Top Chef
Tips and Cooking Information
Contents
Can
TV Chefs Teach You? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Attempt
New Foods To Further Your Skil l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Catering
To Unique Tastes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Characteristics
Of A Great Chef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Achieve
Perfection As A Saucier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Countdown
To Becoming A Great Chef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Equipment
For Perfect Chefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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How
To Become The Perfect Chef: Attending Schoo l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Getting
and Using Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Jobs
After Culinary Schoo l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Knife
Skills For The Perfect Chef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Making
Meals Easy to Eat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Plating
for the At Home Chef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Perfect
Chefs Choose A Speciality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Take
A Local Cooking Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Should
You Become a Professional Chef? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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The
Physical Qualities of the Perfect Chef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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The
Importance of Testing Recipes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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The
Chefs Important Baking Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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The
Learning Curve To Becoming The Perfect Chef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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The
Job of a Professional Chef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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The
Mix of Sweet, Spicy and Savory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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The
Perfect At Home Chef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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The
Perfect Chef Opens A Restaurant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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The
Physical Demand of Being a Chef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Can TV Chefs Teach You?
Television has always been a
tool for entertainment, but can it instead be a tool for education?
Of course! This has been
proven time and time again. But, what about improving your skills in
terms of cooking? The good
news is that some of those televisions shows you are watching for
entertainment may also be
teaching you a great deal at the same time. The fact is, some of
today's top television chefs
are teaching people skills that are transferring back to the kitchen.
Do you notice yourself
chopping differently or perhaps trying to dice onions by slicing the onion
in two ways first?
It is important to have a
good teacher who is following the directions. On cooking television
shows, be sure that those you
are watching have the credentials to teach you. Have they gone
to culinary school or are
they at least teaching you the techniques in the proper format? Also, be
sure to find someone to watch
that you trust and like. These will help you to pay more attention
to that chef which translates
getting more knowledge from them.
There are a variety of things
you can learn from a television chef. You can learn how to properly
cook various meals. You learn
how to know when food is properly cooked. You also learn
methods for cutting foods of
all types. You may have learned how to fold in whipped cream so it
does not deflate. You may
have learned how to make a cheese cake in a water bath without
burning yourself. You may
love those special views (like peering in from the interior of the oven
to the television host.) You
can learn to do everything from make a fantastic drink to learning
where the dish originated.
The wealth of knowledge
available on these programs should not be all you have, especially if
you plan to be a professional
chef. Still, for many, this is a springboard onto more impressive
things. It may help to
encourage you to get in the kitchen and try different foods. It may also
help you to know how to tell
if an avocado is ripe and how to make your own, homemade pesto
within minutes. The benefit
of television cooking and television chefs is that they are real people
who speak to the masses about
the skill of cooking. On your path to becoming the perfect chef,
you may want to utilize these
benefits.
Attempt New Foods To Further Your Skill
Many professional chef fall
in love with one or more specific types of foods. They become
passionate about the quality
and history of that food. They may spend countless days and
nights learning the history,
the spices and the overall best way to perfect these recipes. This is
great passion. This is
something that can help any individual to take their culinary skills to the
next level. Are you doing
this even within your home? If not, it could help you to explore new
areas.
One of the markets of a great
chef, as opposed to a good chef, is their understanding of the
food. It is of their depth of
education and knowledge that they can really do well. The good news
is that you can easily get this
level of knowledge by simply doing some homework. Take some
time to learn about the
history and the culture from where your favourite dishes come from. You
may find out some pretty
amazing facts including what dishes are commonly made with it and
why the dish came to be. This
is a great way to learn how properly to make the dish too.
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One thing you may find along
the way is that you will come across foods that you are not
familiar with. Perhaps you
have never cooked with that type of fish. Perhaps it is a new spice
you have never tried and you
are worried about ruining a dish from its use. You may find that
these new foods are just what
can help to set you apart from others. If you do come across an
ingredient that is new to
you, check out your local, small grocers to get more information about
it.
Trying new foods and
incorporating them into new dishes can help you to stand alone in the
world of cooking. It takes a
lot of time to test out new dishes, but when you invest the time in
using these new, fresh
ingredients, it can be a lot of fun. You may not like them all, but the ones
that you do like are
definitely going to be well worth it! Take a few minutes to consider the
options that you have. Are
you ready to try a few new foods and start helping those who you
cook for to learn about the
history of these dishes? They will be culturally rich from you doing
this, too.
Catering To Unique Tastes
How does a great chef handle
those picky eaters? It could be your child or even an adult. There
is no question that it can be
very frustrating to spend hours over the stove preparing a meal only
to find out that the
individual it is being made for does not like one or more f the ingredients in
the meal. The first step is
to realize this is not an insult to you, the chef. Rather, it is an
opportunity for you to strike
out and impress the individual as well as your other guests.
If there are allergies within
a family or a group, these need to be adhered to. There is no excuse
for a chef not to know about allergies
within their guest list. The key instead is to be sure to
either inform the guests
coming to the home of the menu ahead of time and encourage them to
ask questions. Or, if this is
not possible, the other option is to ask guests as they arrive if there
is anything you should know
when preparing their meal. In most cases, there is no problem.
Now, what about that
individual that may not like the food you are serving but has no medical
reason not to eat it? Let's
consider a child, for example, how do you convince them to try the
dish even as they push it
away? With children a good option is to simply bring them into the
kitchen and have them help
you to prepare it. When children are involved in even the smallest
of tasks in the kitchen, they
feel great about themselves and are more willing than ever to try
new foods.
