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Executive Chef

The job of an Executive chef includes planning and directing food preparation and cooking

activities in professional kitchens of establishments that provide food services. Tasks

include menu planning, ensuring that all food will meet the expectations and quality standards

required, estimation of food requirements, and the estimation and analysis of food and

labor costs. This supervisory role oversees the activities of all types of sous-chefs,

specialty chefs, hierarchical chef positions and cooks. The Executive Chef will also recruit

and hire human capital. They may cook food as part of their daily routine or for special guests,

events, or functions. Depending on the scope of work for this position, some executive chefs

may be very hands-on. This position is highly demanding of the individuals time, demanding that

they are in their kitchens every day and night, overseeing, preparing, and/or finishing the dishes

and plates to make sure everything leaving the kitchen  is made to the required specification.

Again, depending on the scope of work, the Executive Chef may require and instill the

authority of overseeing operations to the Executive sous Chef or Sous Chef in a manager-on-duty

effect. The Executive Chef may have created the dishes, recipes and developed the menu,

but they may be able to pass the responsibility of execution over to the sous chef/'s to do all

the daily running of the kitchen. This can leave time for the Executive Chef to concentrate

efforts on developing technical writing, cookbooks, or for exploring and developing new

opportunities for the organization. 

Sous Chef

The Sous ("sew") Chef is the second in command of a kitchen, after the Head Chef,

Chef de Cuisine, or Executive Chef. It is comparable to the position of first mate to the

captain on a ship. The translation of the word "Sous" comes from the French language for

the word "under." The Sous Chef has a difficult position! This position is typically under

appreciated in the light of fame, but it is well known that this position is possessed by

someone that knows how to make things run. Yes, the Executive Chef's name and

signature is the only one presented on the menu or recognized, even though the Sous Chef

may have been the one to create it, cook it, and put it into service. The Sous Chef is

responsible for supervising the work of specialty Chef's, cooks, and other back of the

house wage workers. The Sous Chef is responsible for training, inventory and equipment

management, cooking, and station operations.

Pastry Chef

Pastry chefs are very creative and tend to have unique characters :-) A Pastry Chef must

have extensive  knowledge, training, and experience to create different kinds of pastries,

baked goods and confections, as well as to have the ability to execute special projects upon

demand. The Pastry Chef must have a   creative edge, while having a very good eye for

aesthetics, and he/she must understand the principles and foundations of flavor profiles in savory

dishes to match their desserts with the food, much like process of matching wine to food. In

corporate environments like resorts, large hotels, or cruise ships, the Pastry Chef typically

reports directly to the Executive Pastry Chef, who ultimately reports to the Corporate Pastry

Chef. However, it is not uncommon to find that the Pastry Chef or Executive Pastry Chef will

report to the Executive Chef. Below the title of Pastry Chef, in the typical hierarchical kitchen organizational structure, positions such as Assistant Pastry Chef and line cooks and employees

will be supervised by this position. A good Pastry Chef will be an exceptional manager of

people, much like an Executive Chef or Sous Chef. They must also be able to coordinate

staffing schedules along with demanding production requirements. The Pastry Chef must be

able to control and track costs, and will be in charge of ingredient ordering.

Saucier

Among the kitchen positions in the hierarchical organizational structure, there is a classification

known as "section chefs," and the saucier (sah-see-ayy) is a relatively prestigious position

in the ranks. This individual makes all the sauces, and may even make specific meat dishes

cooked in a particular sauce. such as Goulash or Bolognese Sauce. Because sauces are the

foundation of French haute cuisine *the mother cuisine), the saucier might be considered to

be "the keeper of the flame" in the traditional French-based restaurant kitchen operation.

A Saucier must be classically trained and must know and put into practice the basis of all

sauces which are the five "Mother sauces." The first is Espagnole (or Brown Sauce), made

from a dark roux of cooked flour and butter, along with brown stock made from roasted

bones and vegetables. Veloute is a white sauce, made with a pale roux and a light stock.

Bechamel is a basic white sauce made of flour, butter, and milk, to which cheese is

often added. Vinaigrette is oil and vinegar, usually flavored with garlic, shallots,

or herbs. And Hollandaise represents the emulsified sauces of egg and oil or butter,

which include Mayonnaise.

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