Life and Leisure

I am no general, just a foot soldier

By Stuart Beaton (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-26 08:01

A few people have written to me lately and said: "You must be a great chef!"

I merely shrug my shoulders, and write back a reply in which I quote Casey Ryback: "I'm just a cook".

The word "chef" is a French one, from chef de cuisine or, in English, "chief of the kitchen". He's the man in charge, who makes all the decisions - and doesn't do a lot of the work.

You can spot the chef in a restaurant kitchen, he is the one that makes the most noise, as he barks out the orders to his troops. Everyone defers to him, as he tastes sauces and soups, and passes judgment on whether a dish should go out to the table.

He is not going to be the one peeling vegetables, slicing potatoes, chopping meat or any of the dozen or so other "donkey work" jobs.

That's not to say that he has not in the past. Most chefs do not get to run a kitchen until they have worked every aspect of one - from vegetable peeler right up to cooking the perfect steaks. A good chef should be able to step in and take over from any of his cooks at any time. A great one can even spot when this is going to be needed, and get in there first.

I watch a lot of kitchens in China, when I can. I love the theater of them, the noise. There is something about the sizzle of ingredients hitting a wok at just the right temperature, or seeing puffs of flame shoot into an extraction hood that can set your gastric juices going.

My quiet studies of these kitchens have shown me that there are two types of restaurant kitchens in China - those with, and those without a chef.

The second type is usually the smaller restaurant. Here, everyone cooks, nobody just stands around in charge. It is by no means disorganized or sloppy, everything is done without constant supervision, and the meals are usually quick, cheap and tasty.

Those with a chef, however, are another kettle of fish. A restaurant big enough, with enough money to spare to pay someone to do little more than watch other people work - how does that make the food taste better?

Often, it doesn't. Sometimes the emphasis on the food goes away from the flavor, and into the presentation and styling of the dishes, so you get food that looks good - and that might be all.

Chefs' wages can lead to the prices going up, too!

So you might not only be getting food that's pretty, but pretty pricey too.

A restaurant with a good chef won't suffer from food that is all style and no substance. A good chef will not only think about how food looks, and tastes, but also how much it's going to cost as well.

A good chef will give you the best-value, best-tasting, best-presented meal for a price you can afford.

A great chef will make you feel that the food you have just had was good enough to be the last you will ever taste.

There are some great chefs in China, who can do the most amazing things with the basest of ingredients, and turn out perfect food from their kitchen, plate after plate.

You will love their work, and come back for more.

And I envy them, I really do.

I am not a chef. A chef is someone who has a team working under him, he is the commander of a kitchen.

In our home, there is only me cooking.

And I don't even have someone to wash my dishes.

China Daily