Biggest insult to a chef/cook

[SushiGaijin]

i think we have diverged from insults to pet peeves. certainly there are a million things that cooks dont like, but how many of them are insults? the worst insult is being called a shoemaker by another cook, be it accidental or straight to your face. i can think of nothing else that is worse.

E

[cakerookie]

I often make cakes and things for family and friends at work and I agree with some of the statements about "did you make this!" I want to tell them so bad, no my cat made it!

[panini]

Aurora,
When you get a chef or cook that salts heavily, I would venture to bet that 90% of the time, he or she smokes cigarettes. Not trying to put this thread in another direction. So smokers, relax. You're in my 10%
SushiGaijin,
You're right. We've diverged. I once had a customer come in and ask for 6 canoli shells. I politely told her we were not set up to do that, she barkes back, YOU CALL YOURSELF A CHEF!
Has Chefteldanielle ever returned to give us the point, or were we victims of some PIDGEONING??????

[shroomgirl]

how about someone editing you......going offsite and having your sous decide the equipment you laid out is not necessary or the guy supplying your equipment (for induction burners, so you GOTTA have magnetic pans NO others will work) shows up short and he looks at you and asks if you really needed all you ordered......or a head honcho's wife walking off with equipment, because she screwed up was in the weeds and gee didn't realize that planning a professional event offsite means you BRING everything with you and plan timing.........geeeee thanks I needed to vent.

How about a Thomas Keller isc chef coming into town asking for 2 cooks and 3 waitstaff to work a 45 guest dinner and the contact hookin him up with people that have never cooked professionally in their lives ever......!!!!!!


Editing. gotta be number one in my book.

[Jolly Roger]

At the last restaurant I worked at, I was fired by the executive chef. I was one of the sous chefs. We had a wood fired oven and I was most proficient at that station. The cook that worked that station for lunch was horrible and I tried to correct him. When that no longer was effective, I went to my chef and he did nothing (I think it was the yellow streak going down his back), so one day I came in and his station was a wreck and I confronted him and he got defensive, so I told him he was fired for insubordination. The executive chef then fired me and said: "you're more trouble than you're worth." THAT...was the biggest insult I ever received from one of my own. Incedently, the executive chef was fired one week later for being drunk at work.

[siserilla]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger

3. When a chef from another restaurant walks in and sits at my bar ordering drinks still wearing his f'ing chef coat. Ever heard of street clothes? Or are you too fat for them anymore?

I don't see anything wrong with this. There have been a few times where on the way home we all went to a bar to get some drinks/food. I don't know what type of restaurant you work in, but I've never gone to an upscale place just went to a sports bar.

[MikeLM]

Hey..y..y..y

Some really good tips here!

I've written down a half-dozen or so. Next time I go out to eat, I'll pick one from the list and try it!

Mike

[panini]

MikeLM
be careful, there are CTers everywhere They say they don't do the things in the kitchen with customers dishes but I'm not sure

[Jolly Roger]

Siserilla,
Yeah, a sports bar may be one thing, but a place where the check average is sixty bucks is another. I think it's disrespectful to the chef of the establishment to show up in your uniform and drink. It's kind of like thumbing your nose at the place.

[Suzanne]

Siserilla -- the other thing is that whites are the equivalent of surgeon's scrub: they are NOT meant to be worn as street clothes, but only in the environment of the kitchen. Someone wearing whites outside of the kitchen is dishonoring the uniform, by exposing it to the dirt of the street AND by showing the world the dirt of the kitchen. You go to work in street clothes; you change into whites for work; you change back into street clothes to go home. Period.

[ExpatC]

One thing that has really pi$$ed me right off in the past was a review of a place that I took over, revamped and changed the cuisine.

I had a slow roasted duck, about 4-5 hours, hung over a wood burning grill (and, by the way, although the result is stunning, it is a bit like an atomic bomb if the cook doesn't know how to control the fat that is rendered!). This reviewer loved everything, super, GREAT, blah, blah, blah. BUT, in a major magazine in the market said that there was no way that that bird was cooked for 4-5 hours as the menu stated. Why? Because it was just to succulent, moist, lovely and tasty. He basically called us liars.

I can't stand food writers that know nothing about cooking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[siserilla]

Originally Posted by Suzanne

Siserilla -- the other thing is that whites are the equivalent of surgeon's scrub: they are NOT meant to be worn as street clothes, but only in the environment of the kitchen. Someone wearing whites outside of the kitchen is dishonoring the uniform, by exposing it to the dirt of the street AND by showing the world the dirt of the kitchen. You go to work in street clothes; you change into whites for work; you change back into street clothes to go home. Period.

Alright. I understand what you're saying. It makes sense to me now

[MarkV]

Originally Posted by Aurora

I resent chefs and cooks who salt everything heavily in the cooking process claiming that it must be salted to taste good.

Salting "heavily" is extremely subjective.

Thanks to the irrational anti-salt movement there are legions of individuals who would interpret normal salting as heavy.

We are biologically programmed to gravitate toward the taste of salt. There are very few foods that don't benefit from being salted.

Mark

[panini]

gosh darn it Mark
I seem to be disagreeing with you lately. That part I don't like because I really enjoy your posts. Subjective is a good word to use because taste buds are not all the same. I for one am really sensitve.
I enjoy the use of salt to enhance or bring up the natural in something. I think that when it crosses that line into altering the taste I start to wonder. I'm a chewer and probably keep my portions in my mouth longer then most. If I can taste the salt I feel the flavor is altered and jeopardized.
I would start to list foods that don't require salt but I don't think there is enough room on 100 pages.
now this is just me.
pan
BTW not all of us gravitate towards salt. I'm a little low on the BP scale and if I injest too much salt I actually have a physical responce, like head ach etc.much like people and MSG salt

[cakerookie]

Season at the beginning in the middle and at the end you should always be tasting; what your palette prefers someone elses may not. I tend not to add salt to my food if I do its very little.