At a time when lifestyles are being rethought, when from many quarters there is a desire or a contingent need to stay at home but without giving up the beauty of sharing or the importance of good food as a means of aggregation, a professional figure is coming forward that already existed but in this particularly complicated period is making a comeback. We speak of the Personal chef or a home cook, called specifically to arrange a lunch, dinner for an important event directly at the client's home.
It is a trend that became established in the United States more than 20 years ago, came to us a decade later, and has slowly made its way to become, in recent months and weeks, an important alternative to frequenting restaurants, which are often crowded, where in order to eat you have to make reservations months in advance and where it is often difficult to have a direct relationship with the professional.
The reasons why people choose a personal chef today.
Those who rely on a home cook do so for a variety of reasons. And this professional really meets special needs today, such as:
- Having your own cook available for an event
- Hold an event or dinner at home, in an intimate and relaxed atmosphere
- Not having to book a restaurant months in advance
- To be assured of relying on a professional who knows how to choose quality raw materials and transform them into exceptional dishes
- Avoid crowded places
- Not having to search for parking
- Being able to share an important moment with family and friends without having to leave your four-legged friends at home (often not accepted in restaurants) and not having to think about who to leave your children with, especially if they are very young
- Being able to taste gourmet dishes from the comfort of home and after dinner relaxing in the living room on the sofa with a fine wine or distillate
- Knowing that you are "pampered" with your diners by a top chef
Who is the personal chef?
The personal chef or home chef is the one who prepares a dinner especially for his client, who then has the advantage of staying at home, not having to fight to find parking or shout in order to talk to his diners overpowering the volume of the room, being able to enjoy a high-level dinner in the utmost comfort and without the slightest effort.
Personal Chef is not a catering service.
People often confuse the two concepts, but they are quite distinct. The personal chef does not bring ready-made food to the home but comes with all the ingredients and tools he needs to prepare the dishes on site. He is in effect a chef, an artist of the stove who, after making a preliminary inspection of the customer's kitchen, checking its available space, tools and machinery, begins to prepare its creations.
The home cook takes care of everything, from grocery shopping, an important time for choosing raw materials, to food delivery, from food preparation to mise en place, and then table service and cleaning. He is usually flanked by one or two helpers.
Becoming a personal chef: what is required.
To become a Personal Chef you first need to have mastery and knowledge of the various techniques of preparing and cooking ingredients, a thorough knowledge of raw materials, utensils and tools, but these things are not enough.
In fact, one Chef at home must demonstrate that they have talent and creativity in the kitchen, must obtain proper equipment and then be up-to-date on the new tools available. He must also have attended some Haccp courses and know the quality and characteristics of food, beverages, environments, and sanitary conditions and standards necessary to start and maintain such a business.
To complete this training, are then the skills of resourcefulness, kindness, being able to serve the customer discreetly, being able to interact in the right way with diners, interpreting their tastes and needs.
And then creativity: that of the home chef is a job that is a synthesis of technical skill and creativity. From menu selection to the pairing of wines and beers or the presentation of dishes, the chef must be able to bring technical skills and flair together so that every dish, event and service carries his or her unmistakable signature.
It must also know and be able to apply the rules of communication and self-promotion: Often in this industry it is word of mouth that elects a chef to the podium of favorites.
