This is a question which is often asked by people who are new to the profession. All those who have completed the relevant education successfully and have a chef job to look forward to, it is a challenge. In order to become a chef, one needs to do a lot of hard work and be at his or her creative best to carve a niche in the industry.

Let us now look at what is one expected to do as a chef:

• Supervise the happenings in the kitchen – The chef needs to monitor the quality and quantity of the food prepared. He or she should even extend help when it comes to presentation and improvisation. A chef job requires a lot of leadership skills as the person needs to motivate the other cooks to perform well and guide them at the time of need.
• Supplies – The chef is expected to maintain steady supply of raw materials in the kitchen, on any given day. He or she is responsible for ordering the same from vendors by preparing an estimate of how much is required in a particular day.
• Cleanliness – The kitchen should be clean and hygienic at all times and the cooks who prepare the various dishes should also follow good sanitation and ensure all safety norms are adhered to.
• Special dishes – Every restaurant has a ‘chef’s special’ dish which changes at regular intervals. This should be different from the rest of the recipes on the menu and should be interesting as well.
• Portion sizes – The serving sizes are also confirmed by the chef. It is slightly different in separate restaurants and depending on the number of customers, this is decided upon.
• The work hours in a chef job are not fixed and may extend very often. Since the number of people who eat outside increases on holidays and weekends, the chef should be present on those days. Almost all the chefs take offs on days when there is less busy and usually, these are weekdays.
• There are many dangers of working in a kitchen. The hot atmosphere, slippery floors, big stoves, etc. all add to the risks. Therefore, in order to become a chef, one needs to be mentally prepared to take care of all these factors apart from preparing delectable dishes.