PART NINE: "THE KITCHEN HIERARCHY!" The pecking order in a big kitchen and who calls the shots.

THE KITCHEN HIERARCHY & UNWRITTEN RULES 

A HOTEL KITCHEN WITH 40 CHEFS INCLUDING APPRENTICES

The first day of my apprenticeship was basicly a introduction to the workings of the kitchen, a viewing of the satellite - and banquet kitchens, meeting the General Manager of the hotel, also meeting with the Executive Chef, Production Chef and Sous Chef, allocating a locker where you can get changed into your uniform and store your clothes, a tour of the hotel, meeting the Maitre D'Hotel and other staff members. The whole day was a induction of my new workplace and also does and don'ts in the kitchen and on the premises. The hotel has a laundry department where all linen, uniforms, tablecloths, napkins, bath robes, bath tails, face washers, hand towels and everything else is washed on premises. Also part of the hotel was a maintenance crew, fixing faults from changing light globes to electrical issues and any other maintenance required for the hotel and surroundings. 

If my memory serves me right, we had about 120 staff on different shifts, 37 nationalities from around the World. 

KITCHEN HIERARCHY

Executive Chef: The Executive Chef is in full charge of a hotel kitchen with a kitchen brigade. In most places he is also second - or third in charge of the whole Hotel, when the General Manager and Assistant General Manager are out of house. Executive Chefs are found in all National and International Hotels right up to 5 star hotels. 

A Head Chef: is in charge of a smaller kitchen like a Restaurant Kitchen or Pub Kitchen to smaller hotel kitchens. He or she may have 3 to 10 kitchen staff.  

Executive Sous Chef:He or Her are second in charge of the hotel kitchen. Sous Chef means; below the chef in translation, meaning second in charge of a kitchen. When the Executive Chef is not at the Hotel, the Executive Sous Chef runs all aspects of the kitchen.

Sous Chef: Sous Chefs or Second Chefs are second in charge of a Restaurant, Pub - or smaller Hotel kitchen. In contrast, a Sous Chef in a big hotel with a big kitchen brigade may be in charge of the function kitchen or any of the satellite kitchens.

Production Chef: He or she is in charge of all food bulk production cooked in the Main Kitchen or also called Production kitchen of a big hotel. For example, there is a function with sit down dinner for 300 people. The Production Chef will then coordinate with the chefs to prepare the function menu. He also oversees the regular preparation for all the satellite kitchens.

Chef de Partie: A Chef de Partie is a qualified chef in charge of a section, like the sauce section, vegetable section, larder section. 

Here is a breakdown of the proper names of ranks in the kitchen that are in French:

Chef Saucier Chef in charge of the sauce and meat section. He or She will cook all meats with sauces to order for the guests, like beef Stroganov, curries, poached fish and seafood served in a sauce and the like. Sometimes the grill is part of that section, especially in smaller hotels.

Chef Entremetier in charge of all preparation of vegetables, soups, pasta, rice and all other side dishes. So when a order comes into the kitchen with a dish of the menu, he or she cooks all side dishes to this dish, while the chef on the sauce section prepares the meat or fish for that dish.

Chef Garde-manger is preparing and cooking all entrees, mainly cold entrees, salads, terrines, pate, smoked and cooked chilled seafood entrees. Some entrees served hot may be cooked by the chef on the sauce or vegetable section.

Chef Rotisseur works on the grill section. Cooking everything from the grill and sometimes cooks all roasts on the menu. 

Chef Tournant: This Chef is a all rounder. You are generally a Chef Tournant when you have a sound understanding of all sections of the kitchen/satellite kitchen. Today you may work the sauce section and tomorrow you may run the larder section for a couple of days. This is the last position before you progress to the next position up, which is Sous Chef.

Chef de Garde: A Chef de Garde is the chef doing night shift. For example: Once the chefs knock off from the last shift of the day, the Chef de Garde stays back and cooks for late guests and for Room Service. A Chef de Garde may also start the breakfast menu in the morning including cooking breakfast menu dishes to order. Some hotels have 24 hours per day room service, that is where the Chef de Garde will cook when all chefs have gone home until the first few chefs begin the early shift in the morning. This shift is also referred to as the "Graveyard shift".

