With Royal Wedding Fever coming to an end, did you ever stop to imagine what it must have been like for the chef in charge of all the catering? With over 10 000 canapés and a full breakfast buffet for six hundred people, it certainly wasn’t a job for the faint hearted!

Then, as now, royal households were the places to find professional cooks capable of producing incredibly large quantities of food. The status and political clout of an aristocrat or nobleman was highlighted by the expertise of his chef, so the best were sought out and often bribed into the service of other noble families. 

With recipes available at the click of a mouse and the ever increasing number of food shows and celebrity chefs, have you been tempted to release the chef in you?  Do you have good food knowledge and a healthy dose of passion (for working long hours)? If so, take a look at who does what in the kitchen and see where you fit in:

• Commis Chef is an entry-level position. Also known as an apprentice position and one who will work under the line cooks or chefs de partie to learn food preparation and plating.
• Chef de Partie is a station chef or line cook and is responsible for one particular area of food production in the kitchen.
• Sous Chef is the second in command (after the executive chef) and ensures smooth running in the kitchen
• Executive Chefs plan and direct food preparation and cooking activities. They plan menus, ensure quality standards, estimate food requirements and often also estimate food and labour costs.

While you find the Chef in you, why not visit Taste of Cape Town for inspiration and sample what Chefs around Cape Town have to offer, including our own Executive Chef, Malika van Reenen.