[Shamrock Chef]

I'm looking for info on what Chefs are looking for in a Chef test.
I assume its knife skill , taste and presentation.
Any help is welcomed.

[foodpump]

Actually, everything


Did the applicant understand his/her instructions?.
Does he make the most out of the ingredients?
Knows how to use equipment?
If not, is he embarassed to ask how? (Don't be afraid to ask, O.K.? )
Gets along with other staff?

CAN WORK CLEAN AND TIDY?!!!!!!!

Performs well under pressure?
Understands basic hygiene?
Cleans up after cooking?

[greyeaglem]

Everything Pump says plus: Can you follow a recipe without putting your own twist on it? (If you want to "twist it", buy your own place.)? If you are applying for a job as a chef, can you at least make chicken noodle soup? I am so tired of hearing "We hired a new cook, you need to train him." Here comes a guy with three rings in his lip (I have come to the conclusion that anyone with a lip ring is worthless) whose first act is to put his iPod in the radio and ask me what kind of music I want to hear (Answer: Nothing on your iPod, and that's not why you're here.) So it all comes down in the end to he and his stoner friends were listening to what they call music one night and he made some sandwiches that you know were like really great and his friends were like saying it was really awesome and he should like be a chef and could get his own TV show, so he like did us a favor and applied here and the H.R. person like really liked his new tatoo, and so now here he is and he's going to show me how I should cook. I know this turned into a rant, but I'm not sorry because I'm sure if this is how it goes for me, others are suffering too. And the answer to your question is not so much do you have knife skills (mine were always weak) but do you have enough sense to peel an onion before you chop it (not kidding) and have enough sense to put it in a new container instead of on top of the old onions. I would like to see a common sense test. Example: Multiple choice question; The deep fryer needs oil added. You only have enough to add half of what you need. You should A)Empty the container and call it good, B)Empty the container you have, get a new one and add the rest from that, or C)Re-program your iPod, flirt with the cute waitress and hope the fryer doesn't catch fire. They'd pick C.

[ED BUCHANAN]

Most of the testing I have had assumed I had knife skills and was aware of various termonology., and use all the equipment. I walked into a fully stocked commercial kitchen and in front of me a table. On the table about 25 -30 different items(foods and ingredients}. I was presented with a menu and told I had 3 hours to make 3 courses for 4 people.
That was it, I presented the dishes to them , they asked me some questions about the items, said thank you, I went home. I was notified in a few days that I had the position and an appointment was set up for more particulars.(starting dates, hours, salary etc.) About every 20 minutes a proctor came into room and looked at area I was working in. He had a clipboard and jotted things down.

[jbd]

Originally Posted by greyeaglem

I know this turned into a rant, but I'm not sorry because I'm sure if this is how it goes for me, others are suffering too.

Very well done "rant" It is the primary reason I have not returned to the kitchen.

[m.d.hughes]

You may find a black box as well, though I do like the idea of chicken soup and the ability to follow a recipe, I guess it would depend on the job that is being applied for.

Greyeaglam... love the rant, I'm just getting myself motivated for day 2 of a 3 day agm...... can you feel my pain, it's mostly in my butt from sitting down all day, as I said to the C.F.O. yesterday "If I wanted to sit on my *** all day I would have become an accountant" though you did miss D,(don't bother to check that you have oil to replace before you throw it out).....Wow this went off topic fast...just like our agm

[kuan]

Originally Posted by greyeaglem

but do you have enough sense to peel an onion before you chop it (not kidding)

Surely you're kidding.

[chefhow]

The last job I got the test I took lasted 8 hours involved a 3course meal for 6 ppl with an explanation of what I made and why. Once I finished the meal I had 3 rounds of interview/QA with 3 ppl in each round. It was brutal but an experience.

[bughut]

Does he/she wash hands first

1lb steak mince ( ground beef) and make it into something fabulous

[foodpump]

Yeah-butt, Ed B. and Chefhow.....

Those interviews you were describing were for Chef jobs, like, I mean Chef-Chef jobs, not the regular-Chef kind of job, like, you know, Prep-Chef, Line Chef, or Salad Chef.

