San Francisco Frontiers - Budding chefs cook up new career at China's BBQ academy

Zhang Tengfei, a former factory worker who spent a decade in the car industry, joined China's first dedicated barbecue school hoping to launch a career behind the grill.

"When I was laid off... I was at a loss for a while," Zhang, 34, told AFP at the academy in Hunan province, handing a fistful of lightly charred kebabs to an instructor for review.

Looking "to start my own business", Zhang now plans to open a stall in his hometown in Henan province to provide for his wife and three children.

With China's economy slowing and well-paying jobs in traditional sectors harder to come by, many blue-collar workers like Zhang are looking to retrain.

For him and his classmates, the month-long barbecue course, which costs students 5,800 yuan (around $850), offers hope of new employment as chefs or restaurateurs.

At the academy on the banks of a quiet lake in Yueyang city, trainees spend six days a week learning to cook ingredients from aubergine to pork belly, and how to run a kitchen, market their products and turn a profit.

Though the academy only admitted its first batch of students in April, founder Jiang Zongfu aims to train 10,000 grill masters within five years.

- 'Straight into business' -

Interest is high, with more than 4,000 applicants for just 45 spaces on the June course, the academy's second cohort.

They include novices straight out of education, laid-off construction workers and barbecue business owners seeking new inspiration.

"Barbecue requires very little investment, and the risk is low. One barbecue stove can support a family, so it's a very good way to alleviate unemployment," Jiang said.

Graduates from the first tranche have already established street stalls across China and a restaurant in Vietnam.

Xu Shuai, a 24-year-old who quit his job in social media marketing to join the course, plans to use short-video platforms to promote a restaurant after he graduates.

"I can combine barbecuing with my previous work experience, which will be an advantage for me," Xu said after attending a class on editing videos for Douyin -- China's version of TikTok.

"The academy allows me to get started quickly. After just one month, I can get straight into business."

After morning theory classes, chefs teach practical skills in the afternoon.

In the classroom, trainees crowded around instructor Luo Duocheng as he demonstrated slicing a slab of beef, marinating it, and skewering the meat to form identical kebabs.

"Barbecue isn't something anyone can just see once and then do it," Luo said after his class.

"How they turn the food on the barbecue should be correct, the taste should be standard, and the food should look good."

- Fiery competition -

To graduate, trainees must pass an exam where they cook for a panel of expert judges.

But even with their grilling certificate, success is not assured.

Graduates will enter an economy struggling with weak consumer demand, where year-on-year retail sales contracted for the first time in three years in May, and revenue in the catering sector rose a paltry 0.6 percent.

"There's a lot of competition because the barrier to entry is quite low," said Zhu Zhilong, a restaurant owner and teacher at the academy.

"You used to be able to just pick a good location," he told AFP.

"But now you need to understand marketing, management, internet traffic," he said, adding that without those, even good technique "is useless".

Despite the barriers, student Zhang Tengfei remains optimistic.

"After all, food is still a primary need... so I feel there's a good future in it," he said before turning back to the grill to prep his next batch of skewers.

E.Cruz--SFF