mignardises

The menu was given to you at 8:30 am, first course had to be served to the table of 10 (inspectors plus guests) before 12:30

Menu was cooked in the same kitchen I spent 3 years in, co-ordination with the regualr a'la carte and banqueting work was important.

After dessert, another 3 hours were spent demonstrting various other tasks: Making a fumet de poisson, fabricating chicken saute, fabricating salmon darne, salmon steaks, salmon filets, sole filets, cleaning and portioning tenderloin, etc.

It's an old-school stodgy menu, I know, but I count no less than 8 of the 14 cooking methods, and a dozen various techniques in that menu. 6 pairs of eyes on me the entire 6 hours. This took place almost 20 years to the day.

3 weeks later I got my "papers". I was a officially a "Cook".

So, it is my personal opinion that is impossible to demostrate the neccesary skill that a cook needs with a written test: Motor skills, eye-hand coordination, timing, and economy of movement.

Those who think a written test can replace actual demostration of physical skills have much to learn....