Bon appétit! a History of the Chef's Toque

[@chiron14pl]

The other part of a cook's outfit (at least in US) are the small black and white check trousers

[@kellydalstok8900]

This episode deserves a chef’s kiss.

[@patrickshannon4854]

I particularly enjoy your wearing of the corresponding clothing to accompany your headgear . Great vids.

[@TheJohnRowley]

It is a testimony to your skills as a writer and presenter that I never get tired of your episodes - I thought I would but I'm about ten hats in now and seem to be watching at least one a week! Bravo sir, bravo!

[@JustIn-mu3nl]

Same, it's surprisingly interesting.

[@meganw6007]

Hehe, thank you so much for mentioning Ratatouille at ~7:05 !! That was actually where my mind first went at 4:00 when you said "It took ANOTHER legendary chef to become a symbol of the profession" 😅

[@vonpfrentsch]

Well presented, as always. As you probably know, Escoffier was not only reorganizing the various tasks in the kitchen, appointing sous-chefs for a specific duty, but also he reorganized the hardware, planning thoroughly the distances between the work places, what kind of ovens, the design of the "pass" etc.

[@BobAbc0815]

Somehow this makes me feel hungry.

[@vincenttoulouselombez1602]

Ne pas oublier que l'on ne retire pas sa toque, même devant un roi. Superbe video, comme d'habitude.

[@Brilembi]

I love coming across channels like this. Very informative on topics you just don’t think about too often. Really cool!

[@guyjperson]

I feel like you're missing the more floppy cotton chef's hat. For years as an itinerant cook, I wore both types. The toque was made of paper and didn't last very long, but the floppy cotton hat got cleaned with the chef's whites. I still have a couple around somewhere.

[@namewithay]

They mention it at 30ish seconds into the video.

[@TomFynn]

As a German, I like to imagine that the French High Command during the Franco-Prussian War was more bothered with the organization of the officers kitchen than with the organization of the soldiers: "Non, put la fork la way!" "But, la Germans are attacking, n'est-ce pas?" "[Louis de Funès sounds]"

[@peterhelm6003]

Maybe a designing a cake in the image of those dreaded Krupp canons 😉

[@randelbrooks]

I am imagining that you enjoy cooking and being French can offer up wonders. I like to cook myself. Always something new to learn.

[@Tmanaz480]

Great series! I'd love to see you do the whoopie cap (aka Jughead cap). There is a dearth of history on it.

[@Palanibert]

I would love it if you researched the reason why Soviet technical professionals, engineers and the like, wear what looks like a chef's touque. If you watch the T. V. series "Chernobyl", the control room techs look like chefs. I can't imagine why they would have to wear such a hat.

[@nuclearwinter1984]

same reason Surgeons do. Sanitation

[@Palanibert]

@@nuclearwinter1984 sanitation in a nuclear reactor control room? Are they also cooking there? Doesn't make sense.

[@K9TheFirst1]

​@@Palanibert More likely to catch any stray particles of uranium or other radioactive elements, so that the clothing can to removed and disposed of safely. Hence how the bulk of "nuclear waste" actually isn't depleted uranium rods.

[@JH-lo9ut]

​@@PalanibertI can't say for sure what workers at a modern nuclear plant wears, but I visited a de-comissioned nuclear plant once, and the security protocol required that everyone had to wear long lab coats, shoe covers and something that looked like a chef's hat. (of course we also had to wear a dosimeter) This was mainly to prevent accidental spread of radioactive particles outside the plant. Even if the amount of radiation in there was within safe levels, it is still hundreds or thousands of times higher than the background radiation outside the plant . Radioactive testing equipment is insanely sensitive and can detect extremely low levels of radiation. This means that warning systems are very prone to false-positive readings due to contamination. Nuclear safety requires that the warning systems aren't triggered by accident, because of sloppy hygiene.

[@Palanibert]

Thank to all of you who responded to my question!

[@Pretermit_Sound]

Great video as always! Was wondering if you would ever consider doing a video about the Voyageur’s toque? I’m originally from the Canadian border area of NE Minnesota, where the voyageurs were historically active (we named our national park after them actually.) Im also French on my mom’s side of the family, and I’ve had both a red, and green toque since I was a kid. Just a thought. Keep up the good work ✌🏻 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 🇫🇷

[@ERJones-fd6oh]

Thank you for revealing the mysteries of this ubiquitous and and curious hat

[@CoreyBrass]

I'm really enjoying going through your catalog of videos on hat history. 👏👏👏

[@brandonzhou2233]

Wow, I should have expected for this to be next. How intriguing! Mmmmmmmm

[@KFCJones]

The chef's toque can be knocked off easily if it catches fire- a hallmark of every piece of the traditional chef's outfit. The chef's coat, with cloth buttons, and pants, with snap closure in the fly , are easy to get out of quickly in case of fire or a hot liquid spill. Clogs