It’s been centuries ago, and the chef uniform remains a standard in the food industry; any restaurant throughout the world. And today in the modern world, it hasn’t changed, or it did, but change the style and colour, but the feature function of each element a chef uniform has still the same.
Traditionally, a chef uniform has a toque, jacket, checked pants, neckerchief, apron, and side towel – these provide recognition, of how skilled they are. Also, each element of this chef's uniform has an important role, and each one keeps the chef safe from any circumstance and to give comfortable workwear.
Many things have changed throughout history, the original style, the design of a chef uniform has evolved, and more and more generations pass by. There are four factors contributed to the development of the chef workwear:
The practical need for protection
Aesthetic: Clean professional image
Deliberate distinction and status
Represent pride
These are just of the factors, the reasons contributed to the changes, the development of a chef uniform, but one common value remains, which is a chef’s passion for his or her cooking.
With these said, four factors create a contemporary chef uniform reflecting both modern and old tradition. Also, each part of the chef uniform has a specific purpose to help the chef in his or her cooking responsibilities.
For the top of a chef uniform, it has the chef’s hat, previously called “toque” way back in the 1800s. The purpose of this chef’s hat is to absorb the sweat from the head and prevent the hair from while the chef is cooking the dishes.
Moving to a chef’s jacket, traditionally, it has a double breast front with a long sleeve through the wrist to protect the skin from the heat, avoid being burned. This chef workwear jacket has two layers of fabric to increase protection. A piece of fabric is wrapping around the buttons to avoid being melted from all the cooking and falls into the food.
Next is the bottom half of a chef uniform, aside from the chef’s dark colour pants, they also wear an apron, wrapping from the waist, and falls through the need to add more protection from the heat and leaving a stain. Both the apron and pants have a feature that can prevent hot liquid, flames to reach the skin.
The chef uniform’s material is also important to help the chef feel at ease while wearing their workwear inside the kitchen. This chef uniform has a light fabric, but it can absorb sweat. And most of the time the fabrics are cotton or spun poly material.
There are other chefs wear a dark colour workwear which becomes more relevant today, because as per most chef says, it has better shade to hide the stain, and some also wear ¾ sleeves.
No matter how many generations pass by, the elegance of this chef uniform remains and still prevail the symbolism in tales from the knowledge of cooking and through the art of professionalism in the food industry.
So, if it intrigues you to have a chef uniform, consider WIZ by Neptune as a reliable workwear supplier in Singapore as they have technical workwear that you might want to see.
