So what is a chef really well here comes the list... A cheesemonger, a butcher, a grocer, a fishmonger, a part time baker and scientist, a knife sharpener, a fashionista, an artist, a researcher, a critic and probably a few more.. Lets try to explain these away...
A cheesemonger now whilst no chef can become an expert in all these fields a chef aspiring needs to understand a lot of different fields, it goes way beyond just cooking and mixing and placing. You ask why a cheesemonger it's simple I see it many times and have been served it. If we aspire to give the best to our customers we have to have the skills to ascertain it is. For cheese this is the ability to judge whether the cheese is ripe, or in the correct state of maturity for keeping and serving. A simple explanation and a sin I've seen many times is the brie/camembert with it's chalky center served ice cold, at the other end cheese so musty and liquid it should of walked to the bin.
The butcher as chefs we need to be able to tell are we being sold the best has the beef spent too long in a vac pac bag slowly souring. Be able to tell whether a piece of beef has the correct marbling. Also you have the delivery of 30 lamb shoulders that should of been boned(Done this one). Be able to seam butcher a haunch of venison etc...
As for the grocer a chef needs to be able to tell whether that asparagus really is worth buying or is just a prize worn as a medal with little value. Understand, and I've battled this one many times, that whilst variety of potatoes have an impact on a crispy chip, life out of the ground probably has a greater one. I've seen this with mash, you have a variety of potato that mashes fine then it just stops, it's highly likely its down to starch turning to sugar.
On to fish again pretty much as the butcher be able to tell fresh from not, easy when it's stiff alive but not often you'll see this. Know how to gut and prep fish, be able to ascertain the diet of the farmed salmon and therefore the quality.
With the baker/pastry be able to determine again the quality of the product distinguish real sourdough from not sourdough. Be able to tell if your pastry chef is trying to pass of an over cooked brulee and on and on.
As for the scientist I'm not talking the Heston Blumethal potions and wizardry but the basics when the egg white sets why the egg yolk emulsifies, be able to determine why an ingredient is in a recipe etc... Sometimes you don't actually need to know! A prime example is the whisking of egg whites in a copper bowl, has been done for decades if not centuries knowing the science doesn't make it an less or better than the best way to do it.
Then a good tradesman never blames his tools therefore knowing how to look after them and even identify a bad one from a good knife is a paramount quality for a chef.
Fashionista here I'm not talking about the fads and trends many do follow. Here I'm talking about identifying what is the latest best, this may be crockery, a product. For if trying to produce the best we have to also set the environment with the best. A prime example and whilst still a fine product where Valhrona was the premier product and is probably still the work horse chocolate for many a fine kitchen, times have moved on and it's no longer king.
Many a discussion abounds whether it's art or science it's a little of both when taken in an artistic point of view I can think of no other art that can appeal to all senses. The sound and feel of the crunch, the sight of the plated dish, the smell and the taste of the food. Ok taking it to an extreme but in pushing boundaries and developing the extravagant, art is an element in cooking even if it's well adjusted with a good measure of science. I'll blog about this at another time for I've seen the pedantic recipe enforcer vs the natural reactionist both have strengths but neither are conclusive and both touch elements of the other.
The critic all the best chefs I've worked with have been their hardest critics yet neither fearing criticism for this is how we learn and adjust. Cooking just for ourselves would be so much easier but more often and not we're trying to/or will replicate or invoke that experience/memory be that a time or childhood favourite cooked by someone loved.
On to fish again pretty much as the butcher be able to tell fresh from not, easy when it's stiff alive but not often you'll see this. Know how to gut and prep fish, be able to ascertain the diet of the farmed salmon and therefore the quality.
With the baker/pastry be able to determine again the quality of the product distinguish real sourdough from not sourdough. Be able to tell if your pastry chef is trying to pass of an over cooked brulee and on and on.
As for the scientist I'm not talking the Heston Blumethal potions and wizardry but the basics when the egg white sets why the egg yolk emulsifies, be able to determine why an ingredient is in a recipe etc... Sometimes you don't actually need to know! A prime example is the whisking of egg whites in a copper bowl, has been done for decades if not centuries knowing the science doesn't make it an less or better than the best way to do it.
Then a good tradesman never blames his tools therefore knowing how to look after them and even identify a bad one from a good knife is a paramount quality for a chef.
Fashionista here I'm not talking about the fads and trends many do follow. Here I'm talking about identifying what is the latest best, this may be crockery, a product. For if trying to produce the best we have to also set the environment with the best. A prime example and whilst still a fine product where Valhrona was the premier product and is probably still the work horse chocolate for many a fine kitchen, times have moved on and it's no longer king.
Many a discussion abounds whether it's art or science it's a little of both when taken in an artistic point of view I can think of no other art that can appeal to all senses. The sound and feel of the crunch, the sight of the plated dish, the smell and the taste of the food. Ok taking it to an extreme but in pushing boundaries and developing the extravagant, art is an element in cooking even if it's well adjusted with a good measure of science. I'll blog about this at another time for I've seen the pedantic recipe enforcer vs the natural reactionist both have strengths but neither are conclusive and both touch elements of the other.
The critic all the best chefs I've worked with have been their hardest critics yet neither fearing criticism for this is how we learn and adjust. Cooking just for ourselves would be so much easier but more often and not we're trying to/or will replicate or invoke that experience/memory be that a time or childhood favourite cooked by someone loved.
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