For the adult who is being
picky, let them know that you have gone to great lengths to try out a
new recipe, one you are sure
they will enjoy. Encourage them to try the dish, asking them to
give your recipe a try. If
they simply will not do so, then don't force it on them. Most adults will
still consume at least some
of the food out of respect.
When it comes to those who
have unique tastes in foods or those who are just overly picky, it
may be best to find foods
that they do enjoy and to have those prepared for them. When you
just want everyone to enjoy
your meal, encourage him or her to try it.
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Characteristics Of A Great Chef
So you love being in the
kitchen, but do you have the characteristics to be a great chef? Being
a great chef doesn’t happen
overnight. It takes a lot time and perseverance to be a chef. There
are a few characteristics
that are going to make the difference between your being a good chef
and a great one.
One of the first things
you’ll learn is that you need to be good at multi tasking. There isn’t a day
that goes by where you won’t
have to do many things at one time. Most kitchens move at a
very fast pace and you’ll
have to learn to keep up no matter what is happening around you.
You’ll need to make quick
decisions and think things out very clearly. What are you going to do
if that lamb you’ve been
cooking can’t possibly be ready in ten minutes?
If you want to run your own
restaurant and kitchen you’ll need to make instant decisions so that
everything runs smoothly. The
kitchen is a busy and noisy place with lots of people running
around trying to get a job
done. A great chef has the ability to tune out what isn’t significant and
focus on what is important at
that time.
Successful chefs are able to
monitor everything that is being prepared in the kitchen while at the
same time staying on top of
their own duties. If someone else is having problems, the head
chef needs to be able to
assist at the drop of a hat without missing a beat. A kitchen runs
smoothly when the chef is
able to inspire everyone to stay focused even it seems as though
things are falling apart.
No restaurant is going to
serve only one dish. This means the chef will need to be cooking
many things at one time,
especially if the restaurant is a busy and successful one. And no
matter how busy the
restaurant is, every dish will have to go to the table with perfection or else
the reputation of the
restaurant as being “superb” will soon falter.
Alongside all the quick
thinking and multi tasking that goes on in the kitchen, a great chef will
need to be creative. It’s
this creativity that is going to make one chef stand out more than
another. Diners don’t want to
choose from the ordinary. They want to eat food that is unique,
inspiring, and great tasting.
Great chefs have the ability to pull all this together to achieve
perfection.
Achieve Perfection As A Saucier
There are many different
types of chefs in the kitchen, each with their own tasks, working
toward making perfect meals.
No matter what specialty you decide to focus on, you want to
choose something that
inspires you, allowing you to create something you’re proud of and that
will take you to the top of
your profession.
Once such speciality chef in
the kitchen is the saucier. This type of chef specializes in
preparing sauces that are, in
most cases, combined with other foods, such as meats that are
cooked in the sauce.
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Although it may not seem like
an important part of cooking to specialize in, the saucier in fact
holds a very prestigious
position among chefs, especially when it comes to French haute
cuisine, which is all about
the sauces. If you want to become a saucier, there are five basic
types of sauces that you’re
going to have to perfect.
The first of these sauces is
a brown sauce, also known as espagnole. A brown sauce is made
from butter, flour, and stock
made from vegetables and roasted bones. This sauce is often the
base for many hearty meat and
poultry dishes. A good saucier will make sure the stock has
simmered long enough to
produce good flavour.
A veloute sauce, or white
sauce, is made from a light stock, usually vegetables, and a pale roux.
This type of sauce is used
with milder tasting dishes to add a bit of creaminess.
The third basic sauce a
saucier needs to perfect is a bechamel sauce. This is a basic white
sauce made from butter, milk,
and flour. In some cases, cheese may be added. You’ll find this
sauce in vegetable, pasta,
and egg dishes.
A vinaigrette sauce is the
ideal combination of vinegar and oil, with other ingredients added
depending on the dish it will
be accompanying, in most cases a salad of some kind. Additional
ingredients might include
herbs, garlic, shallots, or spices.
The last sauce that a saucier
needs to make well is a hollandaise sauce, used with many egg
and vegetable dishes.
Hollandaise sauce is made with butter, egg, and mayonnaise.
Those are just the basic
sauces that a saucier needs to know how to cook. They also need to
have an exceptional sense of
taste, which allows them to be creative in the sauces they
prepare. After all, it’s
often the sauce that makes the dish.
Countdown To Becoming A Great Chef
Becoming a chef in the
industry of culinary arts is perfect for anyone who eats, drinks, and lives
for food! However, if you
want to become a great chef, there are some points you should focus
on to ensure your rise to the
top. What chef doesn’t want to have their name recognizable on
the lips of everyone
interested in food?
So just how do you make your
way up the chef ladder? There are a few things you can do so
that you get the experience
and exposure you need to cook like a great chef. Perhaps one of
the first places to start is
by enrolling in a reputable and successful culinary arts school.
Cooking schools are one of
the best places to acquire the skills and techniques every chef
needs to succeed. Graduating
from a cooking school increases your chances of getting hired at
some of the top restaurants
around the country.
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Once you’ve acquired culinary
skills and knowledge, you need to practice, practice, and practice
some more! The only way
you’re going to get better is to experiment with different ingredients
and tastes. Practice at home
by throwing extravagant dinner parties. Or work at a local
restaurant so that you gain
experience on the job. And remember that you’re going to make
mistakes along the way, but
it’s these mistakes that are going to teach you how to recover when
things don’t always go the
way you planned.
Learn as much about the
culinary business as you can. When you’re working in a restaurant,
make note of the way the
kitchen is run, even if your duties within the kitchen only encompass a
small part of what happens
there. A great chef knows every aspect of how a kitchen is
managed, all the way from
ordering food to preparing the easiest dish on the menu.