Chef Patissier: The Chef Patissier or also known as Pastry Chef is in  charge of all sweets, pastries and function desserts. A Pastry Chef has a different type of qualification to a Chef. A pastry chef has his or her skills in baking, including breads, all different chocolate making skills, would know how to make ice creams and sorbets, making show pieces for buffets made from sugar, chocolate or baked showpieces like Gingerbread houses and the like. A pastry Chef would have a sound knowledge on cakes, quiches and savory finger foods like pies, sausage rolls, pastry cheese sticks and mini pizzas. A Pastry Chef will know all classic known desserts and how to make them from scratch.

Demi- Chef de Partie: Also called a Demi Chef, has not reached the full level of fully qualified chef. This position is a step up to the Chef de Partie level. A Demi Chef will work on each section of the kitchen as a Demi Chef, to gain experience on all sections of the kitchen. For example in Switzerland it will take you up to 10 years including apprenticeship to become a fully qualified chef. 

Commis de Cuisine: A Commis Chef is a young chef just completed the apprenticeship. In the kitchen, a chef's apprenticeship is a base where you start to build your skills and experience.  The first 2 to 3 years after your apprenticeship you will be employed by a hotel as a Commis Chef starting in a section of the kitchen. You remind a Commis Chef until you done all sections of a kitchen as a Commis. After you achieved that, you will do the same again as a Demi Chef de Partie, when completed you become a Chef de Partie.

Canteen Chef: Some very big hotels have a canteen for the working staff. There you can have breakfast, lunch and dinner. The cook running the canteen kitchen works alone and gets a lot of precooked foods from the production kitchen. The person running the canteen is a all rounder. From preparing or reheating food for the staff, to cleaning, washing all plates and cutlery, mopping floors, wiping tables clean and keep the canteen clean.  

Chef apprentice: Introduction and learning the trade of Chef, working in most cases for the whole duration at the same hotel or restaurant. Chef apprenticeships go for 3 to 4 years with a exam finish in theory and practical aspect of cooking. In some countries a chef apprentice goes one day a week to trades school. 

Casserolier: The Casserolier is a kitchen hand in a big hotel. His or Her duty is to clean all kitchen equipment, clean floors and cool rooms, washing up all pots and pans and assist the chefs with simple tasks like peeling carrots and potatoes, onions, garlic, and other preparation duties like clean and wash leafy salads and helping storing away kitchen stock. 

CHEF'S SERVING FOOD FOR A FUNCTION.

Next week we talk about what goes on in a Hotel food production kitchen and what exactly gets prepared and cooked. . Have a fantastic week and love Life and great food.

PART EIGHT: "YES CHEF!" DISCIPLINE, TOTAL OBEDIENCE AND TEAMWORK IN A HIGH POWERED KITCHEN ENVIRONMENT

DISCIPLINE AND WHY THAT IS SO IMPORTANT?

When I started to work in the Main Kitchen, I knew thank's to my work experience in that same kitchen, how I conduct myself and who is calling the shots. I remember, when the Executive Chef Norbert Fontana walked into the kitchen we all where paying 100% attention on what he had to say. 

Norbert Fontana was and is in my World still one of the most qualified and knowledgeable Chefs I had the pleasure and honor to work with. Norbert also held a certificate as "Eidgenossische Diplomierter Kuechenchef" which is translated: Federal diploma finish as Executive Chef in Switzerland. To give you an idea how hard it is to get this certificate, immagine that; 240 top qualified chefs throughout Switzerland go to the Executive Chef University if you want to call it that way. There, you go one to two days a week to school while you work as a Executive Sous Chef in a top Hotel 4 to 5 stars.  The whole training goes for 2 years with tons of homework. ONLY 12 WILL PASS THE FINAL EXAM OUT OF 240 TOP CHEFS!!! there is no harder school and training anywhere in the World coming close to what you have to achieve and know in that school in Switzerland.

