Types of Chefs

The success of any culinary service provider depends greatly on the quality of food served. The responsibility for food preparation is on chefs mainly. Undeniably cooking is not an easy task but with knowledge, training and skills one can learn this craft. Aspiring chefs can hone their skills and become the best chefs by getting credentials from good culinary schools and with experience. Chefs are titled under various heads depending upon their expertise:

• Head Chef or Chef de Cuisine: Head chef or Chef de Cuisine is in charge of the kitchen and directs and coordinates the work of other kitchen staff. They are responsible for managing and supervising staff, estimating food requirements, ensuring standards, planning meals, preparing menus, ordering food supplies, recruiting assistant chefs and other workers, etc. The head chef has the skills and experience to cook varied types of dishes.

• Sous Chef: Sous chef is the assistant of the head chef and is second in command. He takes up the responsibilities of the head chef when he is not available. Sous chef or assistant chef teaches new cooking styles to the kitchen staff and informs them on using various kitchen equipment. He sometimes plans menus, requisition food, and kitchen supplies. They may also prepare or store food and sometimes approve menus and check the standards. Small restaurants don’t have any assistant chefs whereas big ones have many.

• Expediter / Announcer: The expediter is responsible to take orders from the dining room and communicate to the concerned person in the kitchen. They also give the finishing touches to the dish. Sometimes the task of the expediter is performed either by the head chef or the sous chef.

• Chef de Partie / Line Cook / Specialist Cook: Specialist chefs are highly specialized cooks who are in charge of a particular department in the kitchen. They normally cook complete meals or specialty foods like pastries, sauces, soups, meat, fish dishes, salad, vegetables, etc. They instruct and supervise the kitchen staff in preparation, cooking, decorating, and presenting the food. The various specialty or line chefs are: Saute chef, fish chef, grill chef, butcher, fry chef, pastry chef, pasta chef, roast chef meat chef and more.

• Food Preparation Workers: Food preparation workers perform the routine tasks which require lesser skills like cleaning, peeling, and slicing the vegetables, to stir and strain soups and sauces, cut and grind meat, poultry, seafood, cleaning the kitchen, utensils, etc.

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