Introduction
When I was sixteen years old, I started cooking with my grandfather and loved it that inspired me to join the Kennesaw State University for a culinary arts certificate where I became a pizza expert. My goal is to open a restaurant in Cancun, Mexico, so I joined the Chattahoochee Technical College to get my business degree so as to learn more about food cost and restaurant management. I just recently moved to a new restaurant to further my study in the difference in techniques and food on a personal level.
Skills and Qualities required of a Chef
The most important quality required for one to become a chef is hygiene. A chef should always maintain high standards of both personal and workstation cleanliness. This is because of the sensitivity of the food business; food contaminated with germs can easily cause various illnesses. Good communication skills and leadership skills are also required of a chef as they interact with customers to know what the customers want and when instructing cooks on what to do. Chefs should also have good organizational skills, be able to multitask, and work under pressure as part of a team to ensure that the correct customers’ orders are delivered quickly and efficiently. Using creative and imaginative ways to present food is always an added advantage because the food appeals to the customers.
These skills fit well with my personality because I have always loved experimenting to find new ways of doing different things. I also love to meet, talk, and make new friends. Being the first born in our family also helped develop my leadership and organizational skills because my mother would always leave tasks for me to coordinate how they would be done. I would split the tasks amongst my siblings and myself and supervise as they did them while doing mine.
Job Description of a Chef
The chef is responsible for all stock control and preparation activities in a kitchen. The chef cooks and presents the food in line with the required standards. When the chef delegates food preparation to the cooks, the chef monitors the food production process to ensure it follows the right health, safety, and hygiene guidelines. The chef also ensures that food is served promptly in the right quality and quantity.
A typical day in the life of a chef involves coming into work in the morning and confirming that all inventories orders were delivered and are satisfactory. Plans are made to replace any unsatisfactory items or acquire the missing ones. The chef then assigns tasks to the kitchen staff and shows them how to prepare and serve any special meals. Around mid-day when guests start arriving for lunch, the chef sits at the pass through window to ensure every meal is served properly. After lunch, the chef directs the kitchen staff on how to clean up and prepare for dinner services. The chef then goes and does other administrative duties such as ordering inventory and planning menus. During dinner services, the chef will still sit at the pass through to inspect the served food (Henderson).
Chefs normally work from early mornings to late nights every day including weekends and holidays. The kitchens are hot, humid and contain various hazards like knives, fires, and hot objects. Chefs can work in different institutions including hotels, restaurants, catering industries, and public sectors like hospitals. All these sectors pay different salaries, but the median salary for a chef is $45,920 a year (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Other benefits that a chef may be entitled to are health benefits, life insurance, paid vacation, and retirement plans. All these vary depending on the employment industry.
What most chefs like about the job is the freedom to create their schedule and follow inspiration to play around with new culinary recipes in the menu planning, which I would also like. However, most chefs say that managing a kitchen is a very complicated task that requires a lot of time and experience to perform effectively. What I would not like about this career is that it takes seven to eight years of related experience before one becomes an executive chef that is the one of the highest positions in the culinary industry (James). The advice that I was given is that it takes time to become a good chef. The process requires working in disciplined and orderly environments under the supervision of extremely demanding and exacting professional chefs. It takes great patience and character to go through this process but the result will be worth it.
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, most chefs were employed in restaurants, followed by travel agencies and special food services. Job opportunities as chefs are expected to increase by only 5% because of the increased use of lower level kitchen staff to do most of the work involved in food preparation
The Chef Profession Today
Guillaume Tirel also known as Taillevent from France was the first great chief to be recognized in history. Since then the chef profession has changed with various issues arising today. Most women in the profession say that they have experienced sexism. Women in the profession are being paid less than their male counterparts who do the same job and have less experience. Most kitchens do not have women working there and the few who get an opportunity to do so have to become invisible to cope with the work environment (Chukes). The chef profession has also been found to cause a lot of stress. This is because of the excess workloads, feeling undervalued and improper communication (Murray-Gibbons). The reason behind these practices was that individuals with power in the profession used the opportunity to oppress others.
Works cited
Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Occupational Employment Statisics.” Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2015. Web. 5 May 2016.
Chukes, Tamara. If You Can’T Stand the Heat, Get out of the Kitchen. The Role Gender Plays in Professional Kitchens. 2014. Web. 5 May 2016.
Henderson, Maggie. “A day in the life of a restaurant chef.” Chef’s Corner. FSW Season’d, 15 July 2015. Web. 5 May 2016.
James, Terrence. “Reality in the restaurant business - reality & professionalism.” Food Reference. 2014. Web. 5 May 2016.
Murray‐Gibbons R. “Occupational Stress in the Chef Profession.” International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 19.1 (2015): 32–42. Web.
