THE BLUE PRINT OF KITCHEN ETHICS & TRUST
COMING TOGETHER IS A BEGINNING
KEEPING TOGETHER IS PROGRESS
WORKING TOGETHER IS SUCCESS
by Henry Ford
RULE 1: You must be willing to learn and take on board constructive criticism. You never stop learning, as longest you live! Nobody knows it all. I am a Chef for over 30 years and I learn every day something new. I learn from apprentices as much as I learn from other chefs.
RULE 2: Become a TEAM PLAYER. In a kitchen, with not much room, working with other people under stress, getting all the meals cooked and served, you must apply teamwork. The moment you got nothing to do, you help someone in the team getting the job done. You earn the respect you deserve. Look out for each other and always work with each other.
RULE 3: You must be flexible. In a kitchen you know your starting time but never your finishing time. It is not your 9 to 5 run of the mill job. Some days you may have to work longer, some other days you can go home earlier. It is give and take.
RULE 4: Trust goes a long way. Do not "rat" on your team mates. So when the head chef ask you who stuffed up that meal, you simply say: I don't know, I did not see it. Remember, you are a team and you back your work mates. What happens in a kitchen, stays in the kitchen.
RULE 5: Admit to your mistakes. There is no shame or law who states that you can not make a mistake. We are all humans after all. Where people work, mistakes are made. Admitting to the mistakes one makes and learn from it is your best option. My mother use to say: "No Master has fallen out of the sky".
RULE 6: Be a good Communicator. Part of a good communicator is to listen. When you work in a kitchen during service hours, you need to communicate with the other chefs. You need to listen and answer quickly. When you cook a la carte for 250 people in 2 hours, everything has to work like clockwork. The team of chefs cook table by table orders where every guest has something different to eat. All meals are cooked to order. With communication and absolute team work is a must. The head chef calls out the meals, you say yes, and deliver your part of the meals. Concentrate, listen, answer, deliver.
RULE 7: Keep your temper in control. That is a important one when you want to work in the kitchen. When you work in a kitchen, the pressure is on. Everything is about timing. You have days where you don't stop for 6 hours or more for a short break. So when all the chefs are under pressure, some words can fly. Because you work under pressure, your temper can easy flair up. You have to control that temperament trying to get the better of you. Take a deep breath, concentrate on your work and deal with the issue you have later after service hours. Talk about the issue you have, and be nice about it, with the person you have the issue with. Sort it out, shake hands and get on with it.
RULE 8: Personal hygiene: In the food industry, personal hygiene is a absolute must. That includes not wearing rings. Clean fingernails, short haircut or wear a hairnet during work, control your body odour as it is always hot in a kitchen, have one to two showers a day. For the men, a clean shave. Long beards are not allowed.
RULE 9: Never run late to work. Where ever I go, work or private, I make sure that I time myself to be there 10 minutes before I have to be there.
RULE 10: RESPECT is important. It is even more important that you respect others, no matter what colour of his/her skin is. In the Chefs game, you will work with people from around the World.
Next week I will talk about the World Wide Opportunities good Chefs have and how save the chefs trade is. Been a Chef can open the World to you.
Have a fantastic week, love life and enjoy every moment life gives you.
RULE 2: Become a TEAM PLAYER. In a kitchen, with not much room, working with other people under stress, getting all the meals cooked and served, you must apply teamwork. The moment you got nothing to do, you help someone in the team getting the job done. You earn the respect you deserve. Look out for each other and always work with each other.
RULE 3: You must be flexible. In a kitchen you know your starting time but never your finishing time. It is not your 9 to 5 run of the mill job. Some days you may have to work longer, some other days you can go home earlier. It is give and take.
RULE 4: Trust goes a long way. Do not "rat" on your team mates. So when the head chef ask you who stuffed up that meal, you simply say: I don't know, I did not see it. Remember, you are a team and you back your work mates. What happens in a kitchen, stays in the kitchen.
RULE 5: Admit to your mistakes. There is no shame or law who states that you can not make a mistake. We are all humans after all. Where people work, mistakes are made. Admitting to the mistakes one makes and learn from it is your best option. My mother use to say: "No Master has fallen out of the sky".
RULE 6: Be a good Communicator. Part of a good communicator is to listen. When you work in a kitchen during service hours, you need to communicate with the other chefs. You need to listen and answer quickly. When you cook a la carte for 250 people in 2 hours, everything has to work like clockwork. The team of chefs cook table by table orders where every guest has something different to eat. All meals are cooked to order. With communication and absolute team work is a must. The head chef calls out the meals, you say yes, and deliver your part of the meals. Concentrate, listen, answer, deliver.
RULE 7: Keep your temper in control. That is a important one when you want to work in the kitchen. When you work in a kitchen, the pressure is on. Everything is about timing. You have days where you don't stop for 6 hours or more for a short break. So when all the chefs are under pressure, some words can fly. Because you work under pressure, your temper can easy flair up. You have to control that temperament trying to get the better of you. Take a deep breath, concentrate on your work and deal with the issue you have later after service hours. Talk about the issue you have, and be nice about it, with the person you have the issue with. Sort it out, shake hands and get on with it.
RULE 8: Personal hygiene: In the food industry, personal hygiene is a absolute must. That includes not wearing rings. Clean fingernails, short haircut or wear a hairnet during work, control your body odour as it is always hot in a kitchen, have one to two showers a day. For the men, a clean shave. Long beards are not allowed.
RULE 9: Never run late to work. Where ever I go, work or private, I make sure that I time myself to be there 10 minutes before I have to be there.
RULE 10: RESPECT is important. It is even more important that you respect others, no matter what colour of his/her skin is. In the Chefs game, you will work with people from around the World.
Next week I will talk about the World Wide Opportunities good Chefs have and how save the chefs trade is. Been a Chef can open the World to you.
Have a fantastic week, love life and enjoy every moment life gives you.
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