MODULE 1: Introduction to Culinary

Prelim Period for week 1-3

1. HISTORY OF MODERN FOOD SERVICE

2. MODERN TECHNOLOGY
3. COOKING IN THE TWENTIETH AND TWENTY-FIRST CENTURIES
4. THE MODERN KITCHEN BRIGADE SYSTEM

Learning Objectives:
At the end of the period, students shall be able to:
1. Discuss the historical background of culinary in food service;
2. Identify significant personalities who contributed the development of culinary
3. Identify the difference of culinary during medieval period and modern period
4. Describe and explain the Kitchen Brigade System

Direction: In a whole sheet of paper try to write your ideas based on your own understanding on the following questions.

1. What is your understanding about culinary?

2. Describe how food is prepared at your home.
3. How many dishes you know how to cook?

LESSON OPENING

This module deals with the history culinary. It discusses how culinary has evolved from traditional method to modern way of
cooking. It also discusses the significant people who has a big contribution in the culinary industry.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

1. What is culinary?
2. What is food?
3. Name personalities who has a great contribution in the world of culinary.
4. Explain how Kitchen Brigade was introduced

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Another week, another new start! Good day dear students!. Have time to read the content of this module and enjoy learning!!!

ACTIVITY 1:
Each student will share their experiences in cooking. Naming their specialty and what makes it special.

Lesson Proper:
Through the activity given, through the activity you are supposed to gain idea on what the topic on this module covers.

ABSTRACTION

A. THE ORIGINS OF CLASSICAL AND MODERN CUISINE

Quantity cookery has existed for thousands of years, as long as there have been large groups of people to feed, such as armies.
But modern food service is said to have begun shortly after the middle of the eighteenth century. At this time, food production in
France was controlled by guilds. Caterers, pastry makers, roasters, and pork butchers held licenses to prepare specific items.
An innkeeper,in order to serve a meal to guests, had to buy the various menu items from those operations that were licensed to
provide them. Guests had little or no choice and simply ate what was available for that meal.

 In 1765, a Parisian named Boulanger began advertising on his shop sign that he served soups, which he called
restaurants or restoratives. (Literally, the word means "fortifying.") According to the story, one of the dishes he served
was sheep's feet in a cream [Link] guild of stew makers challenged him in court, but Boulanger won by claiming he
didn't stew the feet in the sauce but served them with the sauce. In challenging the rules of the guilds, Boulanger
unwittingly changed the course of food service history.

 The new developments in food service received a great stimulus as a result of the French Revolution, beginning in
1789. Before this time, the great chefs were employed in the houses of the French nobility. With the revolution and the
end of the monarchy, many chefs, suddenly out of work, opened restaurants in and around Paris to support
themselves. Furthermore, the revolutionary government abolished the guilds. Restaurants and inns could serve dinners
reflecting the talent and creativity of their own chefs, rather than being forced to rely on licensed caterers to supply their
food. At the start of the French Revolution, there were about 50 restaurants in Paris. Ten years later there were about
500.

 Another important invention that changed the organization of kitchens in the eighteenth century was the stove, or
potager, which gave cooks a more practical and controllable heat source than an open fire. Soon commercial kitchens
became divided into three departments: the rotisserie, under the control of the meat chef or rôtisseur, the oven, under
the control of the pastry chef or pâtissier, and the stove,run by the cook or cuisinier .The meat chef and pastry chef
reported to the cuisinier,who was also known as chef de cuisine,which means "head of the kitchen."

SIGNIFICANT PEOPLE IN CULINARY AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION

1. MARIE-ANTOINE CARÊME (1784- 1833)

 Published books which contains systematic account of cooking principles, recipes and menu making.
Marie-Antoine Carême L'Art de la Cuisine Française au Dix-Neuvième Siècle. Paris: L'auteur, 1833-1844.
Courtesy of the Rare Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

 Carême worked as a chef to wealthy patrons, kings, and heads of state. He was perhaps the first real celebrity
chef, and he became famous as the creator of elaborate, elegant display pieces and pastries, the ancestors of
our modern wedding cakes, sugar sculptures, and ice and tallow carvings.

