Chapter I

INTRODUCTION TO CULINARY ARTS

Culinary arts is the discipline and

profession that encompasses the art and

science of food preparation, cooking

techniques, and the presentation of food. It

is a field where creativity, precision, and a

love for food come together to create

delightful and satisfying culinary experiences.

The practice of culinary arts dates back centuries and has evolved over time,

incorporating various cultural influences, regional traditions, and modern innovations.

Culinary artists, such as chefs and cooks, are skilled professionals who combine their

knowledge of ingredients, cooking methods, and flavors to craft delectable dishes

that not only nourish but also excite the senses.

Culinary arts offers a diverse range of career opportunities. Graduates of

culinary programs can work various settings, including restaurants, hotels, resorts,

catering companies, cruise ships, and even start their own businesses. With

experience and expertise, culinary professionals can become executive chefs, pastry

chefs, sous chefs, or specialize in specific cuisines or culinary niches.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the lesson, the students must have:

1. identified different career opportunities in culinary;

2. discussed the development of modern food service industry;

3. name key historical figures responsible for developing food service

professionalism;

4. explaine the organization of classic and modern kitchen brigades;

 5. appreciate the role of the professional chef in modern food service;

and

6. understand the attributes a student chef needs to become a

professional chef.

1.1. Career Opportunities in Culinary

There are number of culinary careers that you

can choose to be. The following are some options that

common in the food service providers such as in hotel

(The American Culinary Foundation, 2006).

(www.huffingtonpost.com, www.dreamstime.com)

a. Chef (Executive Chef)

Responsibilities: a head of the kitchen who handles all kitchen operations

such as scheduling, developing menu, and food ordering. He/ she

supervises all kitchen stations including food costs.

b. Sous Chef (Assistant Chef)

Responsibilities: assists the executive chef to manage and control the

station chefs. He/she should answer to the executive chef.

c. Station Chef

Responsibilities: supervises all the kitchen stations including:

c.1. Saute Chef (Saucier) in handling all sauteed items and their

sauces.

c.2. Fish Chef (Poissonier) in handling fish items and their sauces.

c.3. Roast Chef (Rotisseur) in handling roasted foods.

c.4. Grill Chef (Grillardin) in handling all grilled foods.

 c.5. Vegetable chef (Entremetier) in handling hot appetizer,

soups, vegetables, and pastas.

c.6. Roundsman (Tournant) or swing cook in supporting all

divisions in the kitchen.

c.7. Expediter or Announcer (Aboyeur) in handling the order from

the dining room to the suitable station in the kitchen, checking the

food on the plate, and delivering the food to the customer.

c.8. Communard in preparing the food to the staff during the shift

break.

c.9. Commis (Apprentice or Stager) in working under chef

assistance to learn the stations.

In the food and beverage division, the positions are more complex because the

division manages variety of departments including room service, beverage, steward,

restaurant, and catering.

Nowadays, culinary professional has some more job opportunities and

challenges to be:

a. Food and beverage manager

b. Restaurant consultants and design specialist

c. Salespeople for food supply, kitchen equipment, and new products

d. Teachers

e. Food writers and critics

f. Food stylist and photographers

g. Research and development kitchen

h. Cake designer

i. Entrepreneurs
 The figure below shows the illustration of culinary career path as a chef.

(http://www.reynolds.edu/get_started/programs/business/culinary_and_h
ospitality/industry.aspx)

Learner’s Task

Activity 1: Culinary Career Exploration Project

Instructions:

1. Group yourselves into three (3) and choose a specific culinary career to

research on based on the previous lesson.

2. Each group will conduct thorough research on your choosen culinary career.

You should explore job responsibilities, required skills and qualifications,

educational background, salary expectations, potential career paths, and

any other relevant information. You are encourage to use a variety of

sources such as books, websites, interviews, and industry publications.