Strive for excellence no
matter what your role in the kitchen is. Most of the greatest chefs have
made it to the top just by
persevering even when they were under a lot of pressure. No matter
what you’re asked to do, no
matter how insignificant you may think it is, always do your best.
Remember that the more time
you invest in your career the better a chef you’ll become.
Perhaps the most important
part of becoming the perfect chef is your love of food! Great chefs
love what they create. It’s
your enjoyment of food that is going to inspire you to make those
awe inspiring signature
dishes your fans won’t soon forget.
Equipment For Perfect Chefs
The perfect chef needs to
have the right equipment in order to stand out from the rest. Although
every kitchen will come
equipped with equipment, a great chef will have their own equipment
and tools that only they work
with. There’s a saying that a great chef is only as good as their
next dish. And the ideal dish
starts with the chef having all the necessary tools to work with.
Depending on what type of
chef you are, you’ll be using different equipment and tools. For
instance, a pastry chef will
most certainly have their own pastry and garnishing tools, bakeware,
and cake decorating supplies.
There are, however, some basic pieces of equipment that every
chef will want to have beside
them in the kitchen.
Perhaps the most important
tools for a chef are knives. Every chef, no matter what they are
creating, needs a good set of
sharp knives. There are many different types of knives but there
are three basic ones that
every chef needs: a 7 inch butcher knife, a 4 inch utility knife, and a
paring knife. This standard
knife set is enough to get any chef started, although you’ll soon
want to add more to your
collection, such as a boning knife and a cleaver.
A cutlery board is another
piece of equipment that many chefs don’t want to share with others in
the kitchen. Whether it’s a
wood board or one made from plastic, good chefs make sure to
clean and store them
correctly each time they are used. And most chefs will have more than
one cutting board, reserving
one just for meats, another for vegetables, and one for cutting
strong flavoured foods such
as onions and garlic.
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Personal measuring cups are
another item a good chef doesn’t want to be without. You’ll need
a set of wet measuring cups
for liquids as well as dry measuring cups for dry ingredients such
as flour, sugar, and grated
carrots. Having your own set of measuring cups close to you in the
kitchen means you won’t have
to go hunting them down from the other side of the room, only to
find that they are being used
by another cook.
There are many other pieces
of cooking equipment that the perfect chef might want to have
their own set of for their
exclusive use. This can include pots and pans, mixing bowls, a knife
sharpener, and countless
other gadgets. Good equipment leads to perfection in the kitchen.
How To Become The Perfect Chef: Attending School
As you consider how to be the
perfect chef, you have to consider the importance of going to
school to learn how. The good
news is that going to school to become a chef is not something
that you have to spend years
doing. In fact, many programs for full time students are only a
handful of months until
completion. This is not true for all, since some of the very best demand
four to six years worth of
training, such as the culinary institutes in France. For most
professional chef students,
though, attending a local school is all that is required of them.
There is even more good news
for those who wish to become professional chefs but have to
dedicate at least some of
their time to other tasks during their days. You can take courses at
local schools part time. Many
are available for evening and weekend training. This means you
can raise a family, work a
job or do other tasks you need to while earning your education in
culinary arts. In this case,
the amount of time you invest in your education will depend on the
number of classes you take at
a time. Part time students may take twice as long to graduate.
As a full time student at a
standard culinary institute, you can get your initial degree at just six to
nine months. Most students go
on to student for another six to nine months to earn a higher
level of degree. During this
time, some students also enrol in business management courses
offered by the culinary
school. These help to prepare the student for managing other employees
and to one day be able to
start their own restaurant or culinary business.
Look for local schools.
Always enrol in accredited programs first and foremost. These programs
give you the quality
education you need to do well. Some of the more elite schools really do
make it worthwhile to attend
them. You may be able to get a higher level of apprenticeship or
internships. When you begin
applying for positions, you also get to take advantage of the
prestigious name on your
resume of the school. This does make a difference in higher end
locations.
Not everyone has to go to
school to tighten up their skills in the kitchen. Those who wish to hold
professional jobs in the
industry, do so as they have the right resources available to them.
Getting and Using Feedback
As you grow and develop into
a great chef, it will be important to take into consideration what
other people think. Many
beginning chefs make the mistake of not getting enough feedback.
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They are hoping that they
know better, with or without their culinary education. One thing is
important to remember. Your
cooking is only as good as people's tastes for it. That does not
mean you should write off
your style. Rather, invest in what they are saying.
There are several things you
can learn from what other people have to say about your cooking.
First, you will need them to
be honest with you. As you prepare and test recipes on them, you
need their honest input. This
information can then be used to make changes to the recipe in an
effort to perfect them. The
process may seem long, but ultimately it is that, that leads to
success.
Get useful information from
those that taste your recipes. What did they not like? Perhaps it had
too much spice or not enough.
Perhaps they wanted more salt. Perhaps they did not like the
texture of the dish. These
are all little things that can be adjusted as you go. Ultimately, they will
lead to improved quality in
each of the recipes that you complete.
Ultimately, it is the chef
that has to make decisions regarding the quality of the food that they
place on the plates of their
guests. It takes a great deal of time to perfect a recipe, unless you
are just changing up a good
old sand by. Even then, it is essential to get the attention of those
who you need to impress.
One of the biggest problems
that individuals run into is taking criticism to heart. Don't do it.
Rather, use this as a tool to
helping you to improve your overall abilities and to strengthen your
ability to create fantastic
dishes. The more information you gather from those who try your
dishes the better. In fact,
the last thing you want to hear at their first tasting of your first recipe
try is that it is great!
Rather, you need to know what information they can provide beyond that.
