Famous Chef Research Project Ideas

Are you teaching your students about famous chefs? Exploring the famous chefs that have made the culinary industry what it is today is an important part of learning the culinary arts and it can be interesting!

As cooking has become part of mainstream media, students may be familiar with some famous chefs such as Rachel Ray and Gordon Ramsay which can help build excitement about learning about the culinary experts.

Lesson and Activity Ideas for Teaching about Famous Chefs that Will Get Your Students Excited!:

• Famous Chef Research Project: Put the learning into the student’s hands. Allowing students to choose a chef from a list that you provide can be a great way to get your students engaged in the topic. Giving students a list of a variety of chefs including females, and males, of differing nationalities and specialties can make it more exciting for them to complete the project.
• They can then make a slideshow for their chef and present it to the class! There are a lot of resources online that can help them gather the info. they need.
• We also have a banner activity that is fun for students to make and can make a great culinary arts classroom decor option for your room. This culinary project includes banners to complete on 24 different chefs. Students can choose a chef and create a beautiful poster. You can create a Gallery Walk and have students gather information from each poster.

• Show videos of popular chefs making signature dishes. You can have students judge who they think is the best chef based on the videos with criteria such as knife skills and techniques. For instance:

  • Native American chef Brian Yazzie making a 3 Sisters Side Dish
  • David Chang making noodle stir-fry
  • Anne Burrell making chicken soup
  • Anthony Bourdain making the perfect scrambled egg

• Tie in the Kitchen Brigade with Well-Known Chefs. This Texas CTE Lesson plan ties both together in their lesson plan. You can even have students research the roles that the famous chef of their choice has had in the kitchen.
• Create an apron about a famous chef. Kim Graybill of family consumerscinces.com has a free lesson download in which students can create aprons with information about a famous chef. This can be another fun way to decorate the culinary classroom with a lesson!

Keep the Engagement Going

After teaching influential chefs, you can follow up with styles of food service. We have a no-prep lesson on the styles of service that includes a slideshow and guided notes. It covers:

• History of food service
• French, Russian, American styles, and more
• Contemporary styles of service

This can give students an idea of what chefs need to learn for the profession. It is a tough career that demands a lot of hours and sacrifices. Being married to one has been an eye-opening experience and I am thrilled he transitioned into teaching to be able to spend more time with our family.

Some of my favorite quotes from cooks that could make great culinary classroom decor:

“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook—try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless and above all have fun.” – Julia Child

“Cream rises. Excellence does have its rewards.” – Anthony Bourdain

“Being a chef is about feeding people, which is part of the story of all humanity.” –Dominique Crenn