Modern Brigade System vs Classical Essay Example

cooking, according to Escoffier, begins with learning a relatively few basic procedures and understanding basic ingredients. Escoffier's second major achievement, the reorganization of the kitchen, resulted in a streamlined workplace better suited to turning out the simplified dishes and menus he instituted.

The system of organization he established is still in use, especially in large hotels and full-service restaurant. The process of simplification and refinement is ongoing, adapting classical cooking to modern conditions and tastes. A generation after Escoffier, the most influential chef in the middle of the twentieth century was Ferdinand Point. Point simplified and lightened classical cuisine. He was a perfectionist who sometimes worked on a dish for years before he felt it was good enough to put in his menu. Point insisted every meal should be "a little marvel." Point's influence extended well beyond his own life. Many of his apprentices, including Paul Bocuse, Jean and Pierre Troigros, and Alain Chapel, later became some of the greatest stars of modern cooking. They, along with other chefs in their generation, became best known in the 1960s and early 1970s for a style of cooking called nouvelle cuisine.Reacting to what they saw as a heavy, stodgy, overly complicated classical cuisine, these chefs took Point's lighter approach even further. They rejected many traditional principles, such as the use of flour to thicken sauces, and instead urged simpler, more natural flavors and preparations, with lighter sauces and seasonings and shorter cooking times. In traditional classical cuisine, many dishes were plated in the dining room by waiters. Nouvelle cuisine, however, placed a great deal of emphasis on artful plating presentation done by the chef in the

kitchen. Very quickly this "simpler" style became extravagant and complicated, famous for strange combinations of foods and fussy, ornate arrangements and designs.

The purpose of kitchen organization is to assign or allocate tasks so they can be done efficiently and properly and so all workers know what their responsibilities are. The menu is the basis of the entire operation. The classical brigade system. The chef is the person in charge of the kitchen. The sous chef is directly in charge of production and works as the assistant to the executive chef or chef de cuisine. Station chefs are in charge of particular areas of production. The expediter accepts orders from waiters and passes them on to the cooks on the line. The expediter also calls for orders to be finished and plated at the proper time and inspects each plate before passing it to the dining room staff. Only a large establishment need a staff like the classical brigade.