Too Many Cooks? Not Nearly Enough By Amanda Hesser
The Typical Cook
In her article, "Too Many Cooks? Not Nearly Enough," from NYC, Amanda Hesser states, "Cooking is an art, but working proficiently in a professional kitchen is a craft (Hesser, 4). Being a cook is a tough job. It's more than just cooking. It's also planning, managing, accommodating the needs of co-workers and patrons, and making the best of things when your pantry contains only a stick of butter, two sausages, and three carrots. The typical cook is a Caucasian male in his early 20's. In the article, "Missing: Great Women Chefs in New York," by Marian Burros, she explains that usually men outnumber women because women who want to be successful in the male dominated cooking world, must have a determination level that …show more content…
Cooks are also very competitive and are extreme perfectionists. In a large, full-scale kitchen, there are many stations in which a cook could specialize. Sometimes more than forty cooks in a single restaurant compete for the best positions. A garde-manger is the lowest position while hot appetizers and pasta and risotto stations are of higher levels. The most wanted stations are the positions at the fish, meat and grill lines, where the main courses are prepared (Hesser, 3). Mr. Patel, owner of Zarole in Ridgewood, New Jersey, tells of his experience in an internship in France through John Foy's article, "What Stirred Young Chefs to Excel." "One day the chef had me in the freezer for two hours forming 200 scoops of ice cream into egg shapes. He didn't like one of the shapes, so he destroyed all of them and made me start over" (Foy, 3). The perfection that cooks must reach brings more pressure to their world of cooking. Cooks have to be organized and efficient, very well networked, and very patient. Amanda Hesser writes about this in her article, "So You Think Your Kitchen Is Small?" To be organized and efficient means to have decreased the amounts of extra equipment using only what is a necessity, streamlining their foods, and learning to take very efficient approaches to cooking (Hesser, 2). Next, networking can be very beneficial, but can also be very …show more content…
When they first enter the profession, they usually work unpaid for several years only to gain the necessary experience to becoming a paid cook. Marian Burros talks about this in her article, "Long hours, No Pay: Only Chef Wannabes Need Apply." During his early career, he had to get up at 5 in the morning shave and shower thoroughly, take a long bus ride to the city, and run through a back alley into the kitchen. He then had to chop, stir, and clean up after everyone was done. All he received for his hard work was a small pat on the back by a fellow cook or a higher-level chef. He ends up burning his hands and arms, and is completely covered in chocolate and other sauces (Burros, 3). He goes home to his fiancé fourteen hours later that night where she is waiting for him to cook dinner. They haven't married because he has no money to support a family and no time to devote himself to her and possible children at this time. For now, they live with the support of the fiancés income living in a small studio apartment, with no car and little furniture, until he finds a decent paying
In her article, "Too Many Cooks? Not Nearly Enough," from NYC, Amanda Hesser states, "Cooking is an art, but working proficiently in a professional kitchen is a craft (Hesser, 4). Being a cook is a tough job. It's more than just cooking. It's also planning, managing, accommodating the needs of co-workers and patrons, and making the best of things when your pantry contains only a stick of butter, two sausages, and three carrots. The typical cook is a Caucasian male in his early 20's. In the article, "Missing: Great Women Chefs in New York," by Marian Burros, she explains that usually men outnumber women because women who want to be successful in the male dominated cooking world, must have a determination level that …show more content…
Cooks are also very competitive and are extreme perfectionists. In a large, full-scale kitchen, there are many stations in which a cook could specialize. Sometimes more than forty cooks in a single restaurant compete for the best positions. A garde-manger is the lowest position while hot appetizers and pasta and risotto stations are of higher levels. The most wanted stations are the positions at the fish, meat and grill lines, where the main courses are prepared (Hesser, 3). Mr. Patel, owner of Zarole in Ridgewood, New Jersey, tells of his experience in an internship in France through John Foy's article, "What Stirred Young Chefs to Excel." "One day the chef had me in the freezer for two hours forming 200 scoops of ice cream into egg shapes. He didn't like one of the shapes, so he destroyed all of them and made me start over" (Foy, 3). The perfection that cooks must reach brings more pressure to their world of cooking. Cooks have to be organized and efficient, very well networked, and very patient. Amanda Hesser writes about this in her article, "So You Think Your Kitchen Is Small?" To be organized and efficient means to have decreased the amounts of extra equipment using only what is a necessity, streamlining their foods, and learning to take very efficient approaches to cooking (Hesser, 2). Next, networking can be very beneficial, but can also be very …show more content…
When they first enter the profession, they usually work unpaid for several years only to gain the necessary experience to becoming a paid cook. Marian Burros talks about this in her article, "Long hours, No Pay: Only Chef Wannabes Need Apply." During his early career, he had to get up at 5 in the morning shave and shower thoroughly, take a long bus ride to the city, and run through a back alley into the kitchen. He then had to chop, stir, and clean up after everyone was done. All he received for his hard work was a small pat on the back by a fellow cook or a higher-level chef. He ends up burning his hands and arms, and is completely covered in chocolate and other sauces (Burros, 3). He goes home to his fiancé fourteen hours later that night where she is waiting for him to cook dinner. They haven't married because he has no money to support a family and no time to devote himself to her and possible children at this time. For now, they live with the support of the fiancés income living in a small studio apartment, with no car and little furniture, until he finds a decent paying