1. Chapter 4
Kitchen Essentials: Part 1— Professionalism

2. What Does It Mean To Be a Culinary Professional?
To be professional is to be courteous, honest, and responsible in your dealings with customers and coworkers.
A culinarian is one who has studied and continues to study the art of cooking.
The attributes of a culinary professional include: Knowledge, Skill, Flavor, aroma, taste, and judgment
Five basic tastes – salt, sour, bitter, sweet, and umami (savory or meaty taste)
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Chapter 4 | Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—Professionalism

3. What Does It Mean To Be a Culinary Professional? (cont.)
Dedication
Pride: Pride extends to personal appearance and behavior in and around the kitchen.
Respect: having consideration for oneself and others. In order to respect others, a person must first respect himself or herself.
Personal responsibility: a person is responsible for the choices he or she makes. Personal responsibility means that a person accepts accountability and is in control.
Education and the culinary professional
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Chapter 4 | Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—Professionalism

4. Work Sections & Stations
A workstation is a work area in the kitchen dedicated to a particular task.
Work Sections Workstations Hot foods Broiler, Fry, griddle, sauté, holding Garde-manger Salad, cold food, sandwich Bakery Dough mixing, holding & proofing, rolling & forming, baking & cooling dessert
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Chapter 4 | Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—Professionalism

5. Kitchen Brigade System
A method for staffing a kitchen so that each worker is assigned a set of specific tasks.
Executive Chef – responsible for all kitchen operations
Sous Chef – 2nd in command, covers chef stations as necessary
Pantry Chef, Garde Manger
Bread baker, Boulanger

6. Dining Room Brigade
Led by the dining room manager (maître d) who generally trains all service personnel, oversees wine selections, works with the chef to develop the menu, organizes the seating chart, and seats the guests.
Wine steward
Headwaiter – service throughout dining room
Captains – explains menu to guests & takes orders
Expediter – accepts orders from the dining room & reviews dishes before service
Front waiter
Back waiter

7. Business Math Calculating % Calculating cost per unit Part = % Whole
Total cost = cost per unit
# of units

8. U.S. Measurement Systems
Volume
teaspoon (tsp)
tablespoon (Tbsp)
cup (c)
fluid ounce (fl oz)
pint (pt)
quart (qt)
gallon (gal)
Weight
ounce (oz)
pound (lb)
Temperature
degrees Fahrenheit (F)
Length
- inches (in)
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Chapter 4 | Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—Professionalism

9. Metric Measurement System
Volume
milliliter (ml)
liter (l)
Weight
milligram (mg)
gram (g)
kilogram (kg)
Temperature
degrees Celsius (or centigrade) (C)
Length
millimeters (mm)
centimeters (cm)
meter (m)

10. Standardized Recipes
A standardized recipe is a recipe that has a set format and is clear to anyone who uses it.
A standardized recipe includes:
Name of the recipe
Ingredients
Yield - # of servings
Portion size
Temperature, time, and equipment
Step-by-step directions
Nutrition information
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Chapter 4 | Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—Professionalism

11. Converting Recipes
Convert a recipe when the yield of the recipe (the amount it provides) is not the same as the amount of product needed.
The quality of the product produced from the recipe should not vary from the original.
Use the conversion factor to convert a recipe:
Desired yield = Conversion factor
Original yield
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Chapter 4 | Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—Professionalism

12. Measuring
Volume is the amount of space an ingredient takes up. Volume measurement is best used for liquids.
Level off dry ingredients when measuring.
Measure liquid and check measurement at eye level.
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Chapter 4 | Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—Professionalism

13. Measuring (cont.)
Weight is the measurement of an item’s resistance to gravity or how heavy it is.
Fat can be measured in several ways.
Stick method
Dry measuring cup method: Pack the fat down into the cup, level it off, and use a rubber scraper to empty the cup.
Water displacement method: This method involves combining fat with water in a liquid measuring cup.
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Chapter 4 | Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—Professionalism

14. EP/AP Amounts Trimmed = Edible portion Untrimmed = As purchased
Formulas for calculating EP and AP amounts:
Edible portion = As purchased
Yield %
As purchased x Yield % = Edible portion
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Chapter 4 | Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—Professionalism

15. Costing Recipes
To find the total cost of a standard recipe, a manager must know both the ingredient amounts needed and the market price of each one.
See Table 4.11 on page 258
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Chapter 4 | Kitchen Essentials: Part 1—Professionalism

16. Temperature Conversion
Fahrenheit (F) to Celsius (C):
(F-32)5 = C 9
Celsius (C) to Fahrenheit (F):
Cx9 +32 = F 5
Boiling point – 212 degrees F (100 degrees C)
Freezing point – 32 degrees F (0 degrees C)