Cooks plan menus, estimate requirements, and order food from suppliers, measure and mix ingredients and season foods, test food being cooked, and apportion and arrange it on serving plates. They may wash and prepare vegetables and fruits. Butchers are often classified by the types of meat they prepare: meat butchers, poultry butchers, and fish butchers. Other workers bake breads, cakes, and pastries, and supervise other cooks and kitchen employees. Cooks may be specialists in one particular type of food preparation, such as baker, sauce cook, or vegetable cook. Others work in specialized places, such as railroad train cooks, passenger and cargo ship cooks, or psychiatric hospital cooks.
Chefs participate in many of the tasks of cooks and other kitchen personnel, but their primary responsibility is to supervise and coordinate the activities of the specialists engaged in preparing and cooking foods. In addition to many of the same duties assigned to cooks, chefs select and develop recipes, may hire, train, and dismiss workers, and keep time and payroll records. Some chefs specialize by type of cuisine, such as French, German, or Italian. The duties of bakers are in many ways similar to those of cooks and chefs, but they specialize in the preparation of breads, rolls, muffins, biscuits, pies, cakes, cookies, and pastries.
The art of cooking is as ancient as the history of humankind. The early Greeks, Egyptian, and Romans valued cooks as highly respected members of society. France has offered to the world some of the finest cooks and chefs. Historical records reflect the interest of the French people in the art of cookery. Even today, cooks and chefs who know the art of French cuisine are valued in some of the world’s most luxurious hotels and restaurants.
The hostelries of early American days provided food and rest for the weary traveler. Although these inns and taverns employed cooks, it was not until hotels were built in large cities that the occupation of a cook was really developed.
The pleasure of dining out has become big business in the United States. The public has its choice from the simplest, most inexpensive meal to the most expensive and elaborate. Whether a restaurant prides itself on “home cooking” or an exotic foreign cuisine, its cooks and chefs are largely responsible for the reputation it acquires.
With their cook job career, cooks and chefs are primarily responsible for the preparation and cooking of foods. Chefs usually supervise the work of cooks. However, the skills required and the job duties performed may vary depending upon the size and type of food service offered.
Cooks and chefs begin the preparation of food by planning menus in advance. They estimate the amount of food that will be required for a specified period of time, order it from precious suppliers, and check it for quantity and quality when it is received. Following recipes, they measure and mix ingredients for soups, salads, gravies, sauces, casseroles, and desserts, and prepare meats, poultry, fish, vegetables, and other foods for baking, roasting, broiling, and steaming. The utensils and equipment used in food preparation may include blenders, mixers, grinders, slicers, and tenderizers. The large cooking equipment consists of ovens, broilers, grills, roasters, and steam kettles, all with thermostatic controls that must be adjusted to regulate temperatures. During the mixing and cooking, cooks and chefs rely on their personal judgment and experience to add seasoning. They constantly taste and smell food being cooked and pierce it with a fork to test it for doneness. To fill orders, they carve meats, arrange food portions on serving plates, and add appropriate gravies, sauces, or garnishes.
Some larger establishments employ specialized cooks, such as pie makers, pastry cooks, and pastry cook helpers. The chef de Froid designs and prepares buffets, and larger cooks prepare cold dishes for luncheon and dinner serving. Other specialists are raw shellfish preparers and carvers, and the garden manager who specializes in preparing cold meats and dishes made from leftovers. In smaller establishments that do not employ many specialized cooks or kitchen helpers, the general cooks may have to do some of the preliminary work themselves, such as washing, peeling, cutting, and shredding vegetables and fruits. In larger commercial kitchens, the chefs may be responsible for the work of a number of cooks, each preparing and cooking food in specialized areas. They may, for example, employ expert cooks who are specialized in frying, baking, roasting, broiling, or in sauce cookery. Cooks are usually titled by the specialized kinds of cooking they do, such as fry, vegetable, or pastry. Chefs have the major responsibility for supervising the overall preparation and cooking of the food as part of chef careers.
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