Chef (Chefkok)
Information on this skill...
A chef is the head of a professional kitchen department and sometimes the owner of a restaurant. As a chef, you manage all employees in the kitchen. A chef may work in a variety of kitchens, such as in a hotel, restaurant, or convention center, or may work in the kitchen of an institution. The work of a chef can differ per company, because not all companies or institutions cook culinary delights. A chef is in all cases an experienced all-round cook, who has a lot of experience and knowledge with regard to cooking. In addition, a chef must have managerial abilities, because in most cases the chef will manage different types of kitchen employees. In addition to cooking, the chef generally makes the kitchen planning and operational plans. Think, for example, of purchasing ingredients, making budgets, compiling the menu and making the personnel planning. As a chef, you have multiple responsibilities, which are not only related to cooking. The chef also ensures that hygienic work is done in the kitchen. A kitchen employs more people than just the chef, such as a sous chef and regular chefs. How many people work in a kitchen depends entirely on the type of business. For example, the chef gives clear instructions to the assistant cooks, who carry out preparatory work for the chef. Working in a professional kitchen can be seen as a team sport, in which all kitchen employees are responsible for specific work. Working in a kitchen can often be stressful during busy hours. It is therefore important that the chef can steer everything in the right direction and keeps an overview in the kitchen. Even if not everything runs smoothly in the kitchen, it is the chef's responsibility to intervene.
In many cases, the chef is also cooking himself and the chef is responsible for all the food that leaves the kitchen. Despite the fact that a chef uses a sous-chef, cooks and kitchen assistants, the chef remains responsible for the final quality of the dishes. In addition to managing the kitchen and cooking itself, the chef is responsible for the financial management of the kitchen. The chef often buys his own products and negotiates the price of the products. If products are delivered to the kitchen, the chef will also check them for quality. Because the chef is in charge of the kitchen, he or she is also responsible for the planning in the kitchen. For example, it is very important that there are enough people present in the kitchen to be able to manage all work in the right direction. Compiling the menu is also a task of the chef. The tasks of a chef are therefore very diverse, and are not limited to being able to cook tasty meals for guests. Actually, cooking is only a small part of all work. In addition to the chef cooking and directing the kitchen, the chef will regularly show himself to the guests. Becoming a chef is generally only possible if you have a lot of experience, knowledge and managerial abilities. A chef can therefore also be seen as a manager.
COMPILING THE MENU
Compiling the menu is also a task of the chef. How often a chef will change the menu can differ per restaurant. To be able to make a good menu, a chef must have the necessary creativity, because innovation is important for restaurants. Playing with new dishes, beating at the right season of the year, is very important. It is also perfectly conceivable that a chef visits a local vegetable grower to view the products in the field. The making of new dishes is often preceded by many inspections, before a dish actually appears on the menu. Selecting the right wines for the dishes is also important for restaurants. Most restaurants choose new dishes and wines with the help of all the staff, in order to arrive at a good menu. There may also be a sommelier, who specializes in wine-food combinations.
CHEF IS A CREATIVE PROFESSION
The profession of chef is generally full of challenges and can be called a creative profession. The guests of a restaurant go out to eat to be pampered and are generally looking for a special experience. It is the chef's responsibility to make this experience come true through the dishes. That's why it's so important for the chef to regularly change menus and cook according to the seasons of the year. Following new trends and applying them in professional kitchens is also very important. In all cases, the quality of dishes must be high, because otherwise the guests will eventually stay away. A restaurant can still be so beautiful, but if the food is disappointing, the guests do not come a second time. In order to give guests the right experience, it is important as a chef to keep innovating. Tasting food for yourself is also common as a chef.
WORKING AS A CHEF
The profession of chef can generally be regarded as a fair to heavy profession. Especially chefs, who cook at a high level and therefore have to perform, can often experience a lot of pressure, because the expectations are high. In addition, during certain periods, such as during the holidays, it can be extra busy, so that the work pressure can be completely high. It is therefore so important that a chef can make use of a good kitchen team that is fully integrated with each other. In fact, a kitchen department with all the different employees should be seen as a well-oiled machine, which is fully integrated with each other. The profession of chef can be regarded as a beautiful profession, but the profession of chef will have to suit you, because a chef has many responsibilities. Not everyone can just become a chef, because a chef must be able to do more than just make tasty dishes.
WHAT DOES A CHEF DO:
CHEF TRAINING
There are no professional training courses to become a chef. A chef should be seen as an all-round cook, who has worked his way up to become a chef. The most focused training to become a cook is the MBO training cook at level two. After following the Mbo training cook, a cook will have to continue learning by following the MBO training independently working cook at level three. After the MBO training independently working cook, a cook can continue to learn for the MBO training managerial cook / kitchen at level four. The profession of chef should also be seen as fairly general, because a chef can also work at different levels. Becoming a real chef within the better restaurants is generally only possible if a chef has gained a lot of experience and knowledge from well-known chefs, who should be seen as a teacher. As described earlier, not every cook can become a chef. A chef must be able to do more than just prepare tasty dishes. In addition, there are also plenty of external training institutes where you can follow a course. Accounting is also important as an entrepreneur.
COMPANIES WHERE A CHEF CAN WORK
A chef works within the better restaurants. Restaurant is a broad concept, because a chef can also work within companies that use a restaurant, such as congress centers, hotels, recreational parks and the regular company restaurants. In addition, a chef may work for beach bars or for shipping companies that have cruise ships. In that case, a chef can be regarded as a leading ship's cook. It is also conceivable that a good chef works as an entrepreneur within his own restaurant. Actually, a chef can work within many different catering establishments.
CHEF'S COMPETENCES
The most important competence as a chef is the all-round professional knowledge of cooking, because otherwise you cannot become a chef In addition, a chef must have the necessary creativity and inspiration, because that is very important as a chef. Another important competence is that a chef has managerial abilities, because a chef can be seen as a manager. Because a chef has a lot to do with kitchen staff, guests and external suppliers, a chef must have good communication skills. Stress resistance can also be regarded as an important competence, because the work pressure is high. Generally important words are hygiene, quality, performance, independence, insight, motivating, planning, organizing, managing and hosting. Because a chef is also responsible for the purchase of products, the chef must also have a commercial attitude.
LABOUR MARKET PERSPECTIVE AND CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AS A CHEF
As a well-trained chef, it is usually no problem to find chef vacancies or self-employed assignments. For restaurants, the presentation and taste of the meals is important for their right to exist. A good chef is therefore very important for restaurants. The competition among restaurants is very high and with a negative experience, customers often do not come back. As a chef, you have already achieved the highest achievable in the kitchen. Growing further as a chef should therefore rather be sought in achieving one or more Michelin stars or starting your own restaurant.
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT AND SALARY OF CHEF
As a chef, you generally work a lot of hours and are usually at work when other people are free, such as weekends, evenings, and holidays. Anyone who wants to work in the hospitality industry must be aware of this. The pressure in a kitchen can also increase if it becomes unexpectedly busy. Depending on the type of restaurant, age, experience, a chef in paid employment earns between 2500 and 3500 euros gross per month. However, the salary is highly dependent on the type of restaurant. As a chef you can also start your own restaurant, but of course there is much more to it than just cooking.
The content on this page has been automatically translated from the Dutch language. For this reason, texts and videos on this page may contain small errors.
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