October 21st is World Chef’s Day. A prestigious profession that is now very fashionable thanks to the multiple cooking programs providing value, recognition and interest in the profession. What would we nosotr@s do without cociner@s?
Those who really enhanced the career of chef in our country were the mothers and fathers of the kitchen, elevating gastronomy to levels never seen before, such as when the boom of molecular cuisine arrived thanks to Ferran Adrià, with the help of the participation of químic@s to achieve its purpose. Even a simple olive became an expectation.
There are different types of chefs and cooks with a pyramidal hierarchy and very differentiated tasks depending on the position they occupy.
At the top is chef ejecutiv@. What does it do? He/she has a lot of responsibility, he/she is the first link in the kitchen and from him/her will derive the proper functioning of the rest of the team. He is the person in charge of food production, planning menus and menus, preparing scandals, direct contact with suppliers and hiring personnel.
Sous-Chef or Sub-Chef. He is the kitchen segund@ and assistant chef ejecutiv@. Their most prominent functions are to plan and direct how the dish is presented, organize the staff, train new chefs, prepare schedules and make sure that the diner receives the dish as previously agreed, with the highest quality to achieve total customer satisfaction.
Chef pasteler@. As the name suggests, he or she is responsible for the desserts. Plan and develop the dessert, pastry and bakery menu.
Chef at the station or at the start. There are stations according to the type of cuisine and needs of the restaurant and, consequently, one person responsible per departure. Their duties are to make sure that the product is in perfect condition and that the dish is cooked and plated as agreed. They will also take care of preparing and loading the item before the service and write down the needs for the chef to make the corresponding purchases. In Abrassame we have 5 stations/departures.
Cold room: Salads, cold soups, cold starters and fish and meat served cold come from here.
Hot room: This is where all the rice dishes and paellas are cooked. Soups, broths and main dishes also come out.
Fryer: In this game all the fried dishes are cooked, such as the delicious ham croquettes, aubergines with honey, our bravas…
Show cooking fish: From the charcoal oven come all the grilled fish and the monumental seafood
Show cooking meats: And finally, the succulent meats such as grilled meat and our Simmental old beef ribeye matured for 50 days.
To be a chef, in addition to studying and having professional experience, you must acquire operational and managerial knowledge. In addition to knowing how to cook, you have to have leadership skills, work in a team, communicate emotionally, manage conflicts, and know how to work under pressure.
If you like cooking, consider acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to spread joy and happiness.