Become Part of Puerto Rico’s Dynamic Culinary Scene
Puerto Rico’s robust tourist business and related cruise ship industry drives the need for increasingly professional and well-educated chefs and hospitality managers. This small island with adjacent smaller islands is a hotspot for sun-seeking Americans looking for affordable and instant getaways. The capitol, San Juan, located on the northern coastline, is a common port of call for major cruise lines.
Taino-Spanish Cuisine and Cocina Criolla
This tropical island sports a colorful cuisine all its own, even though most culinary schools specialize in teaching classic European cuisines and French cooking skills. But if you’re going to school here then make sure you frequent the local favorite restaurants and test out the best chefs in the area. Traditional Puerto Rican fare is a marriage of Taino, Spanish, Creole, and Mexican influences. Flan, stewed chicken and beef, rice and beans, and fried plantains (tostones) are common on a table. Given the fact that PR is an island it’s obvious seafood has played a historic role in the country’s culinary traditions: crab, lobster, shrimp and whole fish stews and soups.
But when you hit the restaurants in cosmopolitan San Juan you will find clusters of sophisticated restaurants— Chef Marisoll and The Parrot Club -- where inventive chefs fuse international and traditional cuisines to create interesting dishes and experiences. Here are the professional proving grounds and here are the crowds of tourists looking to nosh on a diverse assemblage of dishes, from hamburgers American style, to native Taino dishes. Distinctive flavors are from adobo and sofrito spice medleys. And let’s not forget the Puerto Rican rum.
San Juan Job Market for Culinary Pros
Major metro areas like San Juan, Carolina, and Ponce make for excellent explorations, as well as job markets. San Juan is most heavily trafficked for tourists as well as business travelers, another booming sector in need of good cuisine. Check out your career opportunities:
- Chef or cook restaurant/hotel
- Chef/galley cook cruise ship
- Chef/cook casino (there are quite a few casinos on the island)
- Chef/cook caterer corporate facilities
- Caterer
Top Puerto Rico Cooking Schools
Jose Santana International School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts in Carolina is a leading PR school for budding chefs and hotel/restaurant managers. Both English and Spanish programs are available: Bachelors Culinary Management, Bachelors Food and Beverage Management, Associates Culinary Arts, Certificate Culinary Arts (Spanish), Certificate Bartending and Food and Beverage (Spanish), and Certificate Baking and Pastry (Spanish).
Escuela Hotelera de San Juan (School of Hotel San Juan) in San Juan boasts 3 industry accreditations and a curriculum focusing on the culinary arts that could easily go head-to-head with the “top” schools anywhere else. Programs: Culinary Specialist, Bakery and Pastry International, Host Service Restaurant (bartenders, wait-staff training), and a number of “short courses.”