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  Carême emphasized procedure and order. His goal was to create more lightness and simplicity. The complex
cuisine of the aristocracy—called Grande Cuisine—was still not much different from that of the Middle Ages
and was anything but simple and light.
 Beginning with Carême, a style of cooking developed that can truly be called international, because the same
principles are still used by professional cooks around the world.

2. GEORGES-AUGUSTE ESCOFFIER (1847-1935)

 Escoffier rejected what he called the "general confusion" of the old menus, in which sheer quantity seemed to be
the most important factor. Instead, he called for order and diversity and emphasized the careful selection of one or
two dishes per course, dishes that followed one another harmoniously and delighted the taste with their delicacy
and simplicity.
 His book Le Guide Culinaire, which is still widely used, arranges recipes in a simple system based on main
ingredient and cooking method, greatly simplifying the more complex system handed down from Carême.
 Escoffier's second major achievement, the reorganization of the kitchen, resulted in a streamlined workplace that
was better suited to turning out the simplified dishes and menus he instituted.

B. MODERN TECHNOLOGY

Today's kitchens look much different from those of Escoffier's day, even though our basic cooking principles are the same.
Also,the dishes we eat have gradually changed due to the innovations and creativity of modern [Link] process of
simplification and refinement, to which Carême and Escoffier made monumental contributions, is still ongoing, adapting classical
cooking to modern conditions and tastes.

TWO IMPORTANT COOKBOOKS

 Le Viandier ("The Cook"), written by Guillaume Tirel, usually known as Taillevent, born about 1310.
 Le Cuisinier François ("The French Chef"), by François-Pierre de La Varenne (1615— 1678)

These two chefs are memorialized today in the names of two important culinary institutions. Taillevent is the name of a Paris
restaurant that has long been one of the finest in France, and La Varenne is the name of a distinguished cooking school based
in Burgundy, France.

Development of New Equipment

Modern equipment has enabled many food service operations to change their production methods. With sophisticated cooling,
freezing, and heating equipment, it is possible to prepare some foods further in advance and in larger quantities. Some large
multiunit operations prepare food for all their units in a central commissary. The food is prepared in quantity, packaged, chilled or
frozen, then heated or cooked to order in the individual units.

Development and Availability of New Food Products

 Modern refrigeration and rapid transportation caused revolutionary changes in eating habits. For the first time, fresh
foods of all kinds—meats, fish, vegetables, and fruits— became available throughout the year. Exotic delicacies can
now be shipped from anywhere in the world and arrive fresh and in peak condition.
 The development of preservation techniques—not just refrigeration but also freezing, canning, freeze-drying, vacuum-
packing, and irradiation—increased the availability of most foods and made affordable some that were once rare and
[Link] of food preservation have had another effect. It is now possible to do some or most of the
preparation and processing of foods before shipping rather than in the food service operation itself. Thus, convenience
foods have come into being. Convenience foods continue to account for an increasing share of the total food market.
 Some developments in food science and agriculture are controversial. Irradiation, caused much controversy when it
was introduced because it exposes foods to radioactivity to rid them of organisms that cause spoilage and disease.

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 A more controversial technique is genetic engineering, which involves artificially changing the gene structure of a food
to give it some desirable trait, such as resistance to disease, drought, or insect damage. Reactions by cooks and the
public to this and other developments have changed the way many chefs think about food and menus.
 Sanitary and Nutritional Awareness. The development of the sciences of microbiology and nutrition had a great impact
on food service. One hundred years ago, there was little understanding of the causes of food poisoning and food
spoilage. Food handling practices have come a long way since Escoffier's day.

C. COOKING IN THE TWENTIETH AND TWENTY-FIRST CENTURIES

All these developments have helped change cooking styles, menus, and eating habits. The evolution of cuisine that has been
going on for hundreds of years continues. Changes occur not only because of technological developments, such as those just
described, but also because of our reactions to culinary traditions.

Two opposing forces can be seen at work throughout the history of cooking.
 One is the urge to simplify, to eliminate complexity and ornamentation, and instead to emphasize the plain, natural
tastes of basic, fresh ingredients.
 The other is the urge to invent, to highlight the creativity of the chef, with an accent on fancier, more complicated
presentations and procedures.