Where can you tweak the
recipe to get better results?
The best part of creating
your own recipes is working with them until they have that wow
sensation that shows you that
people really do like them.
Jobs After Culinary School
After culinary school, don't
sit still for too long. On your way to becoming a professional chef,
you will need to polish your
knives and hit the ground running. There are many different career
paths available to those who
are qualified. After you have gotten your training in, it is time to
consider what to do next.
Here are just a handful of options you may have. Follow your passion
and the opportunities that
present themselves to you.
Many culinary graduates enter
the workforce working for full service restaurants including those
stand alone restaurants and
hotel chains. These positions may start as assistants and often
start in the kitchen as prep
work. This is quite important since it teaching the student not only
how to cook food but how the
kitchen is run. Once they learn to meet the high demands on their
time in these beginning
positions, those who prove themselves worthy move up the chain of
command. Their goal is to one
day be head chef in the restaurant.
Many of those who leave
culinary school have a much larger idea of what they would like to do.
Many are passionate about
opening their own restaurant. This does require a much larger
commitment, but it is very
possible to do well in this area with the right education. Often, it is
best to work in the industry
for some time before committing to just a large financial investment.
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Others leave school to enter
other professional chef areas. For example, many plan to spend a
great deal of time developing
a catering business. Others wish to open a pastry location,
perhaps a bakery. These
businesses may not require the immediate requirements of working in
a kitchen, but they do often
require internships with these locations instead. This gives the
individual the experience
they need to be successful from the start.
As a professional shift, you
can always make changes to the plans you have so that they better
fit your skills or your
passions at that time. There is no strict rule on what you have to do after
you leave school. Many
apprentice and take internships to gain valuable knowledge and skills in
the kitchen and beyond. These
skills are often more important than those offered to you during
your days in culinary school.
For some, this is the time to start dreaming and crafting plans of
how they will develop their
culinary education even farther.
Knife Skills For The Perfect Chef
As a chef, you need to be
able to cut food properly. Knife skills can take a long time to master,
though. If you have watched
some of the chefs on television chop away at increasing speeds
and marvelled over how to do
this yourself, your first step is to go slow. One of the worst things
you can do is to try to cut
quickly in the wrong manner. The good news is that you can gain
these knife skills in several
ways.
One of the most important
ways to learn knife skills is to take a class. The problem with trying to
learn through reading is that
you cannot see the actual movements. When you take a course,
you are actually learning to
cut with hands on practice. Your teacher can show you how to do it
the proper way and correct
small problems that may hold you back from having great skills.
Since using a knife should be
in very specific movements that are highly precise, learning from
a professional is one of the
best routes to take.
There are a variety of
tutorial programs available online to help you, too. These programs are a
fantastic way to sharpen your
knife skills right from home. The key is to choose those programs
that are designed by
professionals and those that provide the top level of instruction to you. The
best are videos or detailed
screenshots that show you step by step what you need to do to cut
into that pile of herbs or
how to slice that turkey.
Knife skills include learning
how to use a peeling knife, a paring knife and how to core foods.
Learn how to use the back of
a knife to puree garlic. Find out how to use a zigzag motion of a
knife to slice across an
onion for a fine dice. Perhaps the most impressive skill to learn is how to
place your hands and the
proper motion of chopping. You do it much the same, as you would
cut a bagel, for example.
If you have yet to hone your
knife skills, there is no better time to do so than right now. There
are excellent programs
available to aid you in the process. Once you do perfect those skills,
each item you do cut will
look and taste better for the new skills you have mastered.
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Making Meals Easy to Eat
Have you ever gone to a
dinner party and found yourself with huge pieces of lettuce too difficult
to cut with a knife? Perhaps
you have found yourself with shells on your lobster that were so
hard to pull off that when
you did get the meat out, some of it flew across the table. The fact is,
there are some foods that are
not easy to eat. As a chef, you do not want anyone who comes to
your dinner party to find
themselves unable to sit down and enjoy their meal.
Spot problem foods in your
menu. Which foods are difficult to eat? Foods that require extra
utensils are going to be a
problem, such as shellfish. You may want to consider other foods that
are hard to chew. Some meats,
no matter how well cooked, are just more difficult to chew than
others. Some foods are just
messy If these are foods that are on your menu, you have two
choices. You can choose to
remove them from the menu. On the other hand, and often the
better case, is to make
enjoying these foods easier.
What can you do? If there are
hard shells, a good place to start is by removing the meat from
the shells for the individual
before it arrives at their plate. Instead of handing everyone a plate
with a lobster on it, serve a
lobster soup that has larger clumps of the meat in it. The key here is
to find ways to present the
same food that makes it slightly easier to eat.
There are times when this may
not matter. During important dinner parties and definitely during
employment opportunities, you
definitely do not want to allow your guests to have to manage
tea sandwiches that will not
stay together.
Keep foods cut in the proper
portion to avoid any potential problem with consuming them. Take
some time to slice foods
properly so that they are bite sized pieces. Always take the time to
remove pits and other items
from the foods that could not only be uncomfortable to manage but
also dangerous to consume. It
only takes the chef a few extra minutes to handle this type of a
problem.
Sitting down to a great meal
is important to anyone. It is just as important to leave the table
clean, feeling full and most
definitely comfortable. By taking a few extra steps ahead of time,
you can make this possible.
Plating for the At Home Chef
It is commonly said that you
eat first with your eyes rather than your mouth. What does this
mean to the average
individual who is preparing a meal for a host of individuals? It means that
you should take some extra
time to help make each plate a memorable meal for your guest.
