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Information about Chef

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Chefs in training in Paris


Chef is a term commonly used to refer to a person who cooks professionally. Within most restaurants however, the term is more highly defined. In a professional kitchen setting, the term is used only for the one person in charge of everyone else in the kitchen, the executive chef.

Word history

Various chef titles

Below are various titles given to those working in a professional kitchen and each can be considered a title for a type of chef. Many of the titles are based on the brigade system documented by Georges Auguste Escoffier, while others have a more general meaning depending on the kitchen in which one works. Not all restaurants will use these titles as each establishment may have its own set guidelines to organization.

Executive chef
:The executive chef is in charge of everything related to the kitchen, including menu creation, staff management and business aspects. While the position requires extensive cooking experience and often involves actively cooking, it also involves a high level of management and business aspects of the kitchen. They can also be referred to as the "chef" or "head chef". Although "head chef" may seem redundant, the word "chef" has come to be applied to any cook, kitchen helper or a fast food operator, making the distinction necessary.[1]


Chef de Cuisine
:This title is often synonymous with the title of executive chef. This is the traditional French phrase where the title chef comes from and is more common in European kitchens or American kitchens with a classical French brigade system.


Sous chef
:The Sous Chef is the direct assistant of the executive chef and is second in command. They may be responsible for scheduling, and filling in for the executive chef when they are off-duty. They also will fill in or assist the chef de partie (line cooks) when needed. Smaller operations may not have a sous chef, while larger operations may have multiple.[1]


Expediter or Announcer (Aboyeur)
:The expediter takes the orders from the dining room and relays them to the stations in the kitchen. This person also often puts the finishing touches on the dish before it goes to the dining room. In some operations this task may be done by either the executive chef or the sous chef.[2]


Chef de Partie
:A chef de partie, also known as a "station chef" or "line cook", is in charge of a particular area of production. In large kitchens, each station chef might have several cooks and/or assistants. In most kitchens however, the station chef is the only worker in that department. Line cooks are often divided into a hierarchy of their own, starting with "First Cook", then "Second Cook", and so on as needed.


:Station chef titles which are part of the brigade system include-[3]


::Sauté Chef (Saucier) [so.si.e] - Responsible for all sautéed items and their sauce. This is usually the highest position of all the stations.


::Fish Chef (Poissonier) [pwɑ.so.ɲe] - Prepares fish dishes and often does all fish butchering as well as appropriate sauce. This station may be combined with the saucier position.


::Roast Chef (Rotisseur) [ʀo.ti.sœʀ] - Prepares roasted and braised meats and their appropriate sauce.


::Grill Chef (Grillardin) [gʀi.ʎaʀ.dɛ̃] - Prepares all grilled foods, this position may be combined with the rotisseur.


::Fry Chef (Friturier) [fʀi.ty.ʀje] - Prepares all fried items, position may be combined with the rotisseur position.


::Vegetable Chef (Entremetier) [ã.tʀə.me.tje] - Prepares hot appetizers and often prepares the soups, vegetables, pastas and starches. In a full brigade system a potager would prepare soups and a legumier would prepare vegetables.


::Roundsman (Tournant) [tuʀ.nã] - Also referred to as a swing cook, fills in as needed on station in kitchen.


::Pantry Chef (Garde Manger) [gaʀd mã.ʒ They are responsible for preparing cold foods, including salads, cold appetizers, pâtés and other charcuterie items.


::Butcher (Boucher) [bu.ʃe] - Butchers meats, poultry and sometimes fish. May also be responsible for breading meats and fish.


::Pastry Chef (Pâtissier) [pa.ti.sje] - Prepare baked goods, pastries and desserts. In larger establishments, the pastry chef often supervises a separate team in their own kitchen or separate shop. Some kitchens may have an executive pastry chef.


Specialized and hierarchal chef titles are usually found only in fine-dining, upscale restaurants; kitchen staff members at casual restaurants such as diners may be called chefs but are more often called "cook" or "short-order cook."[4]

Kitchen assistants

An apprentice or (commis) in larger kitchens would work under a chef de partie or station chef in order to learn the station's responsibilities and operation.[2]

A communard would be in charge of preparing the meal for the staff during a shift. This meal is often referred to as family meal.[2]

The escuelerie-dishwasher (from 15th century French) is the keeper of dishes, having charge of dishes and keeping the kitchen clean.

