Rex Trulove
Did you know that there is a difference between a chef and a cook? People who work in restaurants know that there is a distinct difference. Many other people don’t realize this and some still don’t agree that there is a difference at all.
When I worked in the restaurant business, I was both a cook and a head cook (as well as the other positions I held), but I was never a chef. What can make it especially confusing is the definition from the dictionary. You read that right; the dictionary actually doesn’t contain the correct definition, as it is used in the foodservice industry.
Here is the definition of “chef” from Miriam-Webster’s dictionary:
1: a skilled cook who manages the kitchen (as of a restaurant) 2: COOK
Quite a few other dictionaries give a similar definition. A few dictionaries state that a chef is someone who cooks professionally. I cooked professionally and as the head cook, I managed the kitchen and the kitchen staff, yet I was not a chef. Here is why.
Although there is no one organization that determines who is a chef and who isn’t, in the restaurant business, a chef is not only someone who is highly trained, cooks professionally, and manages the kitchen, (all of that was true of me) but also a chef is someone who has graduated a school of culinary arts after a two or four-year period of formal education. As I said, I was highly trained, cooked professionally, and managed the kitchen and staff, but I never went to a culinary school, so I never graduated from such a school, therefore, I was never a chef. I don’t have a college degree in cooking.
I often will acknowledge that I was a professional cook, but never say that I was a chef. To me, there is a substantial difference. To many other people, though, they are the same thing.
-
Which definition do you normally agree with, in regard to “Chef”?
-
Anyone who cooks
-
Someone who cooks for a living (professional cook)
-
A professional cook who also manages the kitchen
-
A professional cook who manages the kitchen and has a two-year or four-year college degree in cooking
-
My understanding of a cook is one who can cook using the recipes. A chef has knowledge of the ways and means of cooking aside from the recipe. They know that cold water is used to melt corn starch, things like that.
I can understand that viewpoint. However, I rarely use a recipe to cook something. At best, I’ll use a recipe to get an idea going in my mind. That is why it is easy for me to post recipes because I’ve simply put things together and found that they tasted good.
Chefs are professionals with a degree, no doubt.
That is exactly how I feel.
I thought about it…for a minute…but didn’t want to spend the rest of my career on my feet in a boiling hot kitchen.
I can surely understand that.
Rex, sadly I am leaving Virily. I will still be able to keep in touch via Facebook. I don’t think you are on MyLot, are you?
No, I’m not on MyLot. I write here and on Quora, but currently nowhere else. I make money here, but make no money on Quora. Still, Quora drives traffic to what I write here. 🙂
I’ll miss you.
Thank you. I’ll miss you too!
ok I have a headache now.
I agree with the traditional definition but I would be open to a new definition.
In college, I was the head cook at a fancy restaurant but I worked for a chef. I managed the people working when I was cooking, the chef managed everything else.
I thought about becoming a chef but its more than I really wanted to do!
I’m the same way. I thought about going to school and becoming a chef but decided that it was more work than it was worth to me. It certainly wouldn’t have helped me at this point in my life, though I still do a lot of cooking and like cooking. I just don’t do it professionally anymore.
I love cooking – I am in the same boat! I would rather be in my current job than working as a chef now.
I think Chef …………….