Nature of Work Performed By a Chef
The nature of work performed by a chef differs from the area where he is employed. The chef is the one who prepares, seasons and cooks a wide variety of food items such as soups, salads, side dishes, snacks and desserts. Chefs create innovative recipes and prepare meals; sometimes they peel and cut vegetables, trim meat, prepare poultry and monitor the temperature of ovens and stovetops. Chefs measure, mix and cook the ingredients as per the recipes by making use of various equipments such as pans, pots, cutlery, broilers, grills, slicers, grinders, blenders and ovens. The Chef is also responsible for giving directions to other co-workers in the kitchen in the entire meal preparation process. Chefs determine the serving sizes, plan menus and order kitchen supplies from time to time. Another responsibility of a chef is to test new formulas and flavors for preparing new food items and determine what the most efficient and safest ways are to prepare these new food items.
There are some chefs who are called personal or private household chefs who usually prepare a week's meals at the client's place that just needs to be heated and served accordingly as per the requirements. The personal chefs are employed by a company which provides the services.
Qualifications & Trainings Required in Becoming a Chef
A chef needs to have a basic high school diploma apart from the basic qualifications. This job of a chef is not quite stringent on the academic qualifications of the candidates, but most of the organizations prefer to hire those who have at least a diploma in hospitality, catering or food processing.
Skills Required in Becoming a Chef
First of all a chef needs to have a strong desire of cooking something new everyday. There are many training programs that can prove vital to enhance the cooking skills of the individuals. A real work experience is one such thing that is considered as imperative when hiring a chef.
Job Prospects of a Chef's Job
Each year there is a rise of about 15% in the job of a chef all over the world, so it can be said that the job prospects appear quite bright. This employment rate is expected to rise about 11% from the year 2006 to year 2016. The average earning of a chef varies from $20,000 to $40,000 and the median salary is about $22,000. There will always be the requirement of quality, dedicated and well equipped chefs in hotels, restaurants and chains of hotels and motels.
So, it can be clearly said that the candidates who have a love for cooking and like to add a touch of experimentation with their cooking can go in for the job of a chef to have a career that they would always love.
