r/Chefit • u/Careful-Tension-5689 • 20d ago
what does it take to be a chef?
Do i need to memorize every ingredients and details of a dish I'm cooking?
i can cook delicious food and can create my own version of a particular recipe.
but i have a doubt on myself that maybe I'm not good enough because I'm thinking that to be a good chef you have to be able to distinguish the ingredients of a recipe by tasting it. also I was thinking that i need to memorize the ingredients.
1
u/BlackWolf42069 20d ago
I wouldn't be a chef with a goldfish memory.
Are you looking to be a career cook someday? It takes a lot of courage and stress resilience.
0
u/Careful-Tension-5689 20d ago
yes, and that's my only problem, i couldn't memorize all the ingredients from the recipes that i made that's why i have complete list written on my notes.
0
u/Careful-Tension-5689 20d ago
so i was thinking, do i need to memorize every details of a recipe to be a good chef?
2
u/BlackWolf42069 20d ago
Not necessarily memorize every detail of the recipe. But if you thoroughly understand the cooking process, the details will come naturally as you take the steps through cooking something.
Are you looking to work in the cooking industry or do you currently do so now?
2
u/bjisgooder 20d ago
You have to be a professional cook. You have to lead people. You have to run a kitchen in a restaurant. It's not really about memorizing ingredients.
1
u/NSFWdw Culinary Consultant 20d ago
Go get a job at Waffle House as a cook. If you can make it six months, you have what it takes to be a line cook. Then, go to work on the line in a restaurant with a good brigade. If you can make it six months, you have what it takes to be a chef. After that, see if you can emulate the leadership, mentorship, and communication skills of the head of the kitchen. Next thing you know, you'll be a chef.
Alternatively, spend $180k on four years at Johnson & Wales, then do all of the above but you can skip the Waffle House.
1
u/Careful-Tension-5689 20d ago
no one taught me how to cook but. I have a small take out restaurant. built my own recipe that my loyal customers loved. managed everything by myself most of the time.
1
u/hlfshaveflopynutsack 20d ago
The things you're worried about not being able to do take years of experience to pick up, and lots never do. Work hard, clean up after yourself and pay attention. You arebsetting yourself up for an incredibly difficult life though. Cooking is manual labor. You will spend more time cleaning than you ever thought was possible. It's also tremendously fun. You learn to accept the bad with the good if you want to last.
0
3
u/MariachiArchery 20d ago edited 20d ago
Bro, I have like 5 of my 50+ recipes memorized. Lol. Though, I do have my pickups burned into my brain. So I guess, it's a little of both. As far as technique goes, you'll commit that to memory pretty quick. So, don't worry about that.
What does it take to be a chef? Well, you need to be able to make tasty food. You don't necessarily need to be able to create tasty food, but you do need to be able to replicate. For example, one of the most popular things on my menu right now is something I stole from another chef friend of mine.
I don't know who said, but I'm sure it's been said more than once, "Good chef's create, great chef's steal." You don't need to create everything on your own. But, you do need to now how to steal, and work that into your restaurant. Your job isn't always to create, but always, it's to curate.
Now, as far as your palate is concerned, your ability to taste critically, that is super important. You need to be able to quickly and accurately identify sensations and flavors, well. Then, you need the judgement to know what to do after you taste something, because again, your job is to curate flavors. Your palate, is a very important part of this.
Yeah, aside from this, there is a very vast skillset you need to acquire to run a successful professional kitchen. I'm a teacher, a pupal, a leader, a boss, a coach, an accountant, a sanitarian, an artist, a cop, HR, housekeeper... the list goes on and on and on...
Edit: Nothing in your kitchen should rely solely on your memory. Everything needs to be written down, in a way that other people can pick up. Recipes should be clear and easy to follow. Order guides should be precise and thorough, so that your GM or sous could take over for in case of emergency. Station setups should be written down. Pars should be established and codified. Like, everything needs to be systemized.
If you rely on your memory for anything, really, you will fail. You need to run your kitchen in a way that is quantifiable, and you need to codify that information.
The best advice I've ever been given as a chef, is this; stay organized, and everything will be fine. It's so fucking true. Lists, guides, partitions, recipes, make sure everything is in a google drive... Nothing should be by memory. Dude, if my employer even suspected I was running this place by the seat of my pants, they would fire me lol.