Comments on: What Is A Chef?

By: dana

dana — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 06:17:35 +0000

I understand you’re fanatical about Alice Waters, to the extent that you threatened to censor my comments because I didn’t agree with Alice Waters.

But, you’re undermining your whole post by calling Alice Waters a chef.

Would you also call somebody like Danny Myers a chef as well? I think the more apropos title for somebody like Waters is more like restauranter.

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:56:11 +0000

It’s an important distinction, and as someone who has occasionally worked in kitchens, one which I view as important. I’ve always appreciated how Nigella Lawson is careful to mention that she is not a chef, but rather someone who is enthusiastic about food.

By: Laura O

Laura O — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:04:34 +0000

I totally understand your point, but I think this is a little bit like saying you can’t call yourself a conductor unless you’re leading a symphony orchestra.

That being said, my feathers get a little ruffled when every Jane Doe with a digital camera calls herself a photographer. So I guess we all defend our own passions.

By: Neohippie

Neohippie — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:43:46 +0000

Interesting. I knew “chef” was a specific position, and meant something more than just someone who cooks, but I wasn’t sure exactly what distinguished a chef from just any cook.

It reminds me of how annoyed I get with “doctors”. It seems anyone with a doctorate can go around calling themselves Dr. Whoever, and suddently they are an Authority on Anything and Everything. Never mind what their degree is in may be a completely unrelated subject to what they are talking about. (I joke that one day, if I ever manage to get that PhD in wildlife biology I’d like, then I could get a radio program or TV show called “Dr. Amanda” and tell everyone how they should raise their kids or lose weight or something.)

My point is calling yourself a doctor or a chef suddenly gives you this instant credibility that people without the title supposedly don’t have. It’s nice when people are honest about what their title really means.

By: Jan

Jan — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:19:25 +0000

My husband, bless him, loves my cooking and calls me a “chef” all the time, even though I insist quite strenuously that I am NOT; I’m simply a good cook. I believe I’ll point him in the direction of this post.

My mother once had “words” with a woman who took issue with the fact my mother referred to herself as a professional cake decorator; the woman maintained my mom couldn’t be, because she never went to school for it. Mom told her to stuff it – she did it for a living, in a real, live bakery (her own, the last ten years of her life) and not out of the kitchen in her house, and THAT made her a professional.