Is it just me? - Page 2

Poele is one of the 14 principles of cooking, I guess the english translation would be "butter roasting". Usually used for meats, which are allowed to cook in their own juices on a bed of vegetables/aromatics. This is done in a covered vessel, so there is not much colouring, and a more delicate flavour.

If a Chef is merely the head of a production kitchen, then technically that makes the KM at the TGIFriday's the "Chef" of the restaurant, doesnt it?

chef /ʃɛf/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[shef] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun
1.the chief cook, esp. in a restaurant or hotel, usually responsible for planning menus, ordering foodstuffs, overseeing food preparation, and supervising the kitchen staff.
2.any cook.
[Origin: 1835–45; < F; see chief]

Chef - Definitions from Dictionary.com

You betcha! Last time I checked chef meant chief in English, not Shaolin Master of the Foodly Arts. Of course my French is a little rusty.


Foodpump- I'm glad somebody is out there doing poele. I thought it was a long dead technique outside of france. That's the one done with matignon instead of mirepoix, right?

Yeah, and if you do the matignon nice, you can incorporate it into the sauce--an a'la minute sauce of course.

If I could do matignon nice I'd be a surgeon. Do you make a new matignon for the garnish, or do you use the one from the pot? Also, do you use ham in the matignon? I've always been surprised by how much ham Escoffier used.

Argh! Talk of Poele is irresistable to me! I haven't been around for the last few monthes, though I've been skulking through the boards recently.

Let me say that I am one of those guys that went to cooking school. And at no point did I ever think that my diploma from said school would impart magical "chef powers" on me. I hate to see the conflict between those who "battled their way through the trenches" and those who "studied their craft with the masters" type of stuff rear its head. The title of Chef is a weird one, its a combination of knowlege, experience, ability and, at some level, recognition of ability.

I really don't think that you can buy this title (the fact many people do is besides the point and is more of an issue with N.A. food culture than the title itself) either by going to school or by purchasing a restaurant.

The designation of Chef should be transferable, which takes it way beyond the status of "boss" or "kitchen manager." Somebody called "Chef" should be able to do their job in **** near any kitchen (with reasonable limits based on background and nationality of cuisine). I could probably fill the role of Chef if I owned my own restaurant and worked exclusivly to my own standards. I could probably design a decent menu and train a staff to cook it in an organized and cost effective manner. That said, I would have no chance in **** of being able to be air dropped into a new kitchen where I would have to cook to another's standards and expectations. That, to me, is the mark of a Chef.

--Allan

i did a four year apprenticeship in Australia, and got a "Certificate in Trade Cooking".

At College and a lot of kitchens I worked in "Chef" was a put down, or what you called someone whose name you forgot.

Terminology..terminology... :o

I meant coffee shop as in a diner not a Starbucks. And if you've ever run the line during the breakfast rush, then you know how much skill it takes, and wouldn't have any trouble calling the guy in charge chef.

A Saturday or Sunday breakfast rush can be just as hard if not harder than a Friday or Saturday night dinner rush. Im GLAD my restaurant is NOT open for breakfast though!

- "What is your profession?"

- "I'm a Culinary Professional".

CulPro.

:D


.

Mmmm, almost as good as the AFC's term, "Culinarian" which is double-plus-good-newspeak for "Cook"....

EXACTLY what I meant. People get used to call anybody in charge of anything a chef! Isn't it about qualification?

C

I honistly beleive, that if you can go to a decent reputable school for culinary arts, and graduate, then you can call yourself a chef, thats IF you have worked in a running resturaunt and have busted your ***. Ive been working in resturaunts since i was 13, now im 18 and studying at The CIA. I still dont call myself a chef, because im not, not yet. I still yet have to get through this college, get my degree and then set my life up where im confortable and ready to rock it out.

I agree with you when you say you have to earn the title of CHEF. Untill then, your just a cook.

Thats what i think.........

I think you become a chef not when you say your a chef but when your peers start to call you a chef. I was working at the Cajun Pepper for 4 years started as the dish washer and ended up at the sous chef job before I left. Still didn't like calling my self chef. After I finshed the Collage portion of my apprenticeship I got a job at Cassa Bella on the Thames. I was hired for the job of the Chef. The owner is the executive chef he over sees my resturant a second resturant in town and a catering company run out of our location. My job description fits the definition of working chef. So at this point since I do the work of a chef and my peers are now calling me a chef I would think I'm a chef at 21.
Does that sound right? When did you start saying you were a chef when people asked you what you did?

Yeech... That makes me uncomfortable...
One of my instructors called me "chef" when I was in culinary school. We all did better then; weird psychological trick. Didn't make us chefs.