 Fernand Point (1897-1955).Working quietly and steadily in his restaurant, La Pyramide,in Vienne, France, Point
simplified and lightened classical cuisine. He was a perfectionist who sometimes worked on a dish for years before he
felt it was good enough to put on his menu 'I m not hard to please," he said. “I’m satisfied with the very best." Point
insisted that every meal should be "a little marvel."
Point's influence extended well beyond his own life. Many of his apprentices, such as Paul BocuseJean and Pierre
Troisgros,and Alain Chapel, went on to become some of the greatest stars of modern [Link], along with other chefs in
their generation, became best known in the 1960s and early 1970s for a style of cooking called nouvelle cuisine. They rejected
many traditional principles, such as a dependence on flour to thicken sauces, and instead urged simpler, more natural flavors
and preparations, with lighter sauces and seasonings and shorter cooking times. In traditional classical cuisine, many dishes
were plated in the dining room by waiters. Nouvelle cuisine, however, placed a great deal of emphasis on artful plating
presentations done by the chef in the kitchen.

By the 1980s, nouvelle cuisine was the subject of jokes. Still, the best achievements of nouvelle cuisine have taken a permanent
place in the classical tradition. Meanwhile, many of its excesses have been forgotten. It is probably fair to say that most of the
best new ideas and the lasting accomplishments were those of classically trained chefs with a solid grounding in the basics.

New Emphasis on Ingredients

 A landmark event in the history of modern North American cooking was the opening of Alice Waters's restaurant Chez
Panisse in Berkeley, California, in [Link]'s philosophy is that good food depends on good ingredients, so she set
about finding dependable sources of the best-quality vegetables, fruits, and meats, and preparing them in the simplest
ways. Over the next decades, many chefs and restaurateurs followed her lead, seeking out the best seasonal, locally
grown, organically raised food products.
 The public has benefited greatly from these efforts. Today, in supermarkets as well as in restaurants, a much greater
variety of high-quality foods is available than there was 40 or 50 years ago. Many chefs have modified their cooking
styles to highlight the natural flavors and textures of their ingredients, and their menus are often simpler now for this
reason.

International Influences

After the middle of the twentieth century, as travel became easier and as immigrants arrived in Europe and North America from
around the world, awareness of and taste for food and even the process and techniques in cooking.

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  CATERINA DE MEDICI
Until recently, the accepted and often-told story is that when Caterina de Medici went to France in 1533 to marry the future King
Henry II, she brought with her a staff of cooks as part of her household. This introduction of Italian cooking practices into France
supposedly changed and modernized the cooking not only of France but of all of Western Europe. According to this story,
Caterina and her Italian cooks should be credited with fostering modern cuisine.

The use of ingredients and techniques from more than one regional, or international, cuisine in a single dish is known as fusion
cuisine. Early attempts to prepare fusion cuisine often produced poor results because the dishes were not true to any one
culture and were too mixed [Link] was especially true in the 1980s, when the idea of fusion cuisine was new. Cooks often
combined ingredients and techniques without a good feeling for how they would work [Link] result was sometimes a
jumbled mess. But chefs who have taken the time to study in depth the cuisines and cultures they borrow from have brought
new excitement to cooking and to restaurant menus.

Cooking and cooking styles continue to change. Technology continues to make rapid advances in our industry, and men and
women are needed who can adapt to these changes and respond to new challenges. Although automation and convenience
foods will no doubt grow in importance, imaginative chefs who can create new dishes and develop new techniques and styles
will always be needed, as will skilled cooks who can apply both old and new techniques to produce high-quality foods in all kinds
of facilities, rom restaurants and hotels to schools and hospitals.

D. THE MODERN KITCHEN BRIGADE SYSTEM

The ancestry of the modern kitchen brigade (kitchen staff) dates back to the renowned Chef Georges Auguste Escoffier
who is the father of the original Brigade de Cuisine. In his day he had over 20 specific cook positions and dozens of
kitchen staff filling those positions. Today’s kitchen brigade has been significantly streamlined from Chef Escoffier’s
original, but the basic structure and concept is still the foundation of any well-organized professional kitchen.