3. Create a visual presentation to showcase your findings. This can be in the

form of a poster, powerpoint presentation, or any other form you prefer. The

presentation should include key information about the culinary career, such

as job description, required skills and qualifications, educational pathways,

and potential opportunities for growth and advancement.

Activity 2:

Reflect on the presentations in Activity 2 and choose one culinary career that

resonated with you the most. Write a short essay explaining your choice, highlighting

the reasons behind your selection, and outlining your personal goals and steps you

plan to take to pursue that particular culinary career.

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1.2. History of Culinary Arts

Like any fine art, great cookery requires taste and creativity, an appreciation of

beauty and a mastery of technique. Like the sciences, successful cookery demands

knowledge and an understanding of the basic principles and like any successful

leader, today’s professional chefs must exercise sound judgment and be committed

to achieving excellence in their endeavor.

Cooks/ chefs have produced food in quantity for as long as people have eaten

together. For millenia, chefs have catered to the often elaborate dining needs of the

wealthy and the powerful. But the history of the professional chef is fairly recent. Its

cast is mostly French and it is intertwined with the history of restaurants - for only

with the development of the restaurants during the late 18 th century and the early 19th

century were chef expected to produce, efficiently and economically, different dishes

at different times for different diners.

1.2.1.The 18th Century - Boulanger’s Restaurants

The word restaurant is derived from the

French word restaurer (to restore). Since the 16th

century, the word restorative has been used to

describe rich and highly flavored soups or stews

capable of restoring lost strength during

of-the-first-restaurant-ever/?lang=en)
recuperation from illness. Restoratives, like all

other cooked foods offered and purchased from outside the house, were made by

guild members. Each guild had the monopoly of preparing certain types of food

items. For example, during the reign of Henri IV (1533 - 1610), there were separate

guilds for rotisseurs (who spit roasted large joints of meat), patisiers (who cooked

pies and tarts, often made with poultry), tamisiers (who baked breads), vinaigriers

(who made sauces and some stews) and porte-chapes (caterers who organized

feasts and celebrations).

The French claim that the world’s first restaurant was opened in 1765, when a

Parisian tavern keeper, a Monsieur Boulanger, hung a sign advertising the sale of a

special restorative, a dish of sheep’s feet in a white sauce. His establishment closed

a short while later because of lawsuit brought by a guild, whose members claimed

that Boulanger was infringing on their exclusive rights to sell prepared dishes.

Boulanger won in court and later reopened.

Boulanger’s establishment differed form the numerous inns and taverns that

existed across Europe for centuries. These inns and taverns served foods prepared

off premises by the various guilds. The choice was very limited. The food was an

add-on to the basic service of sleeping accommodation and drink. Customers were

served family style and ate at communal tables. Boulanger’s contribution was to

serve a variety of foods prepared on premises to customers whose primary interest

was dining.
 Several other restaurants opened in Paris during the succeeding decades,

including the Grande Taverne de Londres in 1782. Its owner, Antoine Beauvilliers

(1754 - 1871) was the former steward to the Comte de Provence, later, King Louis

VIII of France. He advanced the development of the modern restaurant by offering

his wealthy patrons a menu listing available dishes during fixed hours.

The French Revolution (1789 - 1799) had a significant effect on the budding

restaurant industry. Along with the aristocracy, the guilds and their monopolies were

abolished. The revolution also allowed public access to the skills and creativity of the

well trained and sophisticated chefs who had worked in the private kitchens of the

aristocracy. Although many of the aristocracy’s chefs either left the country or lost

their jobs (and some even their heads), a few enterprising ones open restaurants

catering to the growing urbanized middle class in the new republic.

