The Making of a Chef
I was asked the other day about this topic and was a bit stumped. I thought of many traits but not one unique trait that separates chefs from the average home cook or as they shall now be known as “Mere Mortals”. I couldn’t even find a trait that separates them from most line cooks.
The best chefs I’ve worked for were great leaders not bosses. Think of a boss as someone who points at the ground and say to dig the hole here. A leader grabs a shovel and starts digging. In the kitchen this is very much the case. With the economy as tight as it is and with more and more government regulations, the days of a restaurant having an “Office Chef” are gone. A chef needs to be in the kitchen with knife in hand at the cutting board.
Leadership extends to all people in and out of the kitchen. Any cook may have to take charge of any project to ensure the task is complete. I remember one day when an Indian dishwasher donned a jacket and took charge of a meal for an Indian wedding.
A chef must know current culinary trends, products and techniques. All good cooks do that. Every time we watch television, eat at a restaurant or read a magazine our minds are open to whatever is new and trending.
A chef must be able to cook 2 sauces, 1 soup, a 20-gallon pot of veal stock, 4 prime ribs, 3 pans of popovers and a pan of baby carrots in the steamer. He or she must keep the wait staff in check, make sure the new culinary extern doesn’t cut off any fingers and keep his grilled cheese sandwich from burning on the griddle, all this while straining a pureed soup through a chinois. Needless to say a chef must be a multitasker.
I have worked places where my station would have 20 to 30 steaks cooking or holding, a couple of pizzas baking, and an appetizer also in the oven all at once. So did every other station in that kitchen.
Being able to multitask is a trait everyone, in the kitchen, must have.
You could say that a great chef is a great cook. That is not necessarily the truth. I know many cooks that could out perform many chefs.
Perhaps the defining trait of a chef is something that cannot be seen by the customer. Something like… not being able to open a bag of bread without ripping open the bag!
When it comes to opening a bread bag, a chef will grab the loaf and like Hulk Hogan entering the ring, put on a maniacal grimace, and slowly tear open the bag just like the Hulkster would tear the shirt from his massive chest.
I believe many chefs do not know how to operate a twist tie and those new fangled plastic clips are a complete mystery.
The better chefs, translate this ability, or inability, to zip top bags. The greatest chef I’ve seen, ripped open the closed end of an open bag!
Perhaps, that is the key to becoming a chef. Not wasting time on such menial tasks as operating a twist tie. Or maybe it’s the Hulk Hogan thing!
Check back with us again as we cover our next topic. “Why are there empty boxes in my walkin refrigerator!”
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~T
