Alot of the terms can come across as a bit wanky and over the top but 90% of these terms are derived from French cookery. If i ask a chef for brunoise of carrot they know to cut them 3mm by 3mm by3mm, if i ask for a beurre noisette they know i want nut brown butter.
For me it is a fun show with some excellent cooking but they have failed to tell these 20 to 40 year old they will be working for years on low wages, 6 days a week at times, most nights and weekends, iy isnt as glamorous as it looks on tv.
ps Chef for 15+ years
Yep 3G, 100% agree with you, but you forgot to mention split shifts 6 days a week, lack of social life, eating disorders, alcoholism and drug addiction........cute waitresses only go a very very short way towards making up for all of that
Proper terms are used for a good reason just as they are in brewing, they only sound 'wanky' to people who have no idea why they are used and could care less. Matt Preston annoys the hell out of me with his attitude and IMO he fully qualifies for the term wanker (well he is a food critic), but on a whole I consider the show to be better value than rubbish like 'the footy show' and the like. You want to see a bunch of wankers behaving like spastic juveniles then watch that.
I was also a professional chef for nearly 15 years, of my 20 years in the hospo trade, 6 of them as a head chef, and as far as the hat thing goes, I have done and probably still would throw something at someone who was silly enough to come into my commercial kitchen
without a hat on. While he probably doesn't wear it for this reason, hair belongs on your head, not in the food you're preparing. As an apprentice, I was not permitted into the kitchen without the proper attire and there was no discussion on the matter ( in fact my first head chef was bloody scarey on the subject). If it were my show the whole bloody lot of them would be in full white kit, and be made to leave the kitchen and change if they dirtied anything other than their apron ....just like I was and I suspect 3G may have been too. Cooking is a proud profession often taken for granted by the general population, and I'm a bit suprised to see people who happily embrace a special little name for every part of the brew having an issue with cooking terminology - it's a little hyprocritical.
I also think there might be some confusion on here on the difference between the weekend cowboys
cooks you see at fasta pasta etc and the
professional brigade chefs who have made a career choice, have spent serious time and $$$ training and take their profession extremely seriously. I'm known for not mincing words, but I would hesitate before using the terms 'poncy' and 'wanky' around some of my old kitchen colleagues lest I get knocked on my ass for my troubles........
The show is OK - it's a bit of fun, but as 3G mentioned the reality is very different - most of those guys would get a hell of a shock if they got dropped into service in a real kitchen. Turning out one meal in 30-45 mins is a piece of piss. I can tell you from experience that being part of a kitchen that turns out 400 meals in 4 hours is something altogether different...but good on them for trying eh
Personally I was a little jealous of them having the opportunity to cook for a couple of the people they were in the last episode....Armando Percuoco and Jacques Reymond. Justine should be rightfully proud of her effort, and the response she received.
Picture this - aspiring amateur brewer gets opportunity to train in worldclass brewery in Germany with award winning brewer.........calls head brewer a wanker for using the correct traditional terminology........:lol:........ I reckon his feet would barely touch the ground whilst getting shown the exit.
