Introduction to the World of Culinary Arts

Introduction to the World of Culinary Arts Introduction The art of cooking, with its cooking techniques and cooking methods is best understood and appreciated when taking a glance back at history The art of cooking clearly developed in relation to the cultural, economic and political circumstances of the times. The art of cooking actually started way back with the Egyptians, then Constantinople and the through Italy, when great Italian Renaissance chef developed flavorful dishes. It was with the marriage of Catherine de Medici to Henry II of France that Italian Court Cuisine was brought to France and this began the 100 year evolution of French Court Cuisine. Marie - Antoine Carême (1783 - 1833) towards the end of the 18th century, put into place great changes towards a more professional cooking and recording of methods. Prior to that, in the French Baroque period, food was not considered nutritious. It served more as an entertainment for high society. It was in Carême's era that Classical French Cuisine was born. Growing tourism and trading in the 1900s spurred the opening of new hotels and restaurants. In this period, cooking techniques, methods, recipes, equipments, and utensils were developed. One of the geniuses of cuisine, who always should be remembered, is Auguste Escoffier (1847 - 1935), a vital contributor to the period of the Classical Cuisine - the standard used by all international hotels until the 1960s. Nouvelle Cuisine is based on French Classical Cuisine, however is not limited by its structure. The cuisine is creative and seeks absolute perfection in taste and presentation. It has to be said that celebrated chefs of Nouvelle Cuisine began as individuals well versed in Classical Cuisine, while other chefs simply follow what is fashionable. The next level in cooking is Modern Cooking, which is also based on French Classical Cuisine. Modern Cooking is strongly influenced by nutritional science and ecological principles and also pays attention to social changes, and selectively includes dishes or ingredients of other culinary traditions. Spa Cuisine is also based on Modern Cooking; however, it is strongly influenced by diet and ecology. Less meat is used in favor of unprocessed grains, fish, and vegetables. Kitchen Organization Following is a listing of possible kitchen sections in a large hotel operation and their basic functions: Food Processing Kitchen (Commissary kitchen) In large operations, it has become the usual practice to have a food-processing kitchen for the processing of all vegetables, salads and fruits. The purpose of this kitchen is to wash, peel, sanitize and cut all raw products, to increase the hygienic and sanitary standards in the kitchen. This will reduce waste enormously in all other kitchens. Cold Kitchen/ Pantry Kitchen The cold kitchen is sometimes also called the pantry or garde manger kitchen and it produces all cold food items such as salads, dressings, cold platters, terrines, pates, sushi, sashimi, cheese, fruit, etc. In a small operation where there is no butchery section, the garde manger kitchen also assumes the responsibility for processing and portioning all meat, fish, and seafood items. Butchery The butchery is in charge of processing and portioning all meat, fish and seafood items. In large operations, the butchery will also produce their own processed meat and seafood items, such as sausages, smoked and cooked ham, smoked fish and seafood, etc. Main Kitchen The main kitchen is in charge of producing hot dishes for various outlets, as well as the hot basic sauces for all operations. Generally if there is no banquet kitchen, the main kitchen will also produce the hot food for banquet and catering functions, as well as staff food in certain operations. Introduction to the World of Culinary Arts 1 Banquet Kitchen The banquet kitchen in most operations is a finishing kitchen. If the banquet operation is large, it could be a fully operational kitchen. If the banquet kitchen functions as a finishing kitchen, the hot food is generally prepared in the main kitchen and the cold food in the cold kitchen, while the desserts and breads are made in the pastry and bakery kitchen. The banquet kitchen is also called a satellite kitchen if the kitchen is only used as a finishing and service kitchen. Restaurant Kitchens Most hotel restaurant kitchens are finishing kitchens, with the exception of specialty restaurant kitchens, such as western fine dining, and ethnic restaurants, such as Chinese, Japanese etc. as they do have their special processing and finishing requirements. Room Service Kitchen Generally, room service food is provided from the individual restaurant kitchens, usually the coffee shop. However hotels with a high number of guest rooms may have a separate room service kitchen to increase the service efficiency. Staff Canteen Kitchen Large hotel operations with a high number of employees have their own staff canteen kitchen. However as these kitchens generally are small, they are partly