See also

Notes

1. ^ McBride, 8.
2. ^ McBride, 9.
3. ^ McBride, 8-9
4. ^ Dellanno

References

External links

A kitchen, at least in the western view of the word, is a room or part of a room (sometimes called "kitchen area" or in modern times in the USA "kitchenette") used for food preparation including cooking, and sometimes also for eating and entertaining guests, if the kitchen is large
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Georges Auguste Escoffier (28 October 1846 – 12 February 1935) was a French chef, restaurateur and culinary writer who popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods.
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A kitchen, at least in the western view of the word, is a room or part of a room (sometimes called "kitchen area" or in modern times in the USA "kitchenette") used for food preparation including cooking, and sometimes also for eating and entertaining guests, if the kitchen is large
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restaurant is an establishment that serves prepared food and beverages to order, to be consumed on the premises. The term covers a multiplicity of venues and a diversity of styles of cuisine.
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A kitchen, at least in the western view of the word, is a room or part of a room (sometimes called "kitchen area" or in modern times in the USA "kitchenette") used for food preparation including cooking, and sometimes also for eating and entertaining guests, if the kitchen is large
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menu is the list of options for a diner to select. A menu may be a la carte or table d'hôte. The items that are available for the diner to choose from are broken down into various categories, depending on the time of day or the event.
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Cooking is the act of preparing food for eating by the application of heat. It encompasses a vast range of methods, tools and combinations of ingredients to alter the flavor or digestibility of food.
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French (français, pronounced [fʁɑ̃ˈsɛ]) is a Romance language originally spoken in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, and today by about 300 million people around the world as either
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Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea,
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Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World consisting of the continents of North America[1] and South America with their associated islands and regions. The Americas cover 8.3% of the Earth's total surface area (28.
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Brigade de cuisine is a system of hierarchy found in restaurants and hotels in France that employ extensive staff and are commonly referred to as kitchen staff in English speaking countries. The concept was created by Georges Auguste Escoffier.
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A kitchen, at least in the western view of the word, is a room or part of a room (sometimes called "kitchen area" or in modern times in the USA "kitchenette") used for food preparation including cooking, and sometimes also for eating and entertaining guests, if the kitchen is large
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dining room is a room for consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level.
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A kitchen, at least in the western view of the word, is a room or part of a room (sometimes called "kitchen area" or in modern times in the USA "kitchenette") used for food preparation including cooking, and sometimes also for eating and entertaining guests, if the kitchen is large
..... Click the link for more information.
A kitchen, at least in the western view of the word, is a room or part of a room (sometimes called "kitchen area" or in modern times in the USA "kitchenette") used for food preparation including cooking, and sometimes also for eating and entertaining guests, if the kitchen is large
..... Click the link for more information.
Brigade de cuisine is a system of hierarchy found in restaurants and hotels in France that employ extensive staff and are commonly referred to as kitchen staff in English speaking countries. The concept was created by Georges Auguste Escoffier.
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Saucier [sosˈje] is a position in the classical brigade style kitchen, which is still used in large commercial kitchens such as some restaurants. It can be translated into English as sauce chef.
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Roasting is a cooking method that utilizes dry heat, whether an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting usually causes caramelization of the surface of the food, which is considered a flavor enhancement. Meats and most root and bulb vegetables can be roasted.
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For the solder-like joining process, see brazing.


Braising (from the French “braiser”) is cooking with moist heat, typically in a covered pot with a variable amount of liquid, resulting in a particular flavour.
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Meat, in its broadest definition, is animal tissue used as food. Most often it refers to skeletal muscle and associated fat, but it may also refer to non-muscle organs, including lungs, livers, skin, brains, bone marrow and kidneys.
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Grill may refer to:

In food:
  • Grill (cooking), a device or surface used for cooking food, usually fueled by gas or charcoal.
  • Grilling, a form of cooking that involves direct heat.
  • A restaurant that serves grilled food, such as a "bar and grill".

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Food is any substance, usually composed primarily of carbohydrates, fats, water and/or proteins, that can be eaten or drunk by an animal or human being for nutrition or pleasure.
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Vegetable is a term which generally refers to an edible part of a plant. The definition is traditional rather than scientific and is somewhat arbitrary and subjective. All parts of herbaceous plants eaten as food by humans, whole or in part, are normally considered vegetables.
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Garde manger [gaʀd mã.ʒe], a French term meaning "keeping to eat" or "keeper of the food", refers to the task of preparing and presenting cold foods.
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Salad is a light meal — or, more commonly a part of a larger meal, such as an appetizer — consisting of mixed vegetables (usually including at least one leaf vegetable) or fruit, often with a dressing or sauce, occasionally nuts and sometimes with the addition of meat,
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Pâté (French pronunciation: [pɑte]; RP pronunciation: [ˈpæteɪ]; General American pronunciation
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Charcuterie (from either the French chair cuite, cooked meat, or the French cuiseur de chair, cooker of meat) is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products such as sausage and confit, primarily from pork.
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butcher is someone who prepares various meats and other related goods for sale. Many butchers sell their goods in specialized stores, although in the Western world today most meat is sold through supermarkets.
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butcher is someone who prepares various meats and other related goods for sale. Many butchers sell their goods in specialized stores, although in the Western world today most meat is sold through supermarkets.
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butcher is someone who prepares various meats and other related goods for sale. Many butchers sell their goods in specialized stores, although in the Western world today most meat is sold through supermarkets.
..... Click the link for more information.


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