Why the Chefs Jacket? The history of Chef Jackets

Generally Chefs wear their uniforms everyday they are in the kitchen, including toque, checked pants and either single breasted or double-breasted chef jackets. Chef’s uniforms and the Chefs jacket is widely adopted across the globe. Have you ever questioned the origin of this world recognised uniform?

Parts of the chef’s uniform have been born out of necessity. The chefs jacket for example, is usually double-breasted so it can be easily reversed to hide splashes and stains that may have occurred whilst cooking; the double layered cotton is also designed to protect and insulate the wearers body against hot liquid/food splash back and the heat of the kitchen environment.

Even the knotted cloth buttons found on a Chefs jacket are fashioned with a purpose. This is because the knotted cloth will withstand the frequent cleaning and abuse buttons often take from contact with pots, pans and other heavy kitchen equipment. Though executive chefs often wear black pants, working chefs and cooks usually wear pants with black-and-white checks-the dizzying pattern can help camouflage minor spills and soiling.

During the mid 1800’s a chef ‘Marie-Antoine Carême’ redesigned the chef’s uniforms. Carême believed the colour white was more appropriate as it represented hygiene and cleanliness in the kitchen; it was also at this time that the double-breasted Chef jackets were introduced. Carême also thought that the hats should be different sizes, to distinguish the cooks from the chefs. The chefs wore the tall hats and the younger cooks wore shorter hats, more like a cap. Carême himself supposedly wore a hat that was 18 inches tall!

Other followed suit and Chef Escoffier thought the cleanliness of the cook’s uniform was very important, and that it promoted professionalism. His staff were required to maintain clean and complete uniforms whilst in the kitchen. To this day cooks and chefs around the world wear the same attire that has traceable origins back to more than 400 years. Along with the other conveniences the 1950’s brought, paper toques were invented to look like cloth but could be disposed of once they were soiled.

Modern day, Chefs require the comfort and quality of cloth over paper. This will often require a chef to own many chefs jackets and uniforms so that one set can be worn whilst the others are being washed. A full range of uniforms are now available with a chef jackets of all colours / sizes and stitching. Many chefs however prefer to adhere to traditional chef’s uniform as its history is something to be proud of.

 

About the Author

Chris Smit is author of this article on Chef Jackets. Find more information about Chefs Jacket here.

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