1.2.2. The Early 19th Century - Careme and Grande Cuisine

As the 19th century progressed, more

restaurants opened, serving a greater selection of

items and catering to a wider clientele. By mid

century, several large grand restaurants in Paris

were serving elaborate meals reminiscent of

grande cuisine or haute cuisine of the aristocracy. (http://andreapenrose.com/marie-antoine-careme/)

Grande cuisine reached its peak at the hands of Antonin Careme, whose meals were

characterized by several courses, each intricately prepared, presented and

garnished. Other restaurateurs blended the techniques and styles of grande cuisine

with the simpler foods and tastes of the middle classes (cuisine bourgeoisie) to

create a new cuisine, simpler than grande cuisine but more than mere home cooking.
1.2.3. The Late 19th Century - Escoffier and Cuisine Classique

Following the lead set by the French in

both culinary style and the restaurant

business, restaurants opened throughout

Europe and indeed across the world as well.

During the 19th century Charles Ranhofer

opened the first American restaurant in New (https://www.delightedcooking.com/what-is-cuisine-classique.htm)

York - Delmonico’s. One of the finest restaurants outside France was at the Savoy

Hotel in London opened by Cesar Ritz in 1898. The chef was the renowned Auguste

Escoffier. Escoffier was generally credited with the refining of Grande Cuisine

established by Careme, to create cuisine classique or classical cuisine. By doing so,

he brought French cuisine to the world and to the 20th century.

1.2.4. The Mid- 20th Century - Point and Nouvelle Cuisine

The mid- 20th century witnessed a trend

towards lighter and more simply prepared foods.

Fernand Point was a master practitioner of this

movement. But this master’s goal of simplicity

was carried to even greater lenths by chefs that

cuisine-aa6de7ff-3184-4593-83d9-ab37facc85ee)
he had trained, mainly, Paul Bocuse, Jean and

Pierre Troisgros, Alain Chapel, Francois Bise and Louis Outhier. They, along with

Michel Guerard and Roger Verge, were the pioneers of Nouvelle cuisine in the early

1970s. Their culinary philosophy was based on the rejection of overly rich, needlessly

complicated dishes. These chefs emphasized healthy eating. The ingredients must

be absolutely fresh and of the highest possible quality, the cooking methods must be

simple. The accompaniments must be light and contribute to the overall harmony, the

completed plates must be elegantly designed and decorated. Following these

guidelines, some traditional cooking methods have been applied to non-traditional

ingredients, and ingredients have been combined in new and previously unorthodox

fashions. For chef with knowledge, skill, taste and judgement, this works.

1.2.5. Influential Chefs in Culinary Arts

In the world of culinary arts, there have been numerous chefs who have left a

significant impact and shaped the way we perceive and experience food. These

inflential chefs have not only mastered the art of cooking but have also introduced

innovative techniques, flavors, and culinary philosophies that have transformed the

culinary landscape.

a. Marie - Antoin (Antonin) Careme

Careme was known as the King of Cooks

and the Cook of Kings. He was the acknowledged

master of French Grande Cuisine. Abandoned on the

streets of Paris as a child, he worked his way from a

cook’s helper in a working class restaurant to

become one of the most prestigious chefs of his time.

During his career, he was chef to the famous

diplomat and gourmand, Prince de Talleyrand, the

prince regent of England, who later became King George IV; Czar Alexander I of

Russia and Baron Rothschild, among others.

His stated goal was to achieve lightness, grace, and order in the preparation
Antoine_Car%C3%AAme)
and presentation of food. As a patissier, he designed

elegant and elaborate pastry and confectionary items, many of which were based on

architectural designs. As a showman, he garnished his dishes with ornamental

skewers (hatelets) threaded with colorful ingredients such as crayfish and intricately

carved vegetables, and presented his creations on elaborate bases (soccles). As a

saucier, he standardized the use of roux as a thickening agent, perfected recipes and

devised a system for classifying sauces. As a gardemanger, Careme popularized

cold cuisine, emphasizing moulds and aspic dishes.

