Chef Forum banner
21 - 30 of 30 Posts
In my opinion the problem is basicaly that you must be eficient in a restaurant while at home you have all the time in the world. Sometimes the eficency, the time, the pre production and the actual assemble are imposible to achieve all together.

For instance if you want to make a onion soop, you must either have a pre produced very slow cooked base with an amazing flavour or you pooch the onions live, at home you can take your time and aim for the best flavor even if it means 10 hours.

My 2 cents.
 
In my opinion the problem is basicaly that you must be eficient in a restaurant while at home you have all the time in the world. Sometimes the eficency, the time, the pre production and the actual assemble are imposible to achieve all together.

For instance if you want to make a onion soop, you must either have a pre produced very slow cooked base with an amazing flavour or you pooch the onions live, at home you can take your time and aim for the best flavor even if it means 10 hours.

My 2 cents.
Not sure what you are saying. Are you saying that you can't take time, in a restaurant setting to do things properly? If so, I totally disagree. In fact, I find it the opposite. At home, I don't have the time, equipment or often, the manpower to always do things the best way. In your example of Onion Soup, in a restaurant setting you most definitely can do the proper way even if it takes hours, plus you have the ability, often, to prep in stages, cutting all the onions the day before or tasking it to a prep cook. And you certainly can find the time to properly caramelize the onions. That being said, I do know many places that rush it because they don't want to take the time, or more often, because they weren't taught that proper caramelization can make or break such a soup.
 
Restaurant food is unhealthier. Typically, more fat is added that would be at home, to create a richer flavor. It's how we get repeat customers. Trust me...you don't wanna know how much fat they put into your food. Even if you order a lean steak au jus, that "jus" is probably half butter.
I operate a bakery/diner and I almost NEVER eat the food I make there. If I did, I would turn into a goddamn balloon within weeks. It's really one of the biggest sources of stress in my life, cause it takes so much damn self-control not to gorge myself on leftovers at the end of the day (it's going in the trash anyway).
I know you are generalizing the subject.
I have decades of experience working in different kinds of food related places and in most the food was prepared as one would at home but in a professional setting.
Chicken, fish, beef, pork....it doesn't matter.
What does matter is the way it is prepared.
Not all Chef, cooks, and restaurants, know how to cook well.
Restaurant corporations seek the bottom line, and in doing so create menu items that are high in fat and calories because that's what the public wants.
Until more people become health conscience this will not change.
 
May sound like a silly question but the question is. What is the difference between a professional recipe used in a restaurant kitchen vs a home recipe if there really is one? Kitchen i work in, the chef is very open minded. Any menu ideas we have we can pitch to him and he will consider it. But majority of recipes i know are ones from home, or from random cook books. So what would the difference be between a professional recipe vs a home recipe? In any course, from appetizers to desserts even baking and pastry recipes.
I'm guessing you may not have easy access to many professional recipes.
 
I use the metric system at home when cooking and baking which is easier to convert recipes when I am dividing or multiplying the number of servings. At the professional kitchen, as long as you know how to cook - then professional kitchens really serve from 20 to 1000 people. But chefs do research on the Internet, adapt recipes from cookbooks, dishes from where they ate at restaurants and other food establishments, etcetera. Sometimes they also have a great food experience and know what goes in that particular dish. Other times, chefs would make a dish and use their own touch of ingredients to make it special. It the patrons like it - then it can be made a signature dish for a menu.
Some may follow by weight or volume in baking. Others will follow a common measurement system depending on what the production kitchen uses. But taste and smell will always be the common denominator when making every dish taste really great. Make sure you use a consistent system like in Imperial or Metric system depending on where you live and work. It will easier for you to convert. Also, know the cooking and baking ratios, so that way you have the freedom to make and develop your own recipes, and it can change to highlight specific ingredients for a recipe to be more flavorful with the use of heat, or develop flavors over time. You are not stuck with a recipe that has been made, already in the kitchen. You have the freedom to do whatever you want as long as customers like those dishes.
 
I would just like to add one thing - hope I did not miss it during my catch up on this thread :)

One thing to consider when "copying" a recipe - do you have the customers for it?

Not sure how it is in the US or Europe, but in Asia I have seen my share of ambitious chef's / restaurant owners that put their hearts into a dish only to discover, that the food cost would make the item so expensive, that no one would buy it.
One example:

A good friend of mine opened a restaurant in Bali some 20 years or so ago.
As he left to go back to Europe with the family (was a family based decision) he hired someone to take over the restaurant from him.
It was a younger guy who was not a Chef - however - he did have 15+ years running restaurants.

I went to visit him about 2 years after he took over as he had asked me to stop by and help him - as the business was decreasing.
First thing I noticed was, that while the restaurant was more or less full (60 covers) his finances did not add up - until we found the issue:

He was creating dishes like: Lobster & Uni Ravioli with a beurre blanc sauce - simply delicious - but the price tag was way too high for the restaurant in general, for the location and especially for the daily customers.
And yet he still kept it on the menu, still kept ordering (even if just a little) inventory for those dishes...and was literally throwing money out the window

So - the one thing I'd like to add
While a home recipe might make sense for a fancy dinner party at home (where yes, you have a budget on your food cost, but you don't need to consider labour / running costs / insurances / etc...) it might not work in a restaurant setting.
 
There is no major difference between both. Many people are always obsessed with try something new that could light up their moods and taste should be better than home prepared food.

The only difference I can figure out till now a dish is way better if it is prepared by professional cook rather than home-made because professional has superiority of skills in his/her work.
 
Ummm...what's your definition of a "professional cook", and don't you think if a non professional made, say, challah, or pot roast every week for 10 years that they wouldn't have a superiority of skills as good or better than a cook with 5 years experience?
 
Discussion starter · #30 ·
Thank you all for your responses. See my definition of Professional is people who are doing things for a pay. Theyre paid to know the field and be good at it. From most responses seems there is no difference. Ive been putting more time at work so ive been absent from the site due to not having much time lol.
 
21 - 30 of 30 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top