Consider it a gift. Would you
just hand them the shirt or would you wrap it neatly in a package,
add a bow and some ribbon and
really dress it up? You do not have to overdo it to get the look
you are hoping for, though.
Rather, you just need to keep in mind what it takes to make a meal
visually appealing.
Have you ever not liked
something long before you tasted it? This is a common problem
because food can look boring,
especially after you have eaten the same recipe hundreds of
times. Instead of worrying
about this, though, find some ways to dress up what you are serving.
A good place to start is with
the plates themselves. The best option is a plain, white plate with or
without decoration on it.
White allows the food to speak for itself. It keeps the centre on the
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portion on the plate rather
than on the design on the plate. Look for quality dishes in a variety of
sizes and shapes that work
with your dishes. Keep in mind that quality plates often give off that
feeling of elegance you may
be going for.
Next, consider colour. When
planning the menu, be sure you use foods of different colours.
Bright green, deep reds,
beautiful burgundy sauces all have a different colour to them and all
have a very inviting feeling
to them. You are sure to find yourself using a range of flavours that
work together too.
Dress up the plate with leafy
herbs. Adding some fresh thyme, parsley or other herbs to the
dish, just right over the
top, adds that extra layer of flavour and keeps the meal visually
appealing. For many people,
this makes it a flavourful choice. Use the herbs already contained
in the dish.
These are just a few of the
ideas you want to keep in mind when it comes to dressing up your
plates. A good chef allows
his guests to enjoy very tasty foods, but also foods that are appealing
from the time the plate is
set down in front of them.
Perfect Chefs Choose A Speciality
Most chefs will choose a
specialty to focus on when they enter culinary school and as they work
in the culinary industry to
gain experience. There are several different kinds of specialities to
choose from, each with their
own disciplines and rewards. You’ll want to choose a specialty that
excites you and fills you
with passion. Following are some specialty chef positions that you
might want to consider.
The head of the kitchen is
the executive chef, who is in charge of the sous chef as well as
everything that goes on in
the kitchen. It’s the executive chef who is the supreme head of the
kitchen. To be a perfect
executive chef you need to be able to plan the menu as well as make
sure that every dish that
goes out of the kitchen is of the highest quality. You’ll also need to
estimate the labour and food
costs, order food and stock, and hire the kitchen staff. Most
executive chefs will cook
food every day, working side by side with the sous chef. Together,
you’ll make sure that plates
go out perfectly garnished and looking great.
Now on to the sous chef, who
is in reality the right hand person to the executive chef. It’s the
sous chef who is second in
command of the kitchen. If you like a challenge, the position of sous
chef will be just right for
you, because even though the executive chef gets all the credit for a
perfectly run kitchen, it’s
in fact the sous chef who does most of the work. You’ll be the one who
is in charge of others in the
kitchen, such as other speciality chefs, cooks, and the kitchen staff.
Another of your tasks will be
to demonstrate any new cooking techniques to the kitchen. A
perfect sous chef is able to
keep everything running smoothly while giving up the glory to the
executive chef.
Although the executive and
sous chefs are the main cooks in the kitchen, there are many
speciality cooks underneath
them that you might consider. A gourmet chef is one who
specializes in a certain
cuisine, such as foreign dishes. You’ll need to know how to prepare
foreign delicacies as well as
be able to pair the dishes off with the perfect bottle of wine. You
12
might want to specialize in
cold food preparations, which is the role of the garde manger. You’ll
focus on pates, hors
d’oeuvres, salads, and cold sauces, to name a few.
A perfect chef is one who
specializes in the culinary industry, working hard to perfect the tasks
assigned to the speciality.
Take A Local Cooking Class
Sometimes, the best way to
get even better at something you love is to get another perspective
at it. For this reason,
taking a local cooking class can be one of the best ways an individual can
sharpen their skills, learn
new techniques and improve their overall ability to prepare that perfect
meal. If you are looking for
a way to really take the world by storm with an interesting meal,
these classes are a good
place to start. Many larger cities have just what you are looking for,
including good food choices,
great instruction and how to help that works for everyone.
A cooking class is most
likely to teach you a skill first and foremost. For example, you may learn
how to prepare an Italian
dinner by learning how to make a good tomato sauce. You may learn
a specific dish, such as a
full menu of German food. Other classes are designed to teach you a
bit more about the technical
aspects. For example, you may be able to take a class on making
cakes and cookies and in the
process will learn the difference between baking powder and
baking soda and how to use
each. These classes really contain a great bit of knowledge.
In addition to this, you get
hands on training. Some classes are put on by your favourite local
chefs. You get to head to
their restaurant, roll up your sleeves and learn how they prepare your
favourite dishes. All the
while, you have the chef standing next to you teaching you how to make
the recipe exactly right.
Even if it is not a chef you know, you still have a professional who is
able to teach you about the
proper use of a knife, the right way to season a dish and give you
feedback on how well you have
done. That is valuable.
No matter how experienced of
a chef you are, there is always something else to learn. By taking
a few cooking classes, you
can explore those areas of the culinary world that you may not know
a lot about just yet. You can
learn new cooking methods or styles that you have never used
before. You may even find
more than a few dishes that will help you to tempt your taste buds
and really impress your next
set of dinner guests. A cooking class does not have to be just basic
education.
Should You Become a Professional Chef?
As a professional chef, you
will have the expertise, knowhow and passion to make memorable
meals every time. A
professional chef makes his career cooking and studying food. It goes
without saying that the most
chefs have a passion for food that goes well beyond that of the
average person. They often
see food in a unique way. They love the textures, tastes, sights and
smells of the food they make.
They are creative, striving for the next big dish. Nevertheless, it
does take a lot of education
to make this a reality.
