In the old society, people called chefs "cooks", "cooks" and "cabinet servants". They took cooking as their profession and cooking dishes as their main job. In modern society, most chefs work in restaurants, restaurants and other places that provide public services. Chefs generally need to study in cooking school and pass the exam to ensure that they have sufficient professional skills and knowledge of food safety. The profession of chef appeared very early, and there were full-time chefs in slave society. With the continuous improvement of social material civilization, the chef profession is also developing, and the team of full-time chefs is expanding. According to relevant statistics, at the beginning of the 20th century, the number of chefs in the world has grown to tens of millions. China is known as the culinary kingdom of the world, and the strength and quantity of chefs are second to none. According to relevant data, in 2002, the total number of chefs in China was10 million. Such a huge team accounts for a considerable proportion of industrial workers in China. A chef is a person who takes cooking as his profession and cooking as his main job. The profession of chef appeared very early, and there were full-time chefs in slave society. With the continuous improvement of social material civilization, the chef profession is also developing, and the number of full-time chefs is expanding. According to relevant statistics, at the beginning of the 20th century, the number of chefs in the world has grown to tens of millions. China is known as the culinary kingdom of the world, and the strength and quantity of chefs are second to none. According to relevant data, in 2002, the total number of chefs in China was10 million. Such a huge team accounts for a considerable proportion of industrial workers in China. Therefore, it is of great significance to study and discuss the related problems in the chef's career. Characteristics of chef's work 1. In different stages of the development of human society, the social status and role of the chef profession are different. Due to the different socio-economic and political systems, especially the different levels of productivity development, the status of chefs is also different. 1. The position and role of chefs under the socialist system. Occupation is the product of social and historical development, and it is also the result of the development of productive forces. For a long time in history, the social status of chefs was extremely low, and they were called "inferior" occupations. On the one hand, the ruling class says that "food is the most important thing for the people" and pursues "food is never tired of essence", but on the other hand, it is polite and says that "a gentleman eats far from the cabinet". As an ancient gourmet, Yuan Mei once wrote a biography of Wang Xiaoyu, his closet. The first sentence at the beginning is "those small and redundant, those cheap in the history of meat." Ancient dignitaries and literati wrote countless words about food, but rarely wrote about the chef himself. In the old society, I was a cook only because of the pressure of life, to make a living and to survive. Therefore, in the old society, chefs were mostly working people with low birth and low education, and had no social status at all. Their main function is to provide services for the luxurious life of the ruling class. They worked hard and created a splendid cooking culture, but they were in the oppressed and enslaved class for a long time. In the past, people called chefs "cooks", "cooks" and "cabinet servants". From these titles, you can imagine how low a chef is. 2. The social status and role of the socialist chef After the establishment of the socialist system, the working people turned over and became masters. The profession of chef, like many other professions, was respected and valued by the people. Compared with the old society, the social status of chefs has undergone earth-shaking changes. Today's chefs, some were elected as people's representatives, some became general managers or department heads of hotels and restaurants, some became model workers, and some even took to the rostrum of colleges and universities. With the change of chef's social status, the social significance of chef's labor is more and more understood and recognized by people. (1) Chef is an indispensable force in the construction of human civilization. People eat and drink, and diet is inseparable from the work of chefs. With the progress of social material civilization, the socialization of housework is an inevitable trend of historical development. With the advent of intense and fast-paced social life, cooking at home will inevitably be replaced by public restaurants, canteens and mobile fast food. In this way, the chef's job will solve the worries of millions of people's lives, make people devote more energy to work, study and entertainment, and thus liberate a large number of labor from busy family cooking. (2) Chef is the promoter of social and economic construction. Chefs create delicious food to meet the needs of social consumption, thus strengthening people's system, promoting people's health and ensuring people's energy and stronger physique to participate in social construction. At the same time, in the social benefits of providing quality services to consumers, it will also gain economic benefits for hotels. It is pointed out that the intermediary role of chefs in political, economic, cultural and diplomatic activities can not be ignored. In modern society, many social activities are inseparable from catering activities. Therefore, in this sense, the chef's labor has become one of the powerful driving forces to guide consumers and promote economic construction. (3) Chef China is the inheritor and disseminator of China's cooking culture, and China's cooking culture has a long history and is brilliant. As Mao Zedong said: In China culture, one is cooking and the other is Chinese medicine, which we should be proud of. Who will inherit and carry forward China's excellent food civilization and cooking technology? Mainly by the chef. Since the founding of New China, China cuisine has gradually moved from the traditional pure technology to the shops of science and art. In addition to the attention of the party and the government, this is inseparable from the serious summary and hard work of the majority of chefs. Nowadays, groups of chefs with exquisite skills, cooking knowledge and artistic theory have grown up. They have become excellent inheritors of China's food culture. At the same time, with the reform and opening up in China, a large number of China chefs went abroad and went to the world, spreading China's excellent food culture to all parts of the world and winning worldwide praise. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that Chef China has become an excellent messenger to spread China's excellent culture to the world. Second, the characteristics of chef's labor As a production department, the catering industry is its production workers, and the chef's labor has its own characteristics. 1, the characteristics of the unity of service and creativity-the chef's labor product-dishes are sold to people for enjoyment, and providing customers with exquisite food is the main purpose of the chef's labor. Therefore, it has the characteristics of commercial service. This feature requires the chef to have a good moral character of serving the people wholeheartedly, a customer-oriented attitude, and a spirit of dedication and sacrifice. When providing services to consumers, chefs should try their best to win economic benefits for their own enterprises, accumulate funds for national construction and increase wealth. This requires chefs to win customers through quality service and increase benefits for enterprises through increasing production and saving. The two are contradictory, but more unified. 2. The characteristics of technical, scientific and artistic unity. Cooking is a skill Chef's work is a technical activity mainly based on manual operation. From the identification of raw materials to the primary processing, from manual cutting to mastering the temperature and seasoning, it is its specific technical requirements and operational difficulties. In addition to technical elements, cooking is a science-an art with food modeling as its main form of expression. It is the organic unity of the three. And the chef's labor process, in essence, is the process of organic combination of the three. 3, the characteristics of the unity of manual labor and mental labor As mentioned above, the chef's labor force is technical labor based on manual operation, and this kind of labor is mainly manifested in the form of manual labor. Even, sometimes it shows heavy physical labor. For example, the initial processing of some raw materials, turning the pot on the stove. However, the chef's labor is not pure physical labor, but a kind of labor that includes a lot of labor. Especially with the requirements of scientific and standardized cooking, the proportion of mental work in chef's work is increasing. Such as the design of the banquet, the conception of the banquet, the determination of the hygienic index of the dishes, and the modeling of the dishes, all of which are condensed with more complicated mental work. Third, the requirements for the quality of chefs A person's quality refers to the sum of a person's ideological and political morality, professional level, work ability and physical health. Chef occupation has special quality requirements for its employees. To sum up, the requirements for chefs should include the following aspects. 1, the chef's moral quality, that is, the chef has a level and accomplishment in political thought and moral quality. As a chef in socialist China, he should not only have the basic ideology and morality of patriotism, love for the party and love for the people, but also put forward the following points according to the particularity of the cooking profession: First, the spirit of serving the people wholeheartedly; Second, the professionalism of loving one's job; Third, the spirit of loving the collective and the enterprise; The fourth is a firm concept of the legal system. 2. Chef's professional quality The professional quality of a chef includes many contents, and its main aspect is to have superb technology. Specifically, as a qualified chef, he has a better knife, he should master cooking properly, and the seasoning should be accurate and appropriate. We should have good cultural knowledge. It is necessary to master the basic theoretical knowledge of modern cooking science such as nutrition and hygiene, understand the cooking culture and history of the motherland, and understand some folk etiquette knowledge. Must have certain aesthetic accomplishment and artistic innovation foundation. In addition, we should also have the spirit of being brave in creation and bold innovation, have certain organizational management ability and flexible use of 5S. 3, the physical quality of the chef As the saying goes: "Old Yin and Yang, less cooks." Chef's job is an intensive labor. To be a qualified chef, you must first have a healthy body in terms of physical quality. The cook's job is very hard, not only heavy, but also heavy. Whether it is processing, cutting or cooking, it requires a lot of physical strength. You can't bear it without a healthy constitution. In addition, chefs should have strong endurance. The job of a chef is different from ordinary work. People often go to work before and leave work after. Eat in front of people and behind them. Sometimes even business is too busy to eat a complete meal. In addition, it has to withstand the high temperature in front of the furnace, the fumigation of oil smoke and so on. The characteristics of this kind of professional labor require chefs to have strong endurance. Some people summarize this tolerant image as "four gains", that is, full, hungry, hot and cold. Third, chefs should be quick-thinking and energetic. Once the kitchen