# What are the two things about being a chef?



## skeleton (Dec 30, 2004)

So, I've just gone through the List of Two Things and there seems to be a missing category! Two things about cooking!

The two things about blanching veggies:
1: Only cook until the veggies until they are soft on the outside, crunchy on the inside (al dente)
2: Put enough salt in the water that you can just taste it.

The two things about baking:
1: Baking is magic, best left to bakers.
2: If you put a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon, it will be garbage.

The two things about Italian cuisine:
1: Rome's cuisine is better than everywhere else in Italy, according to the Romans.
2: The same goes for every region in Italy.

The two things about being a chef:
1: A dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp knife
2: Faster, you morons! Faster!

Anyway, those are just off the top of my head. There is a lot of fun to be had here. Anybody have any idea what the two things are about butchery? Maybe "Cut across the grain of the meat" and "Follow the silver skin" or something...

Anyway, have fun!


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## greg (Dec 8, 1999)

The two things about butchery:

1. Follow the seam.
2. If you're not butchering the meat, you're butchering it.


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## captain cook (Jun 18, 2005)

The two things about pan searing:

1.Get a heavy guage pan hot before adding the oil.
2.Let the item to be seared come up to cellar temperature first.

http://www.onepanwonder.com/videoclips.html


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## frizbee (Sep 27, 2003)

Two things about cooking (not baking...LOL)
1. Recipes are just guidelines (unless in a commercial kitchen)
2. Always use the freshest ingredients possible.

Frizbee


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## 100folds (Apr 9, 2005)

the two things about sous chef;
1. Production
2. knowledge


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## chrose (Nov 20, 2000)

Two things about making stock or soup:
1) Salt is a mineral that does not disappear. You will get out what you put in regardless of how much liquid you reduce.
2) A stock pot is not a garbage pot. Garbage in, garbage out!


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## skeleton (Dec 30, 2004)

The two things about cutlery:
1: Chef's knife.
2: Paring knife.

Everything else is a gadget.
Note: This list obviously doesn't apply to butchers, and .. well.. peeling carrots with a paring knife sucks. Which is why you should get organic, so you can just scrub them.


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## organizedchaos (Jul 5, 2005)

Hmmm... two things about being a chef, other than the obvious (ie, cooking):

1. Dealing with stress
2. Dealing with people who can't deal with stress


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## chinds85 (Apr 15, 2005)

The two things about baking:
1: Baking is magic, best left to bakers.
2: If you put a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon, it will be garbage. 

(That one is my favorite. So true!)


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

offsite catering:
if you don't have it improvise
flow, just flow with the event.....

menu wording;
guests pay extra for French words
"special of the day" can only be used once on a menu

Stacking or 5 component dishes:
the more components the more fingers that touch the finished dish
if you have great fresh ingrediants don't doctor them

Good food:
balance, balance, balance.
it can come in the form of hamburger or a plate with foie

Waitstaff:
it's not only the food stupid
poor waitstaff can screw up the best food and make the best out of mediocre food......all to the chagrin of the back of the house.


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## greg (Dec 8, 1999)

This is the best reply I've seen so far. Although, all things being equal, I'll take the foie every time!


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

two things about being a chef...

Your usually not a pastry chef..
Stay out of the Bakeshop...
:chef:


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## chef_bob (Jan 13, 2005)

Menu Pricing:
1 – Adjectives are worth a dollar each 
2 – Gross profit $$ are more important that food cost %


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## 100folds (Apr 9, 2005)

The two things about working with a Chef;
1. Yes Chef
2. No Chef

The two things about being happy in this industry;
1. Fulfilling the passion for knowledge
2. Seeing that it's not just about you but about the team


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## ricib (Jun 28, 2005)

About being in the kitchen in the first place -

Know what you do best
Do what you know best


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## chefoncall (Jul 4, 2005)

1. Hire only the best people.
2. Train them only to cook.

Give up on the lack of knowledge.Get smarter through knowledge. Start hiring practices industry wide. Do not give out paychecks to those that just need it. They are destroying the profession. Go away all sand baggers! Unemployment industry has it's own requirements.


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## skitty (Apr 13, 2002)

1) A failure to plan on your part, does not constitute an emergency on my part.
2) Just get out the first ticket; the other 37 will follow......


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## chef_bob (Jan 13, 2005)

Working the line:
1 - do one thing at a time
2 - do it quickly (repeat as needed)


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