The ingredients of a great chef
Posted: February 23, 2015 at 10:28 am
What makes a great chef?
Many people can cook a decent meal but what is it that sets these superheroes apart from the rest? The role of the chef is one that is often overlooked, they are the ones that are often forgotten at 6am in the morning. It is often forgotten that this chef didn’t get to bed until 1am as he had a late function to attend to.
Patience:
They do say patience is a virtue and this can never be as true in the role of a chef. Food doesn’t always go to plan, your carefully created soufflé may not rise as expected and there is never any rushing a slow cooked shoulder of lamb. Forget trying to rush something that needs time.A chef’s job is one that is hard and tiresome but also one that brings with it many rewards and for those very few that make it to the top, the prospects are great with a high salary to match. So for those of you who are perhaps interested in becoming a chef; maybe you are a school leaver and wondering what to do after you have left education or perhaps you are wanting a change of career? Here we have a little guide as to what attributes make a great chef.
The ability to listen and learn:
Others have gotten to where they are by learning from others. Few are born with the ability to throw something together and get great results every time. The ability to listen and learn and listen some more will get you much further than reading a cooking book.
Creativity:
Creativity comes along with being bold and brave in your choices. What sets a great chef apart from the others is the risk element. Pushing boundaries of what is classed as the norm and wanting to raise the bar even higher makes a chef great.
Handle criticism well:
You can never please everybody every time. Not everybody will adore your brave attempt at combining 2 ingredients together and creating a dish that has gone above and beyond what has been done before. Others may adore it. Moving on and accepting the criticism is as important as creating the dish in the first place.
Multi-tasking:
It will be a rare occurrence that everything is ready at the same time unless you have carefully planned. The ability to handle several orders coming in at once and ensure that everything reaches the table in the right conditions is going to be difficult but not impossible with carefully planning and multi-tasking.
Being a team player:
Do you like solitude? Perhaps you prefer to work alone? If so, perhaps you should reconsider being a chef. The ability to work as team and get on with a diverse range of people is a necessary attribute. From the head chef to the servers; everyone plays an important role in enabling the cogs of a kitchen to work in harmony.
Good Business sense:
The ability to create high quality and perhaps ground breaking dishes does not come cheap, however to be a success a chef needs to be able to manage costs, enabling meals to retain their outstanding quality without forgoing making a profit.
Practice, practice and practice some more:
By learning the best techniques a trained chef will be able to use their time efficiently and effectively to gain maximum benefits. This will only occur from practicing things over and over again. Yes it may get boring but by repeating something it will become second nature and thus make life a lot easier in the future.
Please share your comments or questions with us about what you think makes up a great chef.