Oops, gotta go now and get back to my "Cheffing".....




What's a Chef?

"Eh!! Tcheffe!! You come now! You come quick! Is raining in dry-store...."

[greyeaglem]

Oh Kuan. I am definitely not kidding. Wish I were. Here's an example, and this is the cleaning guy who did it. Guy leaves a note for the bar manager that there's no fryer boil out cleaner. Bartender tells me after the supplier I get it from is gone, so I order another brand from a different supplier. I did toy with the idea of bringing it out of storage and putting it on the fryer, but since it's on the shelf where it always is and says fryer cleaner all over it, I figure he'll find it. I come in on Wed. and find the fryers aren't changed, so I go ahead and do it because I don't know if the guy quit or what because no one tells me anything. In comes the bartender and tells me the guy called her in the morning and says he can't find the cleaner, so he'll do the fryers the next day. I thank her for calling me and telling me that before I wasted my time. She figured she'd see me in time to tell me (1/2 hour before opening). I figure the guy should notice there's new oil in the fryer, but by now I'm not trusting any of these rocket scientists, so I leave a note with his name on it stating that the fryers were changed on Wed. I put the note on top of the fryer with a soup cup on it so it can't fly away and come in Thurs. to empty fryers. At that point I spaz, and the maintainance guy who's there working on the ice machine thinks I'm nuts for getting upset so easy ($97 worth of fryer oil with one day's use on it up in the recycle bin, yeah I'm upset) and I want to know how anyone could be so ******* stupid. He says I can't yell at the guy 'cause he'll quit, I say I don't care, anyone that stupid I don't need. Told the bartender to quit trying to run the place and tell the guy to call me because I would have told him where the cleaner was. I have repeatedly told these people to stop trying to drive me nuts because it's pointless. I already am.

[chubyalaskagriz]

RE: "Those interviews you were describing were for Chef jobs, like, I mean Chef-Chef jobs, not the regular-Chef kind of job, like, you know, Prep-Chef, Line Chef, or Salad Chef."

...in response to foodpump's views, because after reading the passage above, he and I are gonna have very little in common... may not be possible at all for us to ever "be on the same page". (What the **** is a 'salad chef'? Is that anything at all like a 'pantry boy'?)

Still- I wish you luck in finding an answer that serves your needs.

[chef.ESG.73]

This is a actual test someone gave me to be a chef for a stadium, Sporting Events, Concerts, catering for convention Center


Chef Questionnaire

Name:_________________________ Date:_____________________

• What does Your State recognize as the temperature range that hot food be held at and above.

___________________

• What does Your State recognize as the temperature range that cold food be held at or below.

___________________

3. According to your Local State Food Codes, any meat product with stuffing should be cooked to what internal temperature?
____________________________

4. According to Your Local State Food Codes, potentially hazardous foods have three characteristics, they area:

a. _______________________________________

b. _______________________________________

c. _______________________________________

• Name the 3 categories food safety hazards are divided into:

a. _______________________________________

b. _______________________________________

c. _______________________________________

• What should one do first for a severe burn? ______________________________

• At what temperature does water boil at sea level? _________________________

• What is arrowroot? ________________________________________________

• Name the 5 mother sauces.

a. _______________________________________

b. _______________________________________

c. _______________________________________

d. _______________________________________

e. _______________________________________

• What is Crème Fraîche? __________________________________________

• How many cups in a quart? __________________________________________

12. How many teaspoons in a tablespoon __________________________________


13.(1) liter is equal to how many ounces _____________________________


14. How many fluid ounces in a gallon? ___________________________________


15. Meat is graded in the retail market by what three categories?

__________________

__________________

__________________


16. What is MSG? __________________________________________________ ____



17. Invert sugars, dextrose, fructose and mannitol are all what? __________________







18. Name 3 kinds of flour:


a. _______________________________________


b. _______________________________________


c. _______________________________________



19. What is meant by Lactose Intolerant?

__________________________________________________ __________________

__________________________________________________ __________________­­­­

• What is a Kilocalorie:

__________________________________________________ __________________

__________________________________________________ __________________­­­­

• What is meant by “Organic Grown Food”?

