3.3 Understand how the professional kitchen is organised

The Professional Kitchen

Important: Choosing the Correct Tools

Tasks are made easier when one has the right tools, and while substitutes can be often used, sometimes there is no substitute for certain tools. A folk idiom refers ‘to slaughtering a chicken with a cleaver’ that means both overkill and using the wrong tool for the task, where a knife would have been ideal. Certain sweet kuehs are only the right shape when the right mould is used. Peeling of vegetables is best done with a small knife, not a long knife. The right tool gives the exact result intended.  

A Well-Organised Workflow

An organised workflow makes cooking more efficient, reduces inconvenience, and optimises the cooking experience. Having everything in place and within easy reach reduces the inconvenience of frantic searches when attention should be directed at the cooking process, and any cook will know, remembering forgotten ingredients or utensils always happens at the most awkward times, and the search for them invariably results in much distraction. Cooking should not be stressful, and hence minimising such minor delays will give you a more enjoyable experience all round.

Know the Function Before Use

In children’s cartoons, pressing the wrong button makes a machine self-destruct or explode. Fortunately for us, this does not instantly happen with kitchen appliances and machines. Nevertheless, it is important to read manuals and be familiar with the functions of your tools. For instance, you will get the right size and consistency of ingredients from your food processors, ovens will not give undercooked or burnt results, and your rice cooker will not give you porridge instead of perfectly cooked rice.

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