There are many instances where people think that a Chef is basically same as a Cook. But it is not the case. A Chef is different from a Cook in many ways. I mean not physically, but in terms of job responsibility and rank in the culinary industry. But both of them also share some similarities where I will briefly talk about it in the rest of this article.
Besides, other than a Chef and Cook, there is also a distinct type of kitchen staff called Food Preparation Worker. Food preparation worker is in the lowest rank among them all in the food service industry organization hierarchy. This article will also cover Food Preparation Worker and talks about its duties briefly.
Chef, Cook and food preparation worker are the most common employees employed in the food service industry such as in a restaurant, hotel, school canteen, hospital cafeteria fast food chains, military services and so on. First of all, a Chef is usually a professional cook who has undergone a formal education and has received a 4 year Bachelor Degree or a 2-year Associate Degree in a culinary college. It’s very common that most of the Chefs in large establishments especially hotels, casino and full-services restaurants have obtained at least a 2-year Associate Degree. If you want to know what a professional Chef is, you can read about it in this article, “What is a Chef?“. The article briefly talks about the profession of Chef and the requirement to become a professional Chef.
In terms of job responsibility, a Chef is responsible for directing the activities of other kitchen staffs such as a Cook and food preparation workers. Usually the Chefs are the one who make the final decision in determining how the food should be cook and presented to the customers. Moreover, a Chef also takes charge in menu planning, recipe creation, food and supply ordering and some specific cooking duties such as a customized meal. Aside from kitchen duties, a Chef is also responsible for some of the management work in an organization. He or she maybe required to do work such as marketing, finance, business planning, communication, purchasing, and some computer work. Leadership skill such as the ability to manage a group of Cooks and kitchen staffs and communicate effectively with them is part of the job function for a professional Chef. Simply put, a Chef is doing more than just cooking and preparing food.
On the other hand, a Cook is ranked lower than a Chef in the organization hierarchy. A Cook is only responsible for all the kitchen duties such as day to day food preparation and all the cooking. Depending on the size of the facility or restaurant, the number of Cooks varies and each Cook is responsible for a different part of the menu or different type of food. For instance, there are fry cooks, vegetable cooks, pastry cooks, and other specialties. There maybe only one Chef in the facility that manages all of these Cooks. A Cook may not require an Associate Degree or a Bachelor Degree to handle the job. Most of the Cooks learn their trade either through apprenticeship or some culinary training in high school or a college. They are not required to handle the management work of the company. Their work function is limited to the duties performed in the kitchen.
Enough of Chef and Cook, the last kitchen staff in the hierarchy is the Food Preparation Worker. Food preparation worker works under the supervision of Chefs and Cooks. They perform duties which require less culinary skills. For example, they may chop vegetables, prepare salads and prepare all the ingredients used by the Chefs and Cooks.
In short, there maybe some job overlapping between a Chef and Cook in some establishments that employs them. But overall, a Chef typically has more training than a Cook, including a culinary degree.
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