chefs

chefs

Introduction

Most people working on this assignment titled “Culinary History” have gone into various depths of gastronomy (with due respect to what they have written about). I almost did the same but because the topic I choose was a little too complicated to work on so I thought and I thought and then it suddenly struck……we’re all future chefs and we all wear our chef uniforms with so much pride but how much do we know about our gleaming white number and the trailblazers who’ve paved the path we trod on today.
My assignment is going to be a pot-pourri of elements of our careers……….






The Chefs
The chef has evolved as craftsman and a professional. The term literally means “the chief” in French. The chefs play the most important role in culinary history.
The first mention of a chef in history of the western world is of Marcus Gavius Apicius, born about 25AD he is reputed to have written a book of recipes called ‘de re conquinaria libri decem’ (Cuisine in ten books). This scroll was written for a professional cooks of the Roman Empire.
The next piece of culinary record appeared only a millennium later by Guillaume Tirel alias Taillevent, chef to King Charles V of France. He published a book Le Viandier in 1380 and gave a clear cut picture on what the royalties ate during his time.

During this era, chefs and cooks faced a lot of challenges. Due to lack of proper storage, heavy usage of spices on foods took place to mask odours and undesirable flavours. There was no proper tableware and foods were mashed or pounded into smaller pieces that could be eaten by hand. Modern conveniences that are too often taken for granted were non-existent. Consider the significance of these most basic items we have today: electricity, gas, and plumbing. There was no refrigeration, nor was there running water. Cooking was done in front of or over live fires; ovens, of course, were also heated in his manner. There were no exhaust fans for...