Chapter 4 Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—

ProfessionalismSection 4.1

Vocabulary & Questions

Vocabulary

• Culinarian

• NRAEF

• ACF

• Flavor

• Umami

• Respect

• Workstation

• Kitchen Brigade

• Dining Room Brigade

• Sous Chef

• Professionalism

Questions

• What are the 6 ingredients of professionalism?

• What are the 5 basic tastes?

• List the work sections & their stations.

• Why are there so many fewer positions in the dining room than in the kitchen?

• Why is communication so important?

Chapter 4

Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—Professionalism

What Does It Mean To Be a Culinary Professional?

• A Culinarian is one who has studied and continues to study the art of cooking. The attributes of a culinary professional include: – Knowledge: A professional culinary program provides the culinary

student with a basic knowledge of foods, food styles, and the methods used to prepare foods.

– Skill: Culinary schooling alone cannot make a culinary professional. Practice and hands-on experience provide the skills necessary to produce quality foods or organize, train, motivate, and supervise a staff.

– Flavor, aroma, taste: Culinary professionals must produce foods that taste great, or the customer will not return.

– Judgment: Culinary professionals must use discretion and appropriate behavior with coworkers, supervisors, and employees.

5

To be professional is to be courteous, honest, and responsible in your dealings with customers and coworkers.

4.1 Chapter 4 | Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—Professionalism

What Does It Mean To Be a Culinary Professional? (cont.)– Dedication: Becoming a culinary professional is hard work.– Pride: It is important to have a sense of pride about a job well

done. Pride extends to personal appearance and behavior in and around the kitchen.

– Respect: Respect is having consideration for oneself and others. In order to respect others, a person must first respect himself or herself.

– Personal responsibility: Personal responsibility means that a person is responsible for the choices he or she makes. Personal responsibility means that a person accepts accountability and is in control.

– Education and the culinary professional: Employers value a formal culinary education.

64.1 Chapter 4 | Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—Professionalism

Workstations

• Workstations using the same or similar equipment for related tasks are grouped together into a work section.

• Good kitchen design maximizes the flow of goods and staff from one area to the next and within each area itself.

• A kitchen-brigade system is a method for staffing a kitchen so that each worker is assigned a set of specific tasks.

• A dining-room brigade is led by the dining room manager (maître d) who generally trains all service personnel, oversees wine selections, works with the chef to develop the menu, organizes the seating chart, and seats the guests.

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A workstation is a work area in the kitchen dedicated to a particular task.

4.1 Chapter 4 | Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—Professionalism

Section 4.1 Summary

• Professionalism means being courteous, honest, and responsible in one’s dealings with customers and coworkers. It also indicates that a person is maintaining standards for his or her work and behavior.

• Professional culinarians have knowledge, skill, taste, judgment, dedication, pride, respect, and a sense of personal responsibility.

• A kitchen brigade is a system of staffing a kitchen so that each worker is assigned a set of specific tasks.

• A traditional dining-room brigade is led by the dining room manager (maître d’) who generally trains all service personnel, oversees wine selections, works with the chef to develop the menu, organizes the seating chart, and seats the guests.

84.1 Chapter 4 | Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—Professionalism