work begins, it presents a state of high tension. Especially when the business volume is large, it is particularly different. When guests order food or order a banquet, the chef will respond immediately and cook with the dishes. In addition, in the process of making, some dishes need to be cooked in a hurry, such as cooking. These dishes often need to complete a series of operating procedures in a short time, which requires chefs to be quick-thinking, skilled and energetic. Fourth, the future of chefs 1, the social role of chefs will become more and more important. The fundamental driving force of social development lies in liberating productive forces. With the progress of social civilization and the continuous development of economic and cultural undertakings, the tertiary industry will become more and more developed. As the "leader" of the tertiary industry, the catering industry plays an increasingly important role in the industrial structure of human beings. After human beings step into a highly developed civilized society, the demand for food is getting higher and higher, and after the socialization of housework, the demand for delicious food in the whole society is also greater. The situation in China is also obvious. Before the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, the catering industry in China was basically limited to the commercial system. However, after more than 20 years of reform and opening up, with the development of economy, the catering industry has flourished and restaurants have been opened in all walks of life. Large and small restaurants and catering stores are scattered all over the place, and the catering structure is also developing towards high-grade and exquisite. From 65438 to 0993, after Comrade Deng Xiaoping's southern tour speech, the development of catering industry was further accelerated, and the social role of chefs was bound to grow. 2. The quality of chefs will be higher and higher. One of the important signs of social development is the general improvement of people's quality, and the team of chefs is no exception. With the improvement of the social status of chefs, the history of "being illiterate and learning from chefs" has long since ended, and more and more educated young people have devoted themselves to cooking, which has greatly changed the overall thinking and cultural quality of chefs. Especially in recent years, cooking vocational education has developed vigorously, cooking secondary school and cooking vocational education have developed vigorously, the research of cooking secondary school and cooking art has been paid more and more attention, and national and international cooking exchange activities have become increasingly frequent. All these provide a good social environment for training and bringing up a new generation of chefs. Looking forward to the future, chefs are a group of experts, scholars and technical talents with good professional ethics, cooking culture and scientific theoretical knowledge, and exquisite cooking skills. 3. Chef's working style and working conditions will greatly promote the development of cooking science, and make the chef's working style gradually change from traditional experience to scientific and standardized. The popularization of food machinery will greatly improve the working conditions of chefs. For example, the use of kitchen knives will replace hand-cut vegetables, and the development of new cooking materials will greatly reduce the labor intensity of chefs; The use of new combustion and new cooking stoves makes chefs less affected by "three wastes" pollution. In short, with the development of science and technology, the image of a chef in front of people will no longer be an illiterate, dark-faced and greasy "cook", but a gourmet with literary skills and elegant temperament. Why do chefs wear tall hats? In the restaurant, every chef wears a white top hat. There is also an interesting story about the origin of a chef in a white hat. It is said that more than 200 years ago, there was a famous French chef named Andrew Van? Clem. He was a senior chef in a famous restaurant in Paris in the18th century. Andefan is cheerful and humorous and likes to show off. One night, he saw a customer wearing a novel white hat in the restaurant, which attracted the attention of the whole restaurant. He deliberately followed suit and immediately customized a tall white hat, much higher than the customer's. Wearing this white top hat, he was very proud, and he went in and out of the kitchen, which really attracted the attention of all customers. Many people are curious and come to visit this restaurant. This effect has become sensational news, making the restaurant business more and more prosperous. Later, the owners of many restaurants in Paris noticed the attraction of this white hat, and they also customized the same white hat for their chefs. Over time, this white hat became the symbol and symbol of the chef. Up to now, chefs all over the world have generally put on this white hat. White top hat has become a working hat for chefs to maintain food hygiene. There is an ancient metaphor that since ancient times, there must be a monarch and a minister, just as people who eat must have a chef. If you want to eat, you need someone to cook. In ancient times, people who took cooking as their profession were called people, which is what we now call chefs. Chefs sometimes had a high status in ancient times and were respected by society; Sometimes they struggle at the bottom of society and are treated unfairly. Youren is one of the main creators of ancient food culture in China, and their work and achievements deserve a fair evaluation. Sima Qian wrote Historical Records, and later Sima Zhen added Biography of Huang San, describing Fuxi, the legendary ancestor of mankind, as a person with professional connection with the kitchen. "Historical Records" said: "Taihao Fuxi held a sacrifice to cook, so he said that he would like to sacrifice." Or "sacrifice", also known as getting