Tips to Become a Great Chef

I believe that not all superheroes wear capes. A huge number of them don chef coats!

Each day, I get a large number of aspirants who seek to break into a culinary career. The reasons are almost always identical. There are those who claim that they love cooking and others who have grown up on televised culinary competitions. Some have a strong mother as a source of inspiration while others believe that becoming a chef would increase their cool quotient!

Each one of these are valid reasons to join the fraternity but they definitely aren't enough for someone to stick around and make it a career!

Like the world of sports or the military, the culinary world is a great leveller. It doesn't care about your antecedents, your lineage, or your bank balance. When you step up to the line, you better put out your best performance each time because mediocrity is not an option.

There is a line that divides the good chefs from the great ones. Unfortunately, the line isn't a fine one and does not allow you to skip over to the winning side at leisure. So, what are the ingredients that go into the making of a chef?

I always tend to put passion at the top of the list. Either you have it or you don't! If you don't have passion, you are bound to give up. Passion cannot be taught; it cannot be learnt. It exists within you. It is what gives chefs their drive, their energy, and their motivation.

And right on the heels of passion comes attitude. A passionate chef may create wonders, but the right attitude is important for you to realize your dreams. Attitude can propel you to the heights of fame or sink you into the cesspool of anonymity.

The right attitude breeds discipline. Discipline does more for the aspiring culinarian than we tend to give due credit. Discipline allows chefs to ensure that their art is practiced in a safe environment and that the codes, whether unwritten or not, are followed. It is also the precursor to dependability.

In the stressful quagmires of the culinary world, it is extremely gratifying to know that you have teammates who've got your back, or you can lean on. It allows you to become a teamplayer. Chefs are hierarchical in nature and teams are the core of our business. There have been many a talented chef who have lived careers of ignominy just because they couldn't get along with their colleagues. Lone wolves rarely make an impact on the culinary scene.

Every hierarchy needs a leader and leadership skills are an important aspect of the territory. A brave and fearless leader elevates the culinary game by several notches.

And bravery here isn't referring to the taking of unnecessary risks or uncalled for obnoxious behaviour. It needs you to be on the frontline of a barrage of orders and dealing with some of the most exasperating of guests.

It may ask of you the ability to maintain composure, to handle pressure or to multitask! It may demand an incessant flow of creativity. And your brilliance cannot be a simple flash-in-the-pan but would have to be repeated time and again with great consistency.

It may also test your resilience and time-management skills! It would definitely assess your stamina! Those long hours may be tiring but they are so fabulously rewarding. The recreational cook is almost always in for a rude shock when they shift to the laborious tasks of maintaining pace in a professional kitchen.

Apart from this, chefs are notoriously finicky creatures. They are rarely satisfied until their innate detail-oriented inner selves aren't satiated. Open communication skills are a necessity in the hustle and bustle of a busy kitchen and a good chef would pride themselves in the copious use of this particular skillset.Often comparisons have been drawn between the seasoned chef and a serene swan floating on the surface of the lake. They both may present a very calm picture, but there is a flurry of activity taking place just beneath the surface. Television may have added a touch of sex appeal to the role of a professional chef. To the passionate chef however, they are rather aware that when the food goes out, there will be no 'retakes' possible!

This article is adapted from its original source.