Culinary Arts Program

About the Program
The Culinary Arts Program (CAP) is an exciting, hands-on series of food preparation classes designed to teach you everything from basic kitchen safety to the preparation of a multi-course meal. CAP provides a unique experience for students to learn skills and cooking techniques from local food experts.

All courses are open to the general public and are not affiliated with any local, national, or international cooking certificate program. You can also take these classes individually without completing the certificate program. Class sizes are limited so register early!

Visit the Think Again Schedule of Classes for the current list of classes being offered.

Certificate Requirements

Tools of the Trade
As the introductory course to both the culinary arts program and its instructional facility, this 3-hour session is designed to provide students with a primer of professional cooking tools and equipment, basic knife skills, food sanitation and kitchen safety.

Four CORE Courses
Choose four core courses to learn fundamental cooking techniques.

• Chef’s Skills
  Explore basic, building-block cooking techniques including pan searing and pan sauces, blanching, braising, emulsifying, grilling, steaming, proper pasta cooking and more. Pre-requisite: Tools of the Trade.
• More Chef’s Skills
  Learn cooking fundamentals and techniques such as frying, soup-making, thickening, roasting, poaching, broiling, sautéing and more. Pre-requisite: Tools of the Trade.
• Introduction to Baking
  Good baking depends on understanding basic techniques. Learn baking fundamentals to create cookies, quick breads, pies, tarts, and quiches. Pre-requisite: Tools of the Trade.
• Bakeshop Basics
  In this 2-session core course, you will learn the fundamentals to create great baked goods at home. Learn to create a variety of baked items, such as basic cakes, butter and foam cakes, pate a choux (cream puff pastry), pastry cream and soufflés. Pre-requisite: Tools of the Trade.
• Herbs and Spices
  Learn the differences between herbs and spices – how to buy and store herbs and spices, and when to use fresh or dry herbs. You will make spice blends and fresh herb marinades for a variety of dishes. You will have the opportunity to taste and handle some of the lesser-used herbs and spices that you can add to your recipes at home. Pre-requisite: Tools of the Trade.
• Stocks and Sauces
  Sauces are known as the cornerstone of culinary preparation, and they start with a quality stock. Learn the principles of making high quality stocks from scratch in this 2-night core course. We will prepare basic brown sauce, béchamel sauce, veloute sauce, and an emulsified sauce. You will then learn to create other sauces from these basic sauces. Pre-requisite: Tools of the Trade.
• Fish and Shellfish Identification, Prep and Cookery
  Learn to identify, purchase, store, handle, clean and de-bone fish and shellfish. Explore a variety of cooking methods for seafood, including grilling, sautéing, roasting and braising. Pre-requisite: Tools of the Trade.
• Putting It All Together
  In this two-night core class you will learn how to create a full meal, from menu planning and creation, to food plating and presentation. Learn how to time the preparation of your dishes to that they are finished at the correct time and ready for you and your guests to enjoy. Discover some new cooking equipment and techniques to use for the unique recipes you will prepare in class. Pre-requisite: Tools of the Trade and completion of two core courses.

Four ELECTIVE Courses

Choose four elective courses to learn more about specific cuisine or food topics. Most elective courses meet for one 3-hour session. To maximize benefit from the program, it is recommended that you complete Tools of the Trade prior to taking elective courses. Elective courses change each semester, so you will always find a new topic of interest!

Final Showcase And Graduation Application

The Certified Executive Chef Review is your “final exam” before obtaining your CAP Certificate. This is your opportunity to apply all of the skills you learned in previous classes. Cooking teams will be formed in order to prepare various recipes, which will be sampled and “graded” by the Certified Executive Chef. Prerequisites: Must complete Tools of the Trade, four Core classes, and four Elective classes prior to taking the C.E.C. Review. Course meets for one three-hour session.
Cost $99.

When you are ready to register for the final C.E.C Review, you must also turn in your CAP Certificate Application, which indicates that you are taking your final course and are ready to graduate from the program. Application fee is $75. A CAP graduation ceremony and reception will be held to honor students.

Download and print an application (42 KB PDF). Complete the application and forward to us with your payment. We accept check, MasterCard, Visa and American Express.

If paying by check (made payable to University of Richmond), please mail your form and payment to us:

Registration Coordinator
Office of Community & Professional Education
School of Continuing Studies
University of Richmond, VA 23173

If paying by credit card, please fax your completed form to us, including all credit card information, at 804-484-1585. If you’d like, you may mail your credit card payment to the above address.

Continuing Education for CAP Graduates - Special Series

Once you have obtained your CAP Certificate, you are eligible to participate in our advanced Special Series courses. This special series of classes is designed specifically for students who have completed our Culinary Arts Certificate Program, and who want to continue to learn and expand on their knowledge. Each Special Series will focus on a type of cuisine or food topic and will meet for single or multiple sessions. Special Series are advanced courses and are only available to those who have already earned our CAP Certificate. Series topics will change each semester so you will always find something new to learn!

Visit the Think Again Schedule of Classes for the current list of classes being offered.

For more information about our Culinary Arts Program, contact the Office of Community and Professional Education, School of Continuing Studies at the University of Richmond at 804-289-8133.