prey. This language is from the lost "Imperial Century", not invented by Sima. Our ancestors came to be cooks, and they were named after this profession, which shows that in prehistoric times and early history, this must be quite noble and will not be looked down upon. Monarchs are like gourmets, and ministers are cooks. Some of these superb ministers are good at slaughtering, some are good at cooking, and some are good at seasoning. The food will be beautifully cooked, and the country will not worry about poor governance. Wu Ding, King of Shang Dynasty, was famous for Fu Shuo. He saw the man he wanted in his dream, which made people ask for help everywhere. Wu Ding attaches great importance to Fu Shuo and governs the country. He compared Fu Shuo to the yeast for brewing wine, salt plums to spoons, and he also used cooking as a metaphor for governing the country. Wu Ding praised Fu Shuo's words: "If you are a wine cellar, you can only sing;" Make a soup, it will only be salted plum. "Later generations also have people who get high positions and high salaries because of their superb cooking skills, especially when the emperor who likes pleasure is in power." Song Shu Mao Zhi Chuan said that Mao Zhi was captured by the Northern Wei Dynasty. He once made delicious mutton soup and gave it to ministers, who "thought it was delicious and gave it to Emperor Wu". Emperor Tuoba Tao also felt beautiful and very happy, so he promoted Mao to the rank of official. Later, Shi Mao made Gong Zhuo an official and Nanjun an official, but he still held the post concurrently. According to the biography of Liang Shuguan, Sun Gan is good at cooking, and often cooks delicious food for dignitaries in the DPRK to maintain close feelings. After getting the opportunity to serve as the prefect, the emperor personally cooked, not afraid of fatigue, and was deeply appreciated. "So he is the prefect of Lieqing, Shi Yu and Midtown counties. "There will be Hou Gang, a native of Luoyang in the Northern Wei Dynasty, who also entered the official career by the chef. Hou Gang was born in poverty. When I was young, I was "good at cooking, eating and drinking, and accumulating officials to taste food." Later, he was named Hou of Wuyang County, and he held public office. The phenomenon that chefs entered the official career once became a common fact in the Han Dynasty. According to the Records of Liu Chuan in the Later Han Dynasty, many people who were awarded the title of meritorious service by the late emperor Liu were businessmen, even servants, and some of them were cooks. Because this practice was unreasonable, it attracted the attention of public opinion, so there was an ironic ballad in Chang 'an at that time, which read, "Raise a corps commander under the kitchen; Rotten sheep belly, riding a captain; Rotten sheep head, Shanhaiguan pass. "At that time, chefs were more likely to get jobs with the meritorious military service, which is another matter. All previous dynasties have devoted themselves to serving the powerful, and there are not many opportunities to be an official, let alone an official. People stand in the world, relying on their own skills, with unique skills, and the society still respects them. Zhuangzi is talking about how to solve problems, and he is good at cutting skillfully. People's respect is also manifested in wartime. Wu Yuejia, a New History of the Five Dynasties, said that Liu, an observer of Yuezhou, was "easy to dress with a knife" when he was chased, shouting that he was a chef, and at the same time showing his kitchen knife to his pursuers, so he was lucky enough to escape and avoid death. According to Sanshui Xiaoyu, the rebels arrested Tancheng county magistrate Lu Cun, who lied that he was a good man. The rebel doesn't believe it, so let him try frying oil cakes. As a result, he hasn't fried a cake for a long time. Liu Cun crustily skin of head and made a fool of himself, so he saved his life. These two examples show that the chef is the key protection object during the war, otherwise the two officials would not pretend to be chefs to escape. Whether chefs can be widely respected or not, the role of celebrities is also very important. According to Jiao's Yu Tang (Volume 8), Zhang, the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, was buried after his father's death, and the local officials took out land and water treasures to entertain him wherever he passed, but he also said that there was no place to put chopsticks and he was dismissive of the food. There happened to be a Wuxi man named Champion. Although he is a satrap, he is a good cook. He is an authentic Wu Chuan. Zhang ate it and thought it was particularly delicious. He praised it and said, "I'm really full when I get to this place." As soon as this was said, Wu Yun's position doubled, and the rich people were proud of having a Wu Zhongren cook. The result of this fashion is that "Wuzhong does all good deeds and rewards good prices". Therefore, the status of chef Wu was raised very high, and Wu Chuan was widely circulated. In ancient times, there was a saying that "a gentleman is far from the kitchen". Many people understand it as a gentleman not entering the kitchen, as if killing cattle and sheep must be a villain. This is a misunderstanding. The original words are the conversation between Mencius and Qi Xuanwang, talking about the benevolence of a gentleman, saying that a gentleman often cannot bear to see birds and animals die; I can't bear to eat their meat when I hear their dying cries. Therefore, gentlemen always build their kitchens in distant places. In order to eat meat and feel sweet, I don't go to see the scene of slaughtering animals and don't listen to the sounds of animals, so I have the experience of "gentlemen eating far away". This statement can also be found in the Book of Rites Jade Algae, in which it is said that when sacrificing animals, a gentleman should not let his body be contaminated with animal blood, and he should not move the knife himself, but also "cook it far away".