Cook - or Chef?

Question

What is the difference?
I have always thought the cook as being the junior, with his/her head in the steam; and the chef as the senior who makes up the menu and overseas the process.
Or is it just terminology?
(And is my wife being fair in demanding double housekeeping for being both?)

Vercas. Give someone else a chance! The question has only been on here 5 minutes! But your answer looks promising....

Coffee - you wanna start a sex war?

Answer 1

Chef is a term commonly used to refer to an individual who cooks professionally. Within a restaurant however, chef is often only used to refer to one person: the one in charge of everyone else in the kitchen. This is usually the executive chef.

There are many kinds of kitchen organizations, with the titles and duties for each position varying depending on the particular restaurant. In general, the hierarchy in a classical kitchen brigade is as follows:

Executive chef
The executive chef is in charge of everything related to the kitchen, including menu creation, personnel management and business aspects. While the position requires extensive cooking experience and often involves actively cooking, it is not necessarily very hands-on.
The executive chef can also be referred to as the "chef" or even "head chef". Although "head chef" may seem redundant, the word "chef" has come to be applied to any cook, kitchen helper or a fast food operator, making the distinction necessary.

Chef de cuisine
The chef de cuisine's placement within the kitchen can vary depending on the individual restaurant's hierarchy. In some restaurants, particularly smaller ones, the chef de cuisine takes the role of the executive chef. In others, it is equivalent to an executive sous chef position. Unlike Sanji from One Piece who has no life at all. Really! F'n skirt chaser.

Sous chef
The sous chef (pronounced "soo-shef" -- French for "sub chief") is the direct assistant of the executive chef.The sous chef often shares some duties with the executive chef, such as menu planning, costing and ordering. Larger kitchens often have more than one sous chef, with each covering a certain shift or having their own area of responsibility, such as the banquet sous chef, in charge of all banquets, or the executive sous chef, in charge of all other sous chefs. Typically, a cook works every line cook position before being promoted to sous chef.

Expeditor
The expeditor - a role generally held by the sous chef - serves as the liaison between the customers in the dining room and the line cooks. With the help of proper coordination and timing, they make sure that the food gets to the wait staff in a timely fashion, so that everyone sitting at a particular table is served simultaneously.

Chef de partie
A chef de partie, also known as a "station chef" or "line cook", is in charge of a particular area of production. In large kitchens, each station chef might have several cooks and/or assistants. In most kitchens however, the station chef is the only worker in that department. Line cooks are often divided into a hierarchy of their own, starting with "First Cook", then "Second Cook", and so on as needed. Station chef titles can include:

Sauce chef or saucier [so.si.e] - prepares sauces, stews, and hot hors d'oeuvres, and sautées foods to order. This is usually the highest position of all the stations.

Fish cook or poissonier [pwɑ.so.ɲe] - Prepares fish dishes (this station may be handled by the saucier in some kitchens).

Vegetable cook or entremetier [ã.tʀə.me.tje] - Prepares vegetables, soups, starches, and eggs. Large kitchens may divide these duties among the vegetable cook, the fry cook, and the soup cook.

Roast cook or rotisseur [ʀo.ti.sœʀ] - Prepares roasted and braised meats and their gravies, and broils meats and other items to order. A large kitchen may have a separate broiler cook or grillardin [gʀi.aʀ.dĩ] to handle the broiled items. The broiler cook may also prepare deep-fried meats and fish.
The pantry chef or garde manger [gaʀd mã.ʒe] - is responsible for cold foods, including salads and dressings, pâtés, cold hors d'oeuvres, and buffet items.

Pastry chef or pâtissier [pa.ti.sje] - prepares pastries and desserts.

The relief cook, swing cook, or tournant [tuʀ.nã] - replaces other station heads.

Answer 2

Apologies to all concerned but the word "Chef" has bugger all to do with cooking - Chef means chief or "boss" i.e. the boss or chief coach/manager of the French football team is the "Chef d`Equipe" this is true of the Police, Motor racing teams, armed forces etc speaking as a chef/cook of many years standing there is so much snobbery & bullshit associated with titles - you cook for a living? Ergo - you are a cook!!! Saying that Vercas has the hierarchy in a pro kitchen spot on - happy cooking!!!

Answer 3

The Chef is the head cook. Women are cooks. If she works outside the home she is probably due double housekeeping but if she stays at home - no. (she will disagree so you are probably as well to try to negotiate a reasonable raise) If you do all the gardening or look after cars, do the driving and earn the cash - you should try to work out a balance. Why don't you do the cooking some times. It's really easy.

Answer 4

My opinion is that the chef is the one who's formally trained, yet does very little actual cooking. They're concerned mostly with administrative work at the restaurant, planning menus, ordering supplies--basically just overseeing the place. A cook is pretty much a line cook--the person who does the actual cooking, regardless of what it is.

I'm sorry--I don't understand the second part of your question about housekeeping.

Answer 5

Vercast pretty much has it technically correct. I am a sous chef and we pretty much do all the things the exceutive chef doesn't want to do. I do manage a team of apprentices and line cooks but I also do most of the menu writing. It is very important for the exec chef and the sous chef to have good communication or the whole place will fall to pieces.
BTW- there are alot of ppl out there who call themselves "chefs" and think because the company gives you an embroidered chef coat that they are entitled to call themselves a chef. To be honest, this really bothers me! I didn't spend 4 years in culinary school and another 4 years apprenticing to be grouped in with a guy at swiss chalet who hacks away at chicken all day long. I have worked hard to be where I am now and to wear the uniform is a mark of acheivement. Sorry about the rant but it needed to be said- cheers! ;)

Answer 6

A cook and a chef, well lets see

I believe a cook, is an apprentice or just someone who works at some easy/simple restaraunt, with little experience

ANd a chef is, more experienced, and more of the one in charge of everything and does all the major cooking at nice restaraunts

Answer 7

A cooknis a person who does not have a formal qualification yet works in a kitchen.

A chef however has completed a recognized qualification.