The question most people have
to answer first is if they have the drive to be this good. Getting
an education is the first
step. You will likely need to attend a two year or four year educational
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program. The program often
entails full time schooling which will centre on everything from food
history to plating to pastry
and beyond. In some cases, you can specialize in certain areas. This
is specifically true for
those who will be becoming a pastry chef rather than a standard chef.
Schooling is often the most
labour-intensive part of the process to becoming a professional, but
it is by no means the only
option.
From here, you most likely
will enter into a culinary internship with some of the top restaurants
around the country. Be
warned. Te restaurants that you work at are often selected based on
affiliations the school has
with them. As you are considering which culinary school to attend, find
out which affiliations the
school has prior to enrolling. Of course, the more elite the school is, the
better the restaurant and
hotel relationships will be.
But, school is not the only
thing that needs to be taken into consideration when making a
decisions whether or not to
be a professional chef. You also have to take into consideration your
ability to love your work.
Ask yourself questions about what the job is like and how it will affect
your daily life. Chefs work
long hours, often stretching into the late evenings and most
weekends. Chefs also start at
the bottom and work their way up the ladder, no matter what
school they have been in.
This means dishes and prep work, followed by various other positions
within the kitchen.
If you can do these things,
chances are good you can be a professional chef. Having a passion
can make everything else
easier to manage.
The Physical Qualities of the Perfect Chef
To become a good chef, you
will need to have a variety of skills. Your body is one of them. You
will need to have a few
specific qualities that help to make you a good candidate for being a
great chef. As you consider
whether cooking is your passion and if you should attend a culinary
school, consider the benefits
of having a body that has the build to do the work in a kitchen.
A good place to start is with
a passion for cooking and for food. You should love to eat and
enjoy all types of food.
Those who love to pick the "unique" item off the menu are people that
are most likely to be
interested in the food's taste, texture and smell. If you are squeamish about
cutting up a chicken, chances
are good that you do not have the level of intensity you should
have to be that perfect chef.
You can change this.
In addition to this, you also
have to take into consideration your ability to smell well and taste
properly. If there is some
physical limitation here, it could interfere with your ability to provide
your guests with a great
meal. Determine if this is a problem for you and find ways to resolve it,
if it is. You need to be able
to tell the subtle differences in tastes of spices and to distinguish
from the saltiness of two
foods.
The good news is that many of
these skills can be learned. If you do not know the difference
between allspice and cloves
just yet, you can learn this. It goes without saying that there is a
great need for talented chefs
who are able to meet these demands. If you have a passion but
not the skills work at it.
Chances are good you will find exactly what you are looking for.
There are other physical
qualities to consider. Are you able to manage several things at one
time? Do you have the
physical ability to remain on your feet for hours at a time? Do you have
the dedication to working
with a dish until it comes out just right? If you plan to work in a
14
restaurant, you will need to
work with others, can you do that well? Asking yourself these
questions now can help save
you time later. For many, these are easy yes questions.
The Importance of Testing Recipes
Why do you need to test a new
recipe before you serve it to your guests? Won't you have to go
to a lot of work twice? While
this is true, the results of a new recipe gone wrong could be more
catastrophic then the time
that is invested in testing out the recipe in the first place. The good
news is that it is very
possible to get the quality you want without a lot of investment of your time
in the weeks leading up to a
dinner party or special event.
First, choose a recipe that has
techniques and cooking methods that you are used to. If you
plan to deep fry a turkey,
but have never done this in the past, one of the worst things you can
do is to try and do it the
day of. There are just too many risk factors involved. Instead, a few
weeks prior to the special
event, make a special dinner for you and your family of fried turkey
and let them help you with
the problems. This will help you to test out the cooking method and
to determine if the turkey is
seasoned well, cooked properly and overall works out.
There are times when you do
not have to make the same meal well in advance to practice your
cooking technique. For
example, if you will be slicing a turkey for the first time, and are worried
about doing a good job, give
yourself some practice on a few chickens prepared over the last
few weeks. Your family is
unlikely to mind pieces of chicken rather than slices while your guests
will definitely want slices
of turkey. Give yourself the opportunity to test them out.
In addition to these types of
testing, perhaps the most important one comes in at the spice level.
If you have no invested
enough time in testing out the combination of spices in a dish, do so
before you add them to the
meal. Test out the dish for flavour, salt content and for overall good
taste with the combination of
spices that you have used. This definitely will provide you with a bit
of a better level of respect
since when the final dish hits their plate, it is perfect.
Invest a bit of extra time in
testing your recipes. It will pay off with a great meal. Choose recipes
you love and have experience
with if you just can't make time for testing.
The Chefs Important Baking Tools
As a chef, you are only as
good as your ingredients, skill and the tools that you use to make the
food come out perfectly. For
those doing a little baking, there are several pieces of equipment
considered vitally important
to have and to use on a regular basis. If you are going to spend
money to get your kitchen set
up, be sure that you have a few of these items at your beck and
call.
First, know the difference
between dry measures and wet measures and have both on hand.
There are slight differences
that can really impact the recipe if used improperly. For liquids, you
will want something that has
a handle and spout to it. Always set it down on the countertop to
see what's actually inside.
For dry ingredients, use an aluminium (if possible) measuring cup.
15
Next, look at your other
ingredients in terms of tools. Baking sheets are commonly needed.
Look for non-stick sheets
including hard anodized products for easy cleaning and standardized
heating. Also, parchment
paper can be a very helpful tool to have to keep items from sticking to
your sheets. Keep a role on
hand.
For hand tools, you will need
a few. Rubber spatulas are a must have in most baker's kitchens.
