It's true. Being good at something however when it comes to the promotion or increment in salary, those without the papers lose out. Unless the executive chef has attentive eyes to see who does better, most places follow rules by rules of qualification credibility. I think the idea of going into a culinary team without certification is to find the right mentor who is willing to take a person to another level, training, guide, mentoring... Until the person achieve it.

By the way, you made a good point. Yes, even with recipes guide, we can mess up. Thank you for sharing this with me. I didn't think of it at all. It's something really an eye opening to me.