__________________________________________________ __________________

__________________________________________________ __________________­­­­

• For a plated duet dinner, what size chicken breast would be appropriate?

What size filet of beef?
_________________________________________

• On a buffet with 3 meats as entrees, how many ounces of each meat would you purchase for?

_________________________________________

• How many plates on a dish up can be prepared in ½ hours time?

_________________________________________

• What is the number one food allergen?

_________________________________________

• How many pounds of potatoes (for mashed) would you prep a buffet for 300 people

• How many 5 oz filets can one get out of a 5 (up) beef tenderloin?

• How much does the average steamship weight?

________________________________________________

• How many orders of Haricot Verts in a 5# box?

• How many sides to a tourne vegetable?

________________________________________________

[chef.ESG.73]

After getting the job this is what he wanted me to give Sous Chef in the interviews.

Sous Chef Questionnaire

Name:_________________________ Date:_____________________

• What does the state of your state recognize as the temperature range that hot food be held at and above.

___________________

• What does the state of your state recognize as the temperature range that cold food be held at or below.

___________________

• According to State Food Codes, any meat product with stuffing should be cooked to what internal temperature?

______________________________

• What should one do first for a severe burn? ______________________________

• At what temperature does water boil at sea level? _________________________

• How many fluid ounces in a gallon? ___________________________________

• What is arrowroot? ________________________________________________

• Name the 5 mother sauces. ______________________

______________________ ______________________

______________________ ______________________

• What is Crème Fraîche? __________________________________________

• How many cups in a quart? __________________________________________

• (1) liter is equal to how many quarts? ___________________________________

• Meat is graded by what three categories?

_______________________________

________________________________

________________________________

• What is MSG? __________________________________________________ ____

• Invert sugars, dextrose, fructose and mannitol are all what? __________________

• Name 3 kinds of flour.

____________________

____________________

____________________

• What is a proof box?

__________________________________________________ _______________

__________________________________________________ _______________

• How often should you wash your hands? ________________________________

__________________________________________________ _______________

• What is the difference between a convection oven and a conventional oven?

__________________________________________________ _______________

__________________________________________________ _______________

• Name the 3 categories food safety hazards are divided into:

a. _______________________________________

b. _______________________________________

c. _______________________________________

• What is meant by Lactose Intolerant?

__________________________________________________ __________________

__________________________________________________ __________________­­­­

21. What is a Kilocalorie:

__________________________________________________ __________________

__________________________________________________ __________________­­­­


22. What is the number one food allergen?

__________________________________________________ __________________


23. You just overcooked the chicken for 300 people on your plated dinner. You do not have any more chicken in house but you do have thawed pork loin. What would you:


Do First:

__________________________________________________ ______________________

__________________________________________________ ______________________



Do Second:

__________________________________________________ ________________


__________________________________________________ ________________

24. Have you ever burned bacon or croutons?

__________________________________________________ ________________

__________________________________________________ ________________

[foodpump]

Sorry Alaska, it was a bit of a tongue in cheek post...

Look, I grew up here in N.America and then cooked my way around Europe and S. E. Asia for almost 10 years. When I came back things had changed a bit. For starters, the word "Cook" had been banished and the double-plus-good-newspeak-word "Chef had been subsituted. Chef also works as a verb too, as in "I Chef at the Dino-mite." Matter of fact most N. American institutions don't use the word "Cook" and even the CDN Chef's ***. and the AFC substitutes the word "Culinarian" for "cooks".

When I came back to Vancouver in the late 90's I remember at my first job as "Chef" going through a stack of resumes and seeing the word "Chef" used all over the place: Salad Chef, line chef, prep chef, even "Drop chef". I had never encountered the term "drop-chef" before, which was listed on one guy's resume who's last job was at an Applebee's, I think. So I got the guy in for an interview just to find out what a "drop chef" was....

It's the guy who "drops" the fryer basket down.....

So.... Yoou live in Alaska, eh? Are you "cheffing" in and around Anchorage?

(Sorry about that, it's that tongue in cheek thing again...)