Some of the reasons for the trimming down of the modern kitchen brigade include:

 Positions such as the Butcher & Fishmonger have largely been replaced by purchasing pre-fabricated cuts of meat and
fish from vendors.
 Restaurants which don’t make most of their own recipes from scratch can purchase processed or semi-processed
products for their menus.
 Most restaurants don’t do the elaborate multi-hour meals which Escoffier served to royalty, dignitaries, and wealthy
patrons.
 Modern technology such as hobart mixers, vitamix blenders, gas stoves, robot coupe, refrigeration, and much more
have made kitchen production significantly easier.

Escoffier designed the hierarchy of restaurant kitchen staff positions around a military model of the chain of command. The
purpose of this structure is all about organization, efficiency, and clearly defined duties. Even though some of the positions are
“fluid” in that they change depending upon the size of the operation, the duties and expectations are defined and understood in
each operation. And regardless of how skilled the staff is, if they are not properly organized in one of the following hierarchical
structures then the operation will be less efficient, less successful, and more stressful.
Resort Hotels which have 2 or more restaurants will have some variation of the following modern kitchen brigade structures:
 1 Executive Chef and a bunch of Line Cooks
This is a common structure for smaller hotels with only 1 restaurant, or for small independent restaurants. Although it is
possible for fantastic food to come from such a brigade (i.e. if the Chef is always there for every service period), this
brigade structure usually serves just average food because their targeted guests are just looking for a good price and
basic food, therefore the company focuses on cost savings and not on high culinary standards which require a more
extensive staff.
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  1 Executive Chef, 1 or more Sous Chefs, and a bunch of Line Cooks
This structure is common for 3 or 4 diamond hotels which have several restaurants, and for larger independent
restaurants. The food can range from average to above average depending upon the targeted guest demographic and
the cuisine philosophy (“we want to be a culinary destination” -or- “we want to serve basic good food”.) The typical Sous
Chef structure is to have 1 for day shift, 1 for night shift, and 1 for banquets; or 1 for each restaurant. And a bunch of
Line Cooks.
 1 Executive Chef, 1 Executive Sous Chef, a Chef de Cuisine for each restaurant, a Banquet Chef, perhaps a Sous
Chef for each Chef de Cuisine, a Pastry Chef
And a bunch of Line Cooks and bakers! Operations with this type of modern kitchen brigade system are usually the
best hotels. They have the best restaurants and the best food because management (and the targeted guest
demographic) is willing to pay for quality talent and quality cuisine. It is only 4 and 5 diamond properties or high-end
independent restaurants which will have this kind of quality structure for their kitchen brigade.

POSITIONS OF THE MODERN KITCHEN BRIGADE

Executive Chef
The head chef who coordinates the kitchen operation of at least one (but usually more) restaurants
The title “Executive Chef” has several interpretations depending upon the size of the operation and who is using the title. The
terms Chef, Executive Chef, and Chef de Cuisine are used interchangeably for the head chef. Larger operations may have all 3
positions (as defined below), but a smaller operation may have one person who essentially fills all three roles.
First, it is rather loosely applied to whoever is the head chef at an any establishment which creates its own recipes. Some
independently owned restaurant Chefs may call themselves an Executive Chef because they are “the top dog” at the
establishment, even if the restaurant only has a staff of 3 or 4 cooks including the Chef.
Operations such as Denny’s or Olive Garden may have a Kitchen Manager, Lead Cook, or Head Cook but not an Executive
Chef on property because all the recipes are created by Corporate Chefs and the cooks simply prepare those recipes and follow
the guidance of the unit Manager.