As a culinary professional, Careme designed kitchen tool,

equipment and uniforms. As an author, he wrote and illustrated

many texts on the culinary arts, including Le Maitre d’hotel

Francais (1822), describing the hundred of dishes he created and

presented in the various capitals of Europe;

(https://
L’art de la cuisine au XIXe siecie (1833), the www.abebooks.com/
9781167642852/Maitre-
DHotel-Francais-1822-
last two volumes of which were completed after his death by his

protege and associate Plummerey. His treatises were not mere

cookbooks, rather, he analyzed cooking, both old and new,

book/show/54225846-art-
emphasizing procedure, order and covering every aspect of the
de-la-cuisine-fran-aise-au-
xixe-s)
art of Le Grande Cuisine.

Careme died before age 50, burnt out, according to

Laurent Tailhade, by the flame of his genius and the coal of the spits. But this must

have been the glory he sought, for he once wrote: “the shorter the life, the greater the

glory”.

b. Auguste Escoffier (1846 - 1935)

Escoffier’s brilliant career began at the age of

13 in his uncle’s restaurant and continued until his

death at 89. Called the “emperor of the worlds

kitchens”, he is perhaps best known for defining

French cuisine and dining.

Unlike Careme, Escoffier never worked in an

aristocratic household, rather he exhibited his culinary

(https://www.hotelierlifestyle.com/2020/12/who-
was-georges-auguste-escoffier.html)
skill in the dining rooms of the finest hotels in Europe including the Place Vendome in

Paris and the Savory & Carlton hotels in London.

Escoffier did much to enhance the grande cuisine that arguably reached its

perfection under Careme. Crediting Careme with providing the foundation, Escoffier

simplified the profusion of flavors, dishes, and garnishes that typified Careme’s work.

He also streamlined some of Careme’s overly elaborate and fussy procedures and

classifications. For example, he reduced Careme’s elaborate system to classify

sauces into the five mother sauces that is still recognized today. Escoffier sought

simplicity and aimed for the perfect balance of a few superb

ingredients. Some consider his refinement of grande cuisine to

have been so radical as to credit him with the development of a

new cuisine referred to as cuisine classique (classic or classical

cuisine).

His many writings include Le livres des menus (1912), in ark:/12148/

bpt6k9629814d/
f11.image)
which, discussing the principles of a well balanced meal, he

analogizes a great dinner to a symphony with contrasting

movements that should be appropriate to the occasion, the guests

and the season. His book Ma Cuisine was published in 1934.

However, his most important contribution in a culinary treatise

intended for the professional chef and was entitled Le Grande

208200483X/le-guide-
culinaire-auguste-
Culinaire (1903). Still in use today, it is an outstaning collection of escoffier)

more than 5000 classic recipes and garnishes. In it, Escoffier

emphasizes the mastery of techniques, the thorough understanding of cooking

principles and the appreciation of ingredients - attributes he considers to be the

building blocks professional chefs should use to create great dishes.

Escoffier was honored as a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor in 1920

for his work in enhancing the reputation of Frech cuisine.

c. Fernand Point (1897 - 1955)

A massive man with a monumental

personality, Point modernized and refined the

classic cuisine of Escoffier. By doing so, he laid

the foundations for Nouvelle Cuisine.

Point received his early training in some of the

finest hotel-restaurant kitchens in Paris. In 1922,

Fernand_Point)
he and his family moved to Vienne, a city in the

south-west of France near Lyon and opened a restaurant. Two years later, his father

left the restaurant to Fernand, who renamed it La Pyramide. During the succeeding

years, it became one of the culinary wonders of the world.

Point disdained dominating sauces and

distracting accompaniments and garnishes. He

believed that each dish should have one dominant

ingredient, flavor or theme. Garnishes should be

simple and must match like a tie to a suit. Procedure

(https://www.knots.ph/product/marjolaine)

was of great importance. He devoted equal efforts to

the frying of an egg and creating marjolaine (an almond hazelnut sponge filled with

chocolate and praline buttercream). His goal was to use the finest of raw ingredients

and to produce perfect food that looked elegant and simple. But simplicity was not

easy to achieve. As he once said, “a Bearnaise sauce is not but an eggyolk, a

shallot, a little taragon vinegar and some butter but it takes years of practice to make

it perfect”.
 Learner’s Task

Activity 1: Fill in the missing information on the timeline of significant events in the

history of culinary arts.

