How to Be a Good Chef

How to properly move from a good cook to a good chef.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• A chef uniform
• A large knowledge of everything food
• A high standard for each ingredient used and an instinct for what ingredients work together
• More charm then a politician and more endurance then a marathon runner
• A complete knowledge of money, advertising and business
• And an understanding of the difference between working hard and play hard

1. handson Start with hands on experience in the industry. Get your first job as a dishwasher, the lowest position in the kitchen. Then, prep cook. Next, appetizer/salad cook. Spend a year at each of these positions and take notes on what you are seeing in the kitchen. What you like and what you hate. Work your butt off to almost live in the kitchen and make sure your managers know your name for being a hard worker.
2. veggies Get your education. Some think this is what comes first, not in this industry. Walk in to your first day as if you don't have the experience and life will be easier. Study until you are dreaming about Escoffier and McGee. Taste everything, read everything and graduate with a degree. Pay attention in accounting and business classes.
3. chef Get a new job and continue to work on your experience. After a while you will learn that the customer is your new boss, charm him/her with the romance side of the culinary industry. Someday you can get a restaurant of your own or will meet someone that wants you to be the backbone of their restaurant. Then you will use every skill you have learned over decades every day. Experience gives you ability, knowledge helps with choosing the correct tools and ingredients, charm and presentation brings in the customers and business sense makes the restaurant last.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't run before you walk. Start practicing vegetable cuts, simple recipes & get your self started on the basics.
• Patience is the key to succeeding. This is not always an overnight sensation, glitz and glamour job.
• Work hard. Study hard. Dream big. Start small.
• Don't get caught up in the party of it all. Lots of line cooks loose sight and end up down a bad path. Keep yourself and those around you healthy. Garbage in, garbage out.