I teach. I get called Chef. Really I'm just a very lucky cook who happens to be a decent teacher. But I'm not going to stop my students from calling me Chef; I think it would be a disservice. But it does give me a chill when I hear it, like nails on a chalkboard. Chefs are people like Cape Chef and Greg. Not people like me who are just really lucky and having way to much fun. :)

When I went to school,the first thing they told the students on day one was that in no way did you graduate a chef and that was an earned title that took years of hard work.
That was the most honest thing they ever told those kids:lol:...that and I notice in the dreaded tv ads that they put the little disclaimer that "some positions may require more training and experience".
I remember the first time someone called me chef [after many years working!] and I felt humble,like "Who,me?"

The key word,though, is responsibility. When I'm in a kitchen, any kitchen, and I hear the word "chef", my head instinctively snaps up and my mind prepares itself for another hurdle. It's probably a lot like hearing the word "Mom!"

Anneke,

I didn't know you were teaching. Fill us in.

Well you probably would not want to hear my "thoughts", but here goes. I am currently attending Culinary school-however, I have been a Chef for many years at the restaurant level as well as 2 different 4 star resorts and one 5 star resort.
When I first attended school many years ago, I received a certificate of completion. I always wanted the "degree".
I have a couple of other reasons for wanting to go back, but I don't care to share them on a public message board.
Don't know if your original comment could have been directed at me and I don't mean to come across as "snippy"-just wanted to explain my reasons for my particular screen name.

I like that thought - does it also include the idea of an authority figure? (would very much assume it does). To me, it equates with boss/leader/person in charge to whom everyone in the place is answerable to- and who is in the long term has to take the flak for any shortcomings/mistakes, and that person needs to earn and maintain that status.

I much prefer "kitchen goddess" or "HRH" to chef! ;) But then I am a legend in my own mind. :D :D :rolleyes:

The whole kitchen hierarchy has changed, everyone in the kitchen is titled "chef something" now-in-days. Add to this the media attention from FoodTV, everyone wants to be called chef regardless of background experience or position.

I have 3 years under me with 2 years of schooling, I've been offered the chef position where I'm working twice and at other sites, I can jump into anyone else's jobs in the kitchen and do it with a fair degree of efficiency regardless of how often I've done it before but I will never refer to myself as chef. I personally don't think of myself as chef, nor do I truly want it anyways but regardless, I'm not a chef.

Then there are these punks out of school, wearing an assortment of facial jewellery, arm hairs longer then the hair off the top of my head, wearing baseball caps, doing half the hours I am, touting around with Chef [insert idiot's name] engraved on their jackets. I get a little giggle out of it and put money into the pool "how long with this newbie last"...

Over the years I have learned that "Chef" is earned. I love the quote refering to hearing Chef is like hearing Mom:talk: that is so true at times.

Cheers fstfrdy (Bucs Chef) :smoking:

Who's a chef?

I find this thread interesting. I am NOT "school" trained. I have been a professional caterer for 7 years and began personal "cheffing" this year. About 3 years ago I was asked to do some segments on a tv cooking show. They kept refering to me as a "chef". I kept insisting they call me a cook or professional caterer. Somehow instinctively, I believe the title is earned... I am not sure HOW it is earned... I never realized people felt so srongly though. I gues it is like my other profession: social work. In that work I earned a master's degree and a license. The title is protected by law & I find it upsetting when people without any training call themselves social workers. In that siuation it is absolutely a case of income and respect.. So the difference is??
pgr

Superb post and I quite agree!!!:bounce:

First I'd like to day that I agree that you can be a Chef with or without collage, with or without a red seal. (altho having your C.C.C. makes you a chef no matter what you say you do lol.) Any ways this Thread had gone on for 4 pages now with us all puting our two cents in on what we all think of our selfs, witch is good. It's been a chance for some of us to take stock, thoses of you that call your selfs line cooks that want to be chef's maybe this had given you a chance to see were you fall short.

But I've noticed that there is no deffantion on what a Chef is, so I grabed out my Larousse Gastronomique and I don't think there are many people hear that would say the Larousse Gastronomique is wrong.
"Chef A person who prepares food as an occupation in a restaurant, private house or hotel. Todays top chefs are often media personalities, authors and demonstrators; those who are not famous are not necessarily less talented and their roles may be equally dicerse, including those of business executive, public relations and promotiuons manager." Now it does go on for quite a bit on the history of the "Chef" but I didn't think it was all to important for the point of this thread to keep typing.

Hello Chef

I have been in and out of the restaurant business for many years. I grew up in the family Italian restaurant business and have had a couple of my own. I am currently preparing to open my new restaurant. I am not professionaly trained and consider myself a cook NOT a chef. I agree with your feelings and don't think people should call them selves CHEF if they have not had the proper training and put in the time.

Dude, if you're opening your own place, and are still thinking on the level of a cook, how the heck are you going to run your own place?