Key Dates Influential Culinary Culinary Significant

Chefs Inventions Institutions Food
Movements
18th Century

Early 19th
century

Late 19th
century

Mid- 20th
century
1.3. Influences on Modern Food Service Operations

Today’s kitchen look much different from those of Escoffier’s day, even though

our basic cooking principles are the same. The dishes we eat have gradually

changed due to the innovations and creativity of modern chefs. The process of

simplification and refinement, to which Careme and Escoffier made monumental

contributions, is still going on, adopting classical cooking to modern conditions and

tastes.

Many developments in the twentieth century have led to changes in the food

service industry.

1.3.1. New Technologies

Technology has always had a profound effect on cooking. For example, the

development of clay and later metal vessels that could contain liquids and could with

stand and conduct heat offered prehistoric cooks the opportunity to stew, make

soups and porridge, pickle and brine foods and control fermentation. But it was not

until the rapid technological advances fostered by the industrial revolution that

anything approaching the modern kitchen was possible.

One of the most important advancements was the introduction of the cast iron

stove. Prior to the 19th century, most cooking was done on spits and grills or in

couldrons and pots set on burning coal or wood. This did not lend itself to

simutaneous cooking of different dishes or to items requiring constant care and

attention. With the introduction of cast iron stoves during the 1800s (first wood, then

coal, and subsequently gas and finally electric by early 20 th century) cooks could now

cook more comfortably and safely, and control the temperatures. They were also

able to efficiently prepare and hold for later use or service a multitude of smaller

amounts of items requiring different cooking methods or ingredients, a necessity at a

restaurant simultaneously catering to different diner’s needs.

 Also a great importance, where the development of food preservation and

storage techniques. For thousands of years, food was preserved by sun drying,

salting, smoking and pickling, sugar curing and fermentation. Although useful and

effective, these methods destroy or distort the appearance and the flavor of most

foods. By the early 19th century, preserving techniques that had minimal effect on

appearance and flavor began to emerge. By 1800, the Frenchman Francois Appert

successfully canned food items by subjecting food items stored in sterilized glass jars

to very high hear. An early mechanical refrigerator was developed by the mid 1800s;

soon reliable refrigerators, iceboxes and later, freezers were available. During the

20th century, freeze drying, vacuum packing, and irradiation became common

preservation techniques.

While advancements were being made in preservation and storage techniques,

developments in transportation technology were also underway. During the 19 th

century, steam powered ships and railroads were able to bring foods quickly to the

market from distant suppliers. During the 20 th century, temperature controlled cargo

ships, trains, trucks and airplanes all were used as part of an integrated worldwide

food transportation network. Combined with reliable and dependable food

preservation and storage techniques, improved transportation networks have freed

chefs from seasonal and geographical limitations in their choice of foods and have

expanded the customers’s choices and culinary horizons.

Engineering advancements also have facilitated or even eliminated much

routine kitchen work. Since the start of the industrial revolution, chefs have come to

rely increasingly on mechanical and motorized food processors, mixers, and cutters

as well as a wealth of sophisticated kitchen equipment such as high carbon stainless

steel knife blades, infra red thermometers and induction cooking ranges.

1.3.2. New Foods

 Modern food preservation, storage, and transportation techniques have made

both fresh and exotic foods regularly available to the chef and the consumer.

Advancement in agriculture such as the switch from organic to chemical

fertilizers and the introduction of pesticides and drought or pest resistant strains have

resulted in higher crop yield. This of course has recently led to serious and often

heated debates as to the reliability and the safety of these types of food. Organically

grown crops have made a come back and are increasingly popular from the food

safety point of view. Genetically Modified Foods (GMF) are also being experimented

with and some of these are already available in the market (square watermelons).

hybridised and genetically engineered foods have produced better crops, and for

better or for worse, fruits, vegetables, and other crops like grain, have a longer shelf

life and are more amenable to mass production and handling, storage, and

transportation methods.