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Second, in the case of large corporate operations such as the ones run by Compass Group and Aramark, the Executive Chef is
the chef in charge of implementing and managing corporate menus. They manage staff feeding hundreds or thousands of
people at places like Microsoft or Boeing.
Third, in the hospitality industry as a whole, the title Executive Chef typically refers to someone who oversees multiple venues,
such as the head Chef at a resort hotel which has multiple restaurants, or the Chef who oversees multiple restaurants in a
conglomerate or small group of independent restaurants (i.e. not a restaurant chain such as Denny’s or PF Chang’s). In this
setting there may be one Executive Chef, perhaps an Executive Sous Chef (his/her right hand person), and then either Chef de
Cuisines if there is a Chef who writes menus for each restaurant, or Sous Chefs if the Executive Chef writes the menus and the
Sous Chefs maintain the food/recipe standards.
This kitchen brigade hierarchy may look like this:

 Executive Chef
o Executive Sous Chef
 Chef de Cuisine- Restaurant Chef, Kitchen Chef – the literal translation is Chief of Kitchen

a. Thomas Keller’s Kitchen Brigade

A Chef de Cuisine is responsible for menu creation and all things HOH (Heart of the House) and usually oversees just one
restaurant. This person creates, trains, and implements new recipes. They are responsible for all kitchen staff, ordering,
inventory, P&L meetings, inventory, etc all in their restaurant…they are the Chef of the restaurant. They may (or may not) report
to an Executive Chef or Corporate Chef, but they are responsible for everything in the kitchen in their venue. Some larger
operations such as resort hotels may be calling someone a Sous Chef but they are actually fulfilling the role of a Chef de
Cuisine. The difference is that although a Sous Chef may assist in recipe creation, their primary role is to maintain the quality
and consistency of the recipes which the Executive Chef creates. But a Chef de Cuisine is responsible for creating their own
recipes for their restaurant, and maintaining the quality and consistency of those recipes.

Banquet Chef (or Catering Chef)

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As the name implies, this is the chef who is in charge of banquets. It is a position which is used either by independent catering
companies, or it is one of the chefs hired under the Executive Chef in large operations such as resort hotels which have
restaurants and lots of banquet/catering events.

Executive Sous Chef

(Second Executive Chef; literally means Executive Sub Chief)
This person is second in command, the Executive Chef’s right hand man. The role of the Executive Sous Chef is to assist the
Executive Chef in running the operation, and to fill in when s/he is not available.
Many large operations may have an Executive Chef and an Executive Sous Chef. This position is usually only used in resort
hotels which have multiple restaurants, restaurant groups which have multiple restaurants, or restaurants which do thousands of
covers a day.

Sous Chef
(Under Chef; Second Chef, literally means Sub Chief)
The Sous Chef is basically the “second in command” and assists the Chef, Chef de Cuisine, or Executive Chef in managing a
restaurant, or a shift, especially when the Chef in charge isn’t there. But the responsibilities of this title varies depending upon
the property. The Sous Chef may be second in command over a specific restaurant, or in some hotels s/he may be in charge of
multiple restaurants for a specific shift (days, swing, or graveyard).

Garde Manger
In today’s kitchens, the Garde Manger position is a little convoluted. It usually refers to the salad or pantry station in a restaurant
or in banquets and will be the position of a Garde Manger Cook. This position takes care of salads, cold appetizers and
sometimes plating desserts.
But in a Banquet/Catering kitchen or in large hotels there may actually be a Garde Manger Chef who is skilled in a large variety
of cold preparations including specialty salads, cold appetizers, pate, terrines, charcuterie, cold soups, hors d’oeuvres, ice
carvings and so on.

Chef de Partie, Line Cook, Station Cook

Chef de Partie, Line Cook, and Station Cook are all synonymous names for various positions in today’s kitchen brigade. All 3
terms refer to a cook who runs a particular station on a restaurant Line. Their job is to be able to properly prep, prepare, and
present all food items which come from their station. Depending upon the type of operation a cook may be assigned to any of
the following stations, and most cooks are cross-trained to work in multiple stations.
Expeditor – Wheelman
(Wheelman, Ticket Man, Expo; the person who calls tickets for the kitchen)
An à la carte restaurant will have someone who fulfills this role. The position is referred to as “calling the wheel” or “calling the
board” and typically the Chef, Sous Chef, or lead line cook will take this position. Although duties vary by operation, typical
responsibilities include: calling the tickets, organizing the flow of food to the window, plating dishes, final inspection of food, and
final garnishes.
If the Chef is not filling this role then the position goes by a variety of names including the following: the wheelman, ticket man,
expo, and/or expediter. Some operations are busy enough that they will have a Wheelman to call tickets and organize plates in
the kitchen, and they will have a separate Expediter who does finishing garnishes and organizes plates for the waitstaff. In this
type of operation the servers communicate only with the Expo, and the Expo is the only one who talks with the Wheelman.
More info: Role of the Expeditor
Saucier
Responsible for making the sauces and perhaps special garnishes. This person should be skilled at making demi-glace sauces,
beurre blancs, cream sauces, pesto, purees, hollandaise, jus, and various other sauce creations.