Also the Army is compulsory for every young man 20 years or older who is a citizen of Switzerland. Norbert Fontana was also a commander in the Tank division, a Elite Unit of the Armed Forces of Switzerland. You just knew never to be on the wrong side with him. He had absolute respect and discipline from all his chefs and staff of the hotel for a smooth running of the kitchen and the hotel.

I quickly realised working with up to 20 chefs on the same shift coming and going in and out of the main kitchen all day, that a certain discipline was required in order to run a kitchen linked to 4 other kitchens in one way or the other.

How about total obedience? I learned that when you work in a team, as us chefs, working as a team to prepare and cook foods, I needed to follow instructions to the smallest details. Been an apprentice chef, this was the way I learned and if I did not follow my instructions given to me 100%, I would have to stay back in my own time and do the work again. But I learned the hard way. Here is what happened:

One afternoon the Executive Sous Chef has given a job for me to do: I had to cut julienne vegetables, using carrots, zucchini, leek and celeriac. Julienne are fine batons of vegetables lot longer than the width of a soup spoon. I had to cut a large amount of it for a function. The julienne vegetables are going to be used for a clear consomme as entre of the function menu. About 2 hours later I am nearly done with it, the Executive Chef walks into the kitchen. He is inspecting what everybody was doing. He walked up to me, ask how I was going and took a small handful of julienne vegetables out of the container. He then started to line up every individual baton next to each other. Some of the batons where longer than others and some where a little bit thicker than others. I knew that I was in trouble. He took the entire container of vegetable julienne and went to the chef working in the hot section. He placed the container in front of him and told him to use the julienne vegetable for staff dinner tonight.

The Executive Chef came back to me and told me to do it again. I needed to learn to work exactly and that every vegetable julienne has to match by length and thickness. So instead me knocking off and enjoy a sunny day outside, I spended 3 more hours cutting vegetable julienne. The moral of the story is: "Do the task given exactly the way it has to be done, the first time!"

Develop a thick skin - Language in the kitchen when the mercury is rising

When I came out of school, where we were spoken to in a soft and well spoken manner, I soon realized that in a hectic kitchen when the pressure was on, words fly quickly. Especially during service hours, lunch from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm and dinner service from 5:30pm to 10:00pm. These are the times where meals ordered by the guests are cooked to order. 
In the Hotel where I did my apprenticeship, we had 3 satellite kitchens attached to 3 different restaurants within the hotel. A crew of 3 to 5 chefs including apprentices would work in each kitchen. In those kitchens you may cook to order 100 to 300 meals per service. Timing and speed is of the essence. Total concentration and remembering the dockets the head chef calls out is a must. If you are too slow or give the head chef the wrong food he called out, you will get a verbal yelling in a rather less friendly way, I had to learn to develop a thick skin and don't take a yelling by the chef personally. Sometimes I felt like smacking the chef in charge but that would cost me my apprenticeship. I had a lot of respect of all the chefs in that hotel. I worked with some of the best chefs and if I got yelled at, I just say loud; "Yes Chef or No Chef". If ever one of us apprentices try to mouth back at him, we would get blandly kicked out of the kitchen or yelled at again in front of all staff but this time you would love to krawl into a hole and disappear. 
Back in 1978 there was no political correctness. Some of the names we where called when the shit hits the fan where that bad, that I can not mention them here. Chefs are creative, passionate but also temperamental. It is a passionate temperament, try to reach perfection in a dish prepared and one of the chefs makes a mistake and still serving that mistake, a few swear words would fly. Just watch one of Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen shows or one of his earlier shows where Gordon Ramsay was working towards the 3rd Michelin Star for his restaurant. 

The kitchen I am going to do my apprenticeship was very disciplined and you had to show respect and earn respect and learn to control oneself. We call this "Character Building".

In a kitchen, no matter big or small, Teamwork is of the essence. Nothing is more important in a kitchen than working as a team. The outcome of the timing and quality of the foods cooked depends on it. I knew that I work well in a team and I always made sure to do a good job every time. Good team quality is a must for everyone that wants to become a Chef. Helping everyone to the common cause and help others so the team does not fall behind.