Look for quality here. If you
will be doing a lot of cookie making, invest in several sized ice
cream scoops. These help you
to keep your cookie portion sizes even throughout each one.
Also, for removing items off
your baking sheets, look for quality metal spatulas. The blade
should be as thin as
possible, but sturdy to pick up something with a bit of weight to it. You will
also need cooling racks to
set each baked good on so that you can remove them from the hot
metal pan that will continue
to cook them.
For exact measurements, have
on hand a baker's scale. It is often best to use a scale instead of
a measuring cup when the
portion sizes have to be just right. Next, consider cake pans and
models. Look for those that
have a removable or false bottom for the very best results. Plus,
have a thermometer on hand to
make sure that your foods are properly temped.
These are just some of the
many items you'll need to have in your kitchen as a baker. The good
news is that most items are
inexpensive and readily available, too.
The Learning Curve To Becoming The Perfect Chef
As you start to study the
intricacies of food, it is also important to consider the daily experiences
that will define your skill.
No matter if you are trying to improve your culinary skills at home or
trying to get into a
professional position, there will be a learning curve. You will make mistakes
and you will have plenty of
meals that are not creative, well put together or otherwise
challenging. The key is to be
the type of person that makes it through this process successfully.
Most chefs that enter the
restaurant world do so as a trainee. During this time, they are learning
the ins and outs of
restaurant work. The stress and pressure of a busy kitchen is enough to
make even some of the best
chefs waver. It is often important for this to happen, though. This is
part of the learning curve.
Once you are tested by the most intense situations, you are likely to
take your knowledge that much
farther and your skill to the next level. Professional chefs are
able to work under extreme
conditions.
Later, you will move up to
sous chef positions. These positions allow you to start running areas
of the kitchen and you are
able to start making decisions about meals. You may be given
trainees to work with. Still,
even at this position, you are not the head chef and you must abide
by the requirements of that
chef. This part of your learning curve will keep you in the kitchen, but
you are doing more cooking
and less of the prep work. Nevertheless, in many locations, sous
chefs are the right hand of
the chef on duty. They need to do what needs to be complete to
keep the head chef on track.
After years of training and
experience, you may be able to move u to a higher level of education,
including the head chef. The
head chef is responsible for running the kitchen as a whole, and
managing the individuals who
work under them. This is not an easy job by any level, but it is
one of authority in the
kitchen. Many head chefs go on to develop their own restaurants, if they
are interested in doing so.
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Learning curves in the
kitchen are helpful teaching tools. Take them as such, as even the most
stressful of events can be
beneficial to the chef.
The Job of a Professional Chef
What is the job of a
professional chef on a daily basis? This will change from one location to the
next, and from one person to
the next. Yet, there are some tasks that a chef must handle on a
daily basis that will
ultimately determine how well his or her kitchen runs. As you consider the
many ways that you are
preparing to become a perfect chef, you will need to take into
consideration your ability to
manage successfully each of these areas. The better you do, the
more successfully you will
be.
One of the first things a
chef must do is to plan menus. Menus need to appeal to those eating
them, first and foremost. In
addition to this, meals need to also be balanced with fruits,
vegetables, protein and
starches. They should be appealing to the taste buds, the eyes and to
the crowd as a whole. It can
be a challenging portion of being a chef.
Next, the chef needs to
inspect and manage his or her supplies. For each item on the list, the
chef needs to coordinate
delivery of the ingredients. Everything from the plates it will be served
on to the quarter teaspoon of
a spice that will be used needs to be monitored. Food needs to be
in good condition, ripe and
needs to be held properly to prevent any illness.
Along with managing supplies,
most chefs also have to stay within a budget. This means
ensuring that all meals that
are prepared are done properly but that the location is able to make
a profit from serving them.
Balancing the cost of ingredients and labour along with the prices
people will pay for the meal
can be a challenge. The good news is that when done properly, the
location is profitable.
In addition to all of this, a
chef is in charge of his or her kitchen. Maintaining the kitchen's staff
and cleanliness are some of
the most important tools and requirements of the chef. You will
need to maintain the quality
of the food that is prepared as well as making sure that everyone,
everything is healthy, and
monitoring of all safety requirements.
The job of a chef is quite
complex. It can take a great deal of time to work up to success. Yet,
for many chefs, getting into
a head chef position makes all the work worthwhile.
The Mix of Sweet, Spicy and Savory
There are many ways to mix
flavours and get great results with each of the meals you prepare.
The combination of flavours
really helps to set the tone for the meal. A chef can mix and match
spices to come up with the
most unique combination. Sometimes, using a variety of flavours
together can really help to
make an ordinary dish in some something much more.
Sweet and hot work very well
together, for example. Many Asian inspired dishes make this
happen. They combine a soft
level of heat with a sweetness. This confuses the taste buds and
delivers that very powerful
flavour burst. Look for these to add a lot of contrast to your dishes.
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Savoury foods can also have a
mixture of heat in them, or a mix of sweetness. How do you get
these different levels of
flavours? Use various ingredient mixes. Use a variety of spices. One of
the best ways to take your
skills to the next level is to start using spices you may not have heard
of or have used in the past. There
are hundreds of different spices but the average home uses
only a handful of them. If
you have old outdated spices, this is a great time to throw them out
and look for new, fresh
ingredients for your meals.
When it comes to adding heat,
be careful. There is no doubt that you can add too much heat to
a dish if you are not
careful. Instead, start with softer peppers that have a more mild heat level.