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Saute Cook
Often considered both the hardest and the most glamorous position in the kitchen the Saute Cook often works 6 – 8 pans at a
time plus finishing items in the oven and/or salamander. This person must be able to multitask, have a fantastic sense of timing,
and the ability to remain calm under severe pressure.
Grill Cook (Broiler Cook)
The Grill Cook has the most exacting station in regards to perfection because a guest will want their $50 steak cooked to a “rare-
medium rare”. If it’s not perfect, the guest complains, the steak is lost, and the cook has to prepare another one…hopefully to
the guest’s satisfaction this time. The Grill Cook also has to be able to keep track of a dozen or more steaks all cooked to
different temperatures and fired at different times. Plus properly grill tender seafood and vegetables.
Fry Cook
The Fry Cook is responsible for deep fried foods such as fish & chips, french fries, battered vegetables and so on. If it is a fish &
chip restaurant then this may be a specific station. But often it is part of another cooks station such as the Pantry Cook, Grill
Cook, or Saute Cook (usually Pantry).
Pantry Cook
This cook is in charge of the cold station on the Line including salads, cold appetizers, cold components of hot appetizers, cold
soups, and sometimes plates desserts as well (if there is no Baker/Plater or Pastry Chef)
Tournant or Roundsman
One of the most skilled cooks in the kitchen, this person has worked all the stations and is able to jump in to Saute, Grill, Expo or
wherever and help any station which is being slammed.
Breakfast Cook (Egg Cook)
This cook slings eggs…lots of them! Over-easy, over-medium, sunny side up, omelettes, eggs benedicts, scrambles,
hashbrowns…if you like fast paced perfection then this is the station for you. Turn times are about 10 minutes or less and you
will often have more eggs/omelettes to cook than you have space/pans to cook them in. I think every cook should have to be a
breakfast cook for 6 months…especially on Sundays. It teaches a lot about how to flip items in a pan and multitasking.
Banquet Cook
A Banquet Cook works (obviously) in the banquet/catering kitchen and needs to be a versatile cook as food is prepared for a
large variety of guests and occasions as well as for numbers of people ranging from a few dozen to thousands. Cuisine each
week may range from Mediterranean, Italian, Asian, Brunch, Mexican, South American, Pacific Northwest, East Indian, Kosher,
and so on.
Demi Chef or Demi Chef de Partie
This position isn’t used much in the US with the possible exception of some cruise ships. It is essentially the “Under Chef de
Partie” or the Chef de Partie in training. In a very large operation you may have 1 Chef de Partie with 1 or more Demi Chefs
needed in a station due to the volume of work.

Pastry Chef
The Pastry Chef is the dessert chef and specializes in desserts, pastries, breads, croissants, petit fours, chocolates, gourmet ice
creams & sorbets, cakes and so on. It is an unfortunate reality that few establishments actually hire a Pastry Chef anymore
because of tight labor restrictions and the availability of so many pre-made quality desserts through vendors such as Sysco and
Petersons. In the modern kitchen, a true Pastry Chef is usually only found in upscale restaurants and hotels. A true Pastry Chef
is knowledgeable in all the aforementioned pastry/dessert skills.
Baker, Dessert Plater
Although many restaurants may not have a true Pastry Chef, many may have a position for a Baker or Dessert Plater. This
person may have some baking skills in specialized areas of dessert making such as cheesecakes, pies, cakes, cookies, etc. Or
they may just have the role of plating and garnishing desserts.

The Original Brigade de Cuisine by Escoffier

Here is the original structure of the kitchen brigade designed by Chef Escoffier.

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