This Black Chef Is Creating A More Affordable, Realistic Type Of Culinary Education

Daryl Shular wants to rethink how cooking is taught — and who’s leading the kitchen.

Chef Daryl Shular is the world’s first African American and minority chef to earn the prestigious title of certified master chef, the distinction administered by the American Culinary Federation and currently held by fewer than a hundred people. Shular has also won 12 gold medals in local and national cooking competitions, including the Culinary Olympics, and he’s been inducted into the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. He also founded the Shular Institute, an educational program based in Georgia that provides grants and scholarships as well as real-world training, exposure, and career options in the culinary industry. In this Voices in Food story, the Southern-born chef shares how he plans to assist in the creation of future certified master chefs.

I grew up in a blue-collar household in central Florida. My mom worked at the assembly line of a citrus factory. She processed fruit into jars all day long. I remember one day when I was a kid, she came home wearing white aprons and hair nets, and while I was cleaning orange pulp off her shoes, I thought, “I don’t ever want to wear the same uniform every day.” But look at me now!