Careers In Cooking: Types Of Chefs

The world of professional cooking includes many different job descriptions and career titles. For example, there are quite a few types of chefs. Chef positions vary according to work setting, responsibilities and cuisine. The chef careers included in this article represent just a sampling of what's available in this rich and varied career choice.

There are chefs in management positions. The executive chef is to the kitchen what the general manager is to a sports team, or the judge is to a courtroom. They supervise everyone else in the kitchen. They make all final decisions about food preparation: how big each portion should be, which ingredients should be included in which recipes, what the menu should include, and so on. They are responsible for making sure the food maintains its quality over time.

They determine how food should be presented on a plate. They hire and fire employees. And if an executive chef works for an establishment with several restaurants and cafes, such as a hotel and resort complex, then that chef is in charge of every kitchen in the place. The sous-chef is sort of the vice president of a kitchen. He or she is in charge whenever the executive chef is away. And the chef de cuisine is in charge of all the operational details of a particular kitchen. If there are five kitchens, say, in a hotel, then there are five chef de cuisines, and each chef de cuisine is managed by a single executive chef.

Chefs are also distinguished by the type of establishment they work for. Chefs might work in restaurants, business and school cafeterias, commissaries, fast food restaurants, supermarkets, private homes and specialty food stores. A short-order cook is any cook who generally has a short amount of time to prepare each order-for example, at a coffee shop or cafe. And a personal chef is a chef who follows a rich person around. He or she will prepare meals for this person wherever he or she is: at home, on a private jet, in a hotel suite and so on. Different skill sets are required for different food settings, of course.

Cafeteria cooks must be adept at preparing large amounts of food, although they usually don't decide what to serve, and they usually don't make a wide variety of food on any given day. By contrast, a cook who works at a restaurant prepares much less food overall, but has to keep up with a range of orders, and each dish must be prepared individually and with great attention to detail.

Another type of chef is a research chef. Research chefs usually work for restaurant chains and other large companies that sell food. Their job is to try to come up with new recipes that will be cost-effective and popular. As you might imagine, this job involves a lot of taste-testing and experimentation, and it helps to have knowledge of chemistry and food science.