But I Wouldn't Call Them Chefs

Now I would hope by now that you would understand where this is going, the fact that people do an NVQ (National Vocational Qualification) and then call themselves Chefs and are instantly wanting to go for Head Chef positions. 

How can they know how to use the best products and what skills to get the best from them? Do they really care about if the customer is happy with the end result if in all honesty they really don't know what the end result should look or taste like?

Now you may think from reading the above that I am being down against the Chef of this day and age and that would simply not be true. What I am saying is the term "Chef", need to be thought about. The Trainee that has just started his or her journey in the finest restaurant in London, France or Switzerland will understand the pride in years to come when their Sous Chef calls them Chef. Then you have the Chef or Cook as I like to call them that work for a chain, the person that has a spec to follow that did 6 months at college but already know they were better than Gordon and thought their big break would be cooking in a high turnover pub. 

Yet again you could think I am against these positions and you would be very wrong, I can't afford to eat in such amazing restaurants all the time. My issue is the person in the kitchen 9 times out of 10 has not a clue about being a chef even though they tell the word they are. 

All the things that the stages of being a chef teach like bring back a broken sauce or why you roast some bones for a stock and not others or what flavors go together and how to get the best from them and the seasons they are available. But the most important thing is the want and passion for the customer to have the very best they can give and if it's not then not serving it.

I will happily call every person working in a chain restaurant Chef if they know and understand the food they are cooking and will make every dish that is sent as good as the first. There are regional managers and executive chefs (cooks), above these people who are not instilling such basic standards and skills.

If you really want to serve the best food you can every time and want to understand food because you have a passion for it. Well then it doesn't matter if you have 3 stars or a play area you can hold your head high and I will be the first to call you Chef. But if you stand on that carving station with a stupid baseball cap on insisting that meat should fall apart like that, Broccoli should be brown and mash potato comes in frozen you should think of a different name other than Chef.

Chef Emeritus