SAKE: Skills, Attitude, Knowledge and Experience.
For Goodness Sake
How many times have we seen someone call them selves a chef, attend an interview for a chef position, appear on television or in an editorial as a chef, or even see teaching institutes misleadingly advertise they teach “chefs”.
So what then is a Chef?.
We know the community broadly perceives any professional cook to be a chef, in most technical circles the person who manages a commercial kitchen is called the chef. We also unfortunately find that different cultures, English dictionaries, and curriculum documents considerably disagree what the role really embodies.
Some time ago I attempted to identify a role model. I called my philosophical statement “SAKE”, simply because I believe that there are four distinct elements that encompass what a chef should symbolise. Skills, Attitude, Knowledge and Experience and unless a person can truthfully demonstrate they have all four elements they are not in reality a genuine professional chef.
In a simplistic abstract model, a chef can be portrayed in by the stages of their development:
A trainee or an apprentice is learning to use their hands to become a qualified cook.
A qualified cook has learnt to use their hands and now learning to use their brain in order to progress to a sous chef.
A sous chef has learnt to use their hands and brain and is learning to use other hands to advance to a Chef de Cuisine
A Chef de Cuisine has learnt to use their hands; their brain, other hands and learning to use other brains to mature as an Executive Chef
An Executive Chef is simply a cook who has learnt to use their hands and brains and other hands and brains.
However, SAKE attempts to define a “chef” in greater detail. Here is my SAKE model, measure yourself to discover if you are a professional chef in this model role.
The title Cook and Chef is basically one and the same; they both commercially prepare food. Technically to be titled a chef must be in charge of a kitchen or a part of a large kitchen. Both cooks and chefs work in the trade of cookery; therefore both are fundamentally cooks. All genuine chefs are foremost cooks. Not all cooks are chefs. This is determined by their position and responsibility or may be a bestowed title by ones colleagues as a mark of respect and accolade in conversation.
There are four components: Skills - Attitude - Knowledge - Experience. This is called the “SAKE” philosophy.
A cook/chef who has the “SKILLS” will consistently demonstrate confidence to technically procure, prepare, and present wholesome food within the cost and time constrains applicable to their work environment utilizing:
• Basic classic preparations
• Knife Skills
• Technical skills
Attributes that lead to success:
• Able to function under pressure
• Alert
• Ambitious
• Cautious
• Creative
• Good Communicator
• Physically fit
• Self assured
A cook/chef who has the “ATTITUDE” will automatically demonstrate they are eager to:
• Accept accountability for own actions
• Be courteous
• Be ethical in practice
• Be honest, reliable and loyal
• Defend industry standards
• Follow a code of practices
• Follow cookery conventions
• Mentor the futures industry
• Networks through associations
• Operate with integrity and honour
• Promote trade education
• Proudly wear a chef’s uniform
• Self- discipline themselves
• Shares knowledge with others
• Show a positive outlook
• Show respects for cookery history
• Values continuous self development
A person who has the Knowledge to be titled a cook/chef is able to describe: foundation culinary preparations, fundamental commercial cookery techniques, culinary terminology, the reaction of ingredients in preparation and cooking, where to commercially procure products, quality in a wide variety of products and ingredients, be familiar with, the laws of the land as applied to a working chef and where applicable, commercial insight in the following topics.
There are four stages of competence and commercial knowledge in a cookery career. Normally stage 1 and 2 constitute a cook/chef. Stage 3 develops a Chef de Cuisine and stage 4 is normally required for an Executive Chef.
• Stage 1• Basic Food Preparation:
• Canapés
• Culinary Terminology
• Eggs and Farinaceous
• Equipment and Tools
• Fish and Shellfish
• Food Presentation
• Fruit
• Herbs
• Hors d'oeuvres
• Hot and Cold Desserts
• Hygiene and HACCP
• Larder and Buffet
• Meat Cookery and Primary Cuts
• Methods of Cookery
• Mise-en-place
• Occupational Health and Safety
• Pastry
• Potato and Starch
• Poultry and Game
• Salads and Dressings
• Sandwiches
• Spices
• Stock Soups and Sauces
• Sweets
• Vegetables and Fungi
• Yeast products
• Stage 2
• Butchery secondary cuts
• Cakes and pastries
• Environment and Sustainability
• First Aid
• Fish and Shellfish ( Recognition)
• Global Preparations
• International Dishes
• Legal Compliance
• Menu planning
• Nutrition
• Portion Control -Yield Testing
• Product Knowledge
• Standard Recipes
• Stage 3
• Accounting-Costing- Budgeting
• Coaching - Staff Development - Training
• Current General Industry News
• Leadership
• Operational - Organizational
• Purchasing • Quality control
• Rosters
• Stores Control
• Stage 4
• Business Model Planning
• Ethics and Conventions
• Food and art
• Food Science
• Foodservice
• Time Management
• Human Resource Management
A person who has had the "EXPERIENCE" to be titled a cook/chef:
Earns a livelihood from a commercial cookery career
Has experienced the responsibility that goes with of the levels below:
- Trainee or apprentice cook
- Chef de partie- Station cook/ chef
- Sous chef
- Chef de Cuisine
- Executive chef
Or titled with one of the many alternative equivalent designations that normally require the following approximate years of experience:
- Trainee / apprentice cook = 1- 4 years
- Chef de partie-Station cook/chef = 5–7 years
- Sous Chef = 7 years plus
- Chef de Cuisine = 9 – 12 years plus
- Executive Chef = 12 – 15 years plus
--George Hill 09:35, 30 August 2013 (MIST)