Many people aspire to be the best they can be on their chosen career path. By working hard and achieving goals, they hope to benefit from better job satisfaction, broader work opportunities, and a better salary.
However, it’s not always easy to know what it takes to be the best in your field, and the hospitality industry is no different. If you’re a chef with a basic cookware set, fundamental knowledge, and a passion for food but want to be the best chef, you might see the value in obtaining these essential skills.
Creativity
Customers love ordering dishes from a menu they couldn’t prepare themselves at home. They get to try something new, enjoy an exciting atmosphere, and avoid having to do the washing up.
While you might walk into a job as a chef with a pre-planned menu, there will likely come a time when you’ll play a role in forming a new menu. When this moment arises, you’ll need to let your creativity shine through.
Many chefs are involved in experimenting with new dishes, menu design, dish presentation, and entirely new flavour combinations. The most creative chefs are typically those who stand out from the crowd.
Attention to Detail
Customers notice the little things. They know when their food hasn’t been presented beautifully and when the portion sizes aren’t consistent across their entire party. They can also tell when they’ve been short-changed on fries or their steak isn’t cooked to perfection. If your customers notice the little things, you need to see them too.
Attention to detail is crucial on your journey to becoming a top chef. When you have an eye for detail in measuring ingredients, perfecting your presentation, and crafting portion sizes, it shows in the quality of the food you produce.
Business Skills
You might assume that being a top chef is all about cooking delicious food, but there can be much more to it than that. Many chefs are also involved in the business side of a café or restaurant and must come up with cost-effective and delicious meals to serve their hungry customers.
Some chefs also play a part in budgeting, cost controls and reduction, food safety, hiring, and food pricing, just to name a few. So, the more familiar you become with the business side of cheffing, the more of an asset you can be to any hospitality business.
Culinary Skills
It goes without saying that being a top chef involves having culinary skills. Without them, you might not be able to provide delicious food that customers request time and time again.
At a minimum, you’ll need to have excellent knife skills, grilling skills, and the ability to select the best ingredients. Of course, the very best chefs are also masters at baking, pairing ingredients, and ensuring consistency with every meal served.
Food Safety and Hygiene
Food safety is a genuine problem in the United States, with an estimated one in six Americans getting sick yearly. Approximately 3,000 people also die annually from foodborne illnesses. As a result, it’s crucial to understand food safety and hygiene as a chef.
Familiarise yourself with the local health code, and ensure you’re up to date with best practices. Your knowledge should cover health and safety, hygiene, and sanitary practices such as hand-washing and preventing cross-contamination.
Becoming a top chef doesn’t happen overnight; you might need to work up from kitchen hand to head chef over several years. However, by working on the skills above, you can ensure you’re at the top of your game and ready to wow customers at dining establishments all around the world.