Next week I talk about the kitchen hierarchy, all the ranks amongst chefs and who is calling the shots. 
Enjoy your week and love life and good food. Until next time. Chef Marc

PART SEVEN: MOEVENPICK, SWITZERLAND - A Major Benefit to my training

Moevenpick - a Swiss success story - going World wide

How it all began...

Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts traces its roots back to the privately owned Mövenpick Group, which was founded by the late Ueli Prager in 1948 when he opened his first restaurant – Mövenpick at Claridenhof - in Zurich. The name was apparently inspired by the feeding action of a seagull (in German, möwe) and how it's simple movements reflected the restaurant’s theme of high quality food at affordable prices served as quickly as possible.

The Group opened new restaurants across Switzerland, targeting locations near the new Swiss motorway system to cater for car travellers. Staff training was made a priority very early in the Group’s expansion, along with daily line-ups. The Group became the first Swiss employer to offer staff shares.

In 2010, for the second consecutive year, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts achieved the highest ranking in the upscale segment of the European Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study by J.D. Power and Associates.

In 2015, Mövenpick & Resorts aims to have 100 properties open across the World and by 2012 the company will be completely Green Globe certified.

VERY YUMMY ICE CREAM

When I started by apprenticeship in 1978, I tried for the first time Mövenpick Ice cream. I was in love with that ice cream ever since. Mövenpick released every month a new ice cream, from Bordeaux wine ice cream to curry ice cream. Today you can buy Mövenpick Ice cream just about anywhere in the World. 

Little did I know, how Mövenpick will be a major part in my training for the next 3 years to come. Every year 5 times, we Chef apprentices from different  Mövenpick Restaurants or Hotels would get together in one of the Mövenpick Resorts and spend the day with training on cooking and everything revolving around it. In the morning we receive a workbook and cover the theoretical part of the training. In the afternoon we go to the practical part of our training and at the end of the day we had to fill in a questionnaire answering questions on the subject at hand we covered during the day. This was a great supplement we got apart from trades school one day per week and working and learning at the Hotel for 4 days a week. 

The other great benefit I received during my apprenticeship was a insight to different Hotels and Restaurants, the different kitchens and how they worked. In hindsight I been very lucky, to have such a great apprenticeship and training that helped me greatly in the future of my career as a Chef.

Mövenpick Resorts started up all over the World. You could eat the same lovely menu from Mövenpick anywhere and it's success was based that the food was exactly the same great tasting quality and flavors. No matter if you where in New York, Hong Kong, Geneva, Zurich or anywhere else eating in a Mövenpick Resort, you could always enjoy your favorite dish. That was in the days where franchising became popular. See KFC, Mcdonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hat, Subway just to name a few.

Next week I will write about a very different aspect of my apprenticeship, hard work, dedication, discipline to your superiors, coworkers and yourself and the sacrifices to achieve the ultimate goal.

Until then, have a great week and remember, Life is great and live every day like it was your last. 

PART SIX: MY BEGINNINGS AS A CHEF APPRENTICE IN A FINE HOTEL KITCHEN

The Main Kitchen - the center hub of food distributions  throughout the Hotel

A quick introduction of the makings of the Hotel catering services

Every Hotel has a number of kitchens. Here is a breakdown of the kitchens for you.

1. Main Kitchen- all deliveries for the catering is brought into the main kitchen. We had a loading bay right next to the main kitchen where everything from linen to equipment and all food items were delivered. 
2. Satellite Kitchens - Most big Hotels have one to five restaurants attached to the hotel where the hotel guests have a choice to eat at the Hotel without going out. All the restaurants have a separate kitchen, like a short order kitchen where meals are cooked to order.
3. Function Kitchen - Some larger Hotels have large function room facilities for fairs, large meetings and business seminars, weddings to funerals and everything in between. The seating capacity can range from 20 people too 3000 people. In the Function Kitchen everything for the event is prepared and served from that kitchen.
4. Room Service Kitchen - in a lot of hotels you can have room service 24 hours a day or less. All meals for Room Service will come either from the main kitchen or one of the satellite kitchens of the Hotel.
5. Staff kitchen (Canteen) - All the staff working at the Hotel can range from 50 to 500 staff. A working shift is normally 8 hours but generally can be as long to 12 hours a day. Staff can go to the Canteen and eat something on their break.