You should be able to still
taste the pepper flavour not just the heat. Most of the larger grocery
stores now carry a good
selection of peppers to use. Avoid the hottest habaneros and instead
look for coloured bells and
banana peppers. Many people enjoy the taste of jalapenos, which do
have some bite, but much less
than others. You can also get a level of heat from powdered
versions of peppers, like
cayenne and chilli pepper, but use these when others are not
available.
Take the time to find a
combination of flavours that you enjoy. Do use these combinations on a
variety of foods. Meats are a
common choice but you can also find some great taste
combinations for vegetables,
too. You can even spice up your soups, stews, salads and even
desserts using the right
types of heat and sweet!
The Perfect At Home Chef
What does it take to become a
perfect chef at home? You may believe that the first stop in this
process is at the local
cooking supply store for all the right cooking pans, cookbooks and knives.
This is not always the case.
Before you start purchasing a variety of products, start by looking at
your skills in the kitchen.
Do you have room for improvement? If so, there are some outstanding
ways to get those skills
caught up. Then, if you decide to, you can start purchasing all the
cooking supplies you will
need.
One of the most important
skills to have as a perfect chef is a good sense of taste. If you are the
type of person who is afraid
of flavour and shy away from new foods, let go. You'll need to try
new foods and be willing to
tempt your taste buds as often as possible. This allows you to
formulate new recipes and it
can help you to understand why you put certain ingredients
together and why you should
not mix others.
Next, consider your ability
to cut. Grabbing that steak knife and using it to cut herbs is not the
right way to go. At first,
you may not need the highest quality set of professional knives, but you
will need to use what you
have properly. Learn to curl your fingers under to keep them from
getting cut. Learn how to
julienne fresh herbs and how to cut steaks on the bias so that they are
even more tender.
Take your next step into the
textbooks. You will want to learn about meats, the different cuts
and how to prepare them.
Next, look at vegetables and the many ways to prepare them. Do you
need to skin carrots? How do
you use a lemon peel in recipes? Gathering knowledge about
food is an important step in
the right direction of becoming a perfect chef.
By far the most important
aspect to becoming a perfect chef is to practice! Cook and be
creative. Put unique foods
together and experiment with flavour. Learn about those other spices
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in the spice rack and how to
use them. The more flavours you work with and the more styles of
cooking you use, the better.
Cooking takes time to perfect. Everyone will burn their fair share of
dishes. Yet, those who keep
going and keep looking for the right blends of food are those who
will become the perfect chef.
The Perfect Chef Opens A Restaurant
You have a passion for food
and everyone tells you just how good your meals are. You want to
open a restaurant so that you
can make a profit off this talent. Many chefs open a restaurant not
necessarily for the profit
potential but rather for the underlying goals of wanting to provide their
guests with a higher level of
food. They want to share their abilities with others. They want to
take people on a journey with
their food. They want to fill a market sector that is open in the
community. All of these are
options that individuals do have.
As you consider the many ways
that you can prepare a great meal for your family, consider ho
you can do the same for a
larger crowd. The difference is large. With a restaurant, you need to
hire staff, manage the
building, handle a budget and find ways to save money. You have to
advertise to let others know
why they should pay for a meal from you. You have to compete with
other businesses in the local
area.
The first step in determining
if you can start a restaurant and work it is to start off with a
business plan. Either create
one yourself or have one professionally done. This will give you the
ability to lay it all out
there and to get the financing you need to get started. With a business
plan, you make key decisions
about who your business is, what it will provide, why it will be
profitable and who will run
it.
Next, consider the investment
to get started. Most restaurants do not do well for at least a full
year, after they have covered
the costs of opening and have become a familiar face in the city.
Even then, the risks are
high. It is estimated that nine out of every ten restaurants that are
opened fails. What will make
your business more likely to succeed? Find out what it will take to
make the case but at the same
time, be sure you can handle the financial loss.
Having great skills and
talents in the kitchen are important when it comes to opening a
restaurant. You also have to
have the right ability to communicate with and mange others. You
will need to dedicate your
time to working your business, which is nearly always long hours.
However, the rewards are
gratifying.
The Physical Demand of Being a Chef
Being a perfect chef takes a
lot of training and a lot of hard work. Not only is this emotionally
draining, but it is also
physically challenging. Believe it or not, you may need to get fit before you
can expect to do well in the
kitchen on a regular basis. The body can handle most of the work of
cooking a meal for the family
but to work in a restaurant, you will need to have the strength,
stamina and the willingness
to do a lot of physical work.
The amount of physical work
depends on the tasks you will take on often defined by your job in
that kitchen. Nevertheless,
you are likely to be taxed in any area. For example, the chef needs
to be strong. Heavy pots and
large boxes of supplies need to be moved from place to place.
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Many of those pots will be
hot, often with liquid sloshing about. Having the skills to move them
from place to place is very
important.
Perhaps the most physically
demanding part of being in the kitchen is having the stamina to
remain on your feet. Even if
you do get a lunch break, chances are good you will be on your feet
for a full nine hours a day,
or more. Back muscles, legs and overall physical conditioning is
required to strengthen your
body enough to actually see promise. You may find yourself
exhausted after a few hours
if you have not built up to this level.
To make matters even more
challenging, many kitchens are full of potential problem areas. You
may find yourself slipping on
floors that are wet and getting burned from time to time. These are
all tragedies when they
happen, but an individual who is physically fit is less likely to be
seriously injured by them.
The fact is, if you are prone to injury, the kitchen may not be the place
for you. Most chefs are
looking for the type of individual that is able to keep up with the intense
work required in a kitchen.
The good news is that all of
this hard work can help you to stay healthy. It can be very amazing
to see how well your body can
become toned just by working in a restaurant for a few months.
You may love the work, but
your body may love being fit and active as you are in this
environment.
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