supported by the main kitchen, cold kitchen and butchery. The pastry and bakery kitchen provides desserts and breads. Pastry Kitchen The pastry kitchen is hi charge of producing all types of cold, warm and frozen desserts, as well as pralines, cookies, sugar work, marzipan work etc. for the restaurants, banquet, deli and guest room amenities. Bakery The bakery is in charm- of all baking requirements, such as breads, and the production of special baking requirements for the kitchen and pastry. Kitchen Brigade Corporate Chef This is the highest position for a chef in a hotel chain organization or for a chain of restaurants. She or he is responsible for overseeing culinary quality standards in all hotels. She or he creates new food concept ideas for all hotels or certain regions, or new hotel openings or renovations. Executive Chef (Chef de cuisine) He or she- has the administrative and operational responsibility of all the daily kitchen operations of one hotel. He or she ensures that all supply requirements for all operations are in place. The executive chef develops and implements new menus, promotions and festivals. He or she /evaluates, based on recommendations, promotes or dismisses staff, and also directly interacts with banquet sales and marketing to produce special menus for functions or groups staying in the hotel. The executive chef updates the food and beverage director on all activities in his operation and is responsible for the monthly food cost of her/his department. Executive Sous Chef He or she is the immediate assistant of the Executive Chef and directly supervises all operational activity. Generally in charge of certain administrative work, such as daily rosters, evaluation of his/her immediate subordinates, coordination for function set ups, or special promotional set. Sous-Chef These days this title is commonly given to chefs in charge of an outlet or kitchen section. In the past they were called chefs de partie. They directly run day-to-day outlet operations. They directly coordinate with the executive sous - chef and are responsible for the supplies, proper staffing and food quality produced in their outlets. They also appraise and interview new staff and recommend promotion and dismissal of staff. Introduction to the World of Culinary Arts 2 Section chef– Chef de partie Chef de partie (partie means section in French) comes from the time when big hotels had only one main kitchen and the executive chef and sous - chef were present in the kitchen. The following section chef positions did exist once, however today, chefs have to multi task as labor costs are too high. The most important section chef positions are: Sauce cook – Saucier Prepares all meat, game, poultry, fish and warm appetizers with sauces. Broiler cook – Rötisseur Prepares all grilled dishes, roasts and dishes that are oven roasted or deep-fat fried. Ala carte cook – In large kitchen operations, with various outlets, he prepares a la Restaurateur carte dishes. Fish cook – Poissonnier In large kitchen operations, relieves the sauce cook from the preparation of fish and seafood dishes. Vegetable cook – In charge of the preparation of soups, vegetables, potatoes, pasta, Entremetier warm cheese, and egg dishes. Pantry Chef – Garde- Supervises all cold food preparations and also monitors all chillers Manger and freezers. Bones and portions all meat, game, poultry and fish in smaller operations. Prepares salads, cold appetizers, dressings, cold sauces, buffet platters and decorations. In the past, for large kitchens, appetizers were produced by the hors - d'oeuvre Butcher – Boucher de This position is only for large kitchen. In the old days, they only cuisine boned and portioned raw meat. Today the butchery of a hotel handles meat, fish and seafood, and if they are professionally trained butchers, they also prepare processed meats. Other Chefs or Cook Positions: Swing Chef – Chef In bigger operations she or he is a reliever for the chefs de partie on Tournant their days off and is generally an experienced chef. Duty cook – Chef de This position was created for operations with split shifts wherein the garde restaurant stays open during lean afternoon hours or late evening hours. Usually the chef de garde is a senior cook like a commis or demi chef. Dietitian – Diététicien Originally this was more an advisory position in spa hotels and hospitals wherein guests were advised of their special diet needs. The dietician prepares special diet menus and the calculation of nutritional values. Today a diet chef goes through an apprenticeship position in addition to the regular culinary apprenticeship to become a cook specializing preparing diet food. Demi Chef A position between rank and file and supervisor. He/she stronger cook than a commis but still not experienced enough to become a chef de partie. Takes on some of the supervisory functions of the chef de partie, especially in his/her absence. Staff cook – Cuisinier A cook who prepares the meals for the staff.

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