The Kitchens are divided into sections. Mainly the Main Kitchens, Satellite -, and Function Kitchens have different sections. The reason for that is; the type of foods prepared.

Pastry section - preparation of all sweets and breads

Hot Section - preparation of all cooked base sauces, rice, pasta, soups for the satellite and function kitchens

Cold section or larder section - where all salad dressings, pre made mixed salads, terrines, pates, mayonnaise and all cold food based meals are prepared.

Fish and Seafood Section - As the name states, the coldest part of the main kitchen where you clean and filet fish and clean, cut different seafoods.

Butcher or Meat Section - Here all the meats are trimmed, boned, cut and portioned for all the satellite kitchens and function kitchens.

Fruit and Vegetable Section - peeling and cleaning all vegetables and leafy salads and the preparation of fruits for fruit salad or for any other sweets the pastry section needs.

Dishwashing Section - this was an exclusive area for cleaning all pots and pans and all kitchen related items and utensils. A storage area for the washed equipment is part of that section. Absolutely no food prep is taking place in that section. Also a storage area for all cleaning and sanitising chemicals.

My first few weeks working and learning in the Main Kitchen

My life changed overnight when I began my Chef's apprenticeship. First, I was on my feet all day long. My feet were aching for the first few days. Especially, standing on the one spot for hours sometimes, peeling 100 kg of carrots or peal 3 bags of onions, garlic and the like. For the first month I was working in the vegetable section. Also part of my job was; to stack all the new vegetables and fruits delivered into the walk in cool room. I was shown to rotate everything. Old in the front, new into the back.

The Main Kitchen I worked in was the center for anything related to foods. The total area of the Main Kitchen would be the same of a 2 bedroom house. You come in to the main door, a wide door with plastic flaps stopping insects coming into the kitchen and to stop the heat or cold and dust to come into the kitchen. 
First on your right was the Executive Chefs office. That is where I reported into work and where I had to report out going home directly to the Executive Chef.

Going passed Chef's office, there was a dividing wall. On the left was the Pastry section. A fully equipped bakers and pastry kitchen with stand mixers, dough rollers to refrigeration and freezers. Ice cream makers and a lot more including a stove and two big ovens.

On the right of the dividing wall was the Hot section with all the bulk boilers, benches, stoves and ovens and fryers.

As you continue walking further into the kitchen, you come to the cooler part of the Main Kitchen. To the left is the larder section with all equipment and benches for the preparation of all cold foods and entrees and cocktail party foods. On the right in the middle was the meat section where all the meats where prepared and portioned including vacuum packed and dated. 

Next to the meat section was the vegetable section with two big sinks and preparation area. Next to the vegetable section was the fish and seafood section with 2 large sinks, ice machine and preparation area.

Every section of the Main Kitchen had their own walk in cool room.

Part of the Main Kitchen is the dry goods storage area where all flours, rice, pasta, dried fruits and everything that is not refrigerated, is kept. 
There is a big walk in freezer constantly on minus 18 degrees celsius, located behind the walk in cool rooms. You can only access the freezer through a door located in the meat cool room. 
In all my working life as a Chef going over 30 years, this kitchen I made my apprenticeship was the best designed and equipped kitchen I ever worked in all my career. apart from maybe 2 or 3 other kitchens. 
Below are a couple of photographs from my place of apprenticeship. The Holiday Inn and Moevenpick, Zurich - International Airport about in 1980. Plus a Logo of the company attached to Holiday Inn in Switzerland, called Movenpick. 

Next week I will talk about the company Movenpick. Many people know Movenpick from the Ice Creams they make and still make today. This company was attached to our Hotel Holiday Inn. Until then, enjoy and love life.