Likewise, advancements in animal husbandry and aquaculture have led to a

more reliable supply of leaner meat, poultry, and fish. Moreover, foods found

traditionally only in the wild (for example: game, wild rice, and some kinds of

mushrooms) are now being raised commercially and are routinely available.

Food processing and preservation techniques have also led to the

development of pre-packaged, prepared convenience foods, some of which are

actually quite good. After careful thought and testing, today’s chef can rely on some

of these products. Doing so allows greater flexibility and more time to devote to other

preparations.

1.3.3. New Concerns

Consumer concerns about nutrition and diet have fueled changes in the food

service industry. Obviously, what we eat affects our health. Adequate amounts of

nutrients promote good health by preventing deficiencies; good nutrition also helps

prevent chronic diseases. Chefs must provide their customers with nutritious foods.
The public has long been concerned with food safety. Constant grading and

inspection by the authorities will help improve standards. Concerns about nutrition

and food safety have also resulted in renewed interest in organically grown food and

with genetically modified food.

New Consumers

Demographic and social changes have contributed to the diversification of

the food service industry by creating and identifying new consumer groups, each with

their own desires and needs. By tailoring their menu, prices and decor accordingly,

food service operators can cater to their consumers needs. Through travel and

exposure to books, magazine, TV shows about food, consumers are becoming

aware , better educated and sophisticated. Educated consumers provide a market for

new foods and cuisines as well as an appreciation for a job well done. Although

customers frequent a prticular restaurant because of the chef or the owner is a

celebrity, or the restaurant is riding high on a crest of fad or fashion, most consumers

choose a restaurant - whether it is fast food outlet or an elegant French restaurant -

because it provides quality food at a price they are willing to pay. To remain

successful, then the restaurant must carefully balance its comitment to quality with

marketplace realities.

Learner’s Task

Activity 1:

What are the different influences in modern food operations and how these

development led to changes in the food service industry?

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Chapter Test

Task A: Modified True or False

Write TRUE if the statement is correct and if the statement is wrong, change the

undelined word(s) to make it right. Write your answer on the space provided.

___________1. The word restaurant comes from the French word restaurer means

to re-start.

___________2. The word restorative has been used to describe rich and highly

flavor soups or stews capable of restoring lost strength.

___________3. The world’s first restaurant was opened in 1765 by Escoffier.

___________4. A dish of sheep’s feet in white sauce is a special restorative offered

by Monsieur Boulanger in 1765.

___________5. Grande cuisine reached its peak at the hands of Antonin Careme.

___________6. Point’s food were characterized by several courses which are

intricately prepared, presented and garnished.

___________7. Careme was generally credited with the refining of Grande Cuisine

established by Escoffier to create classical cuisine.

___________8. Simplicity is the master goal of Point.

___________9. Escoffier was known as the King of Cooks and the Cook of Kings.

__________10. Escoffier was called “emperor pf the world’s kitchens”.

I. Matching Type.

Identify the responsibilities of the different culinary careers in Column A to

Column B.
 Column A Column B

11. Executive Chef a. Handles all sauteed items and their

sauces.

12. Assistant Chef b. Handles hot appetizer, soups,

vegetables, and pasta.

13. Station Chef c. Supervises all kitchen operations

including food costs.

14. Saucier d. Supports all divisions in the kitchen.

15. Poissonier e. Handles fish items and their sauces.

16. Entremetier f. Assists the executive chef to manage

and control the station chefs.

17. Tournant g. Supervises all the kitchen stations.

18. Aboyeur h. Works under chef assistance to learn

the stations.

19. Commis i. Prepare the food to the staff during the

shift break.

20. Communard j. Handles the order from the dining room

to the suitable station to the kitchen,

checking the food on the plate and

delivering the food to the customer.