# What is the Chef hat history...?



## castironcook (Nov 10, 2007)

Could any of you great gus/gals teach me the history of the chef hat and how it came to be hat it is now.

I see most of us in the Food Industry have taken to wearing the baseball cap now....

I found the following articles:

Chef Hat History

Chef News for Chefs: The History and Evolution of the Way We Dress


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## castironcook (Nov 10, 2007)

wow! tough crowd here...what's it take to get a response in this joint?:lol::chef:


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## castironcook (Nov 10, 2007)

wow...seems unfriendly here...


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## montelago (Nov 19, 2007)

Much friendliness here. It would seem that the most popular version of the story is that Henry VIII found a hair in his food one day and beheaded the chef. Consequently, headgear became necessary. The tocque signifies rank by the number of pleats on the hat. 100 being the most and indicating that you are the bomb. There are a lot of conflicting stories, and I don't think anyone will ever really get to the bottom of it.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Never liked ball caps in the kitchen, don't know who started it, don't know why, and don't know why you'd need a hat with a bill on it indoors.

Other versions of the pleats in the hat story include the 100 folds represent the 100 ways the Chef can cook eggs.


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## castironcook (Nov 10, 2007)

Those tall hats keep hitting the vents though...ball caps eliminates the problem for that...Chefs hats do look kewl tho....:chef:


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

True, although you can't hide a bottle under a ballcap though....


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## foodnfoto (Jan 1, 2001)

I seem to have heard or read somewhere that the design of the tall chef's toque served the functional purpose of circulating the air around the kitchen with each movement of the chef's head. It was a necessity due to the absence of hood fans in historic kitchens. 
Who knows whether this is true or not and the efficacy of such a reason could certainly be questioned. 
It's fun to think about anyway.


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## the_seraphim (Dec 25, 2006)

cant possibly be true... can it?

its probably just french pomp... "ay theenk ay weel maek the (read as i spell for the french accent) most seelee 'at ay can and ay weel see 'ow loong those seelee eengleesh keep useen eet"


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## cape chef (Jul 31, 2000)

[article="6618"]Jackets And Toques The History Of The Chef Uniform [/article]
Just another spin


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## justcookit (Feb 24, 2014)

I heard a different version of this, apparently in the days of the kings and queens the most popular way to kill a king was by food poisoning so they very quickly started treating the chef (and his family) like royalty, including giving the chef a big white hat.

My how times have changed in many chef's positions and how they are treated, but there are still places out there that treat chef's with lots of respect.


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## chefbruz (Nov 18, 2016)

the toque is tall to make room for the control rat....


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## luis de vence (Jun 5, 2015)

ChefBruz said:


> the toque is tall to make room for the control rat....


hahaha


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## chef oddball (Jul 5, 2015)

I know some people really don't like ball cap style hats. But the bill does help with those of us who are affected by fluorescent lights!


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## gigi7 (Feb 13, 2016)

http://www.escoffier.edu/culinary-arts/a-history-of-the-chefs-hat/

Here is a very detailed answer to your question about the chef's toque there's more to read on the site. It's a whole lot more comfortable to wear this hat in the kitchen & if the band inside is good it will prevent perspiration from dripping down your face.

A chef's hat is officially called a toque, which is Arabic for hat. While the term has existed for a few thousand years, the French popularized the word when referring to a chef's hat, according to Culinary Anyone. By the 1800s, the hat became known as the toque blanche, or white hat. So, why was white chosen? As the legend goes, the personal chef of Charles Talleyrand, who served as the first French prime minister in 1815, believed that white was the most hygienic of all the colors. The Reluctant Gourmet uncovered a similar tale in which Antonin Carem, an early pioneer of the grande cuisine cooking style, felt that white helped purvey a sense of cleanliness in the kitchen.

*Why a toque in the first place?*
In her book "Passion of a Foodie," author Heidemarie Vos dispels the notion that hats were used simply to keep a chef's hair out of his face or the food. Instead, long before the French adopted the hats, one popular origin story dates back to circa 146 BCE, when the Byzantine Empire invaded Greece. When the invasion forces landed, Greek chefs fled to nearby monasteries for protection, eventually wearing the garb of the monks to fit in. That included a large stovepipe hat. Even after the Byzantines were driven back, Greek chefs continued to wear the hats as a form of rebellion and a sign of solidarity. It's perhaps that symbolism and sense of fraternity, Vos argued, that led other chefs, including the French, to adopt the hats in their own uniform.

ANOTHER site to check out is some interesting history there.

http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/chef-hat-history/

Legend has it that even earlier than seventh century A.D., chefs in Assyria wore crown-like hats that differentiated them from other kitchen help. Why? It seems that kings were being poisoned left and right by indignant chefs, so in order to placate them and make them feel special (thus hopefully eliminating the desire to poison the leader), they were presented with a unique piece of headgear.

Around this same time, chefs spent a great deal of time reading to learn new recipes and techniques. Since so few people at the time could read, chefs were considered learned men. Unfortunately, being smart wasn't "in," and many intellectuals were persecuted. Chefs sought refuge in the Greek Orthodox Church, where they donned the wardrobe of the monks, wearing robes and caps. Those caps later evolved into an early version of the chef hat.


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Well as @foodpump stated back in 2008, the folds were the focus. I have to agree with this. Although I'm not sure about the inception, probably ventilation, but the respect came from the folds.

I'm old enough to remember one of my first gigs on a cruise ship. On off time I would usually procure an alcoholic beverage and watch the European Sous's measure and iron 100 folds into a toque for their respective Chefs. All of them told me the one hundred folds was status for passing a test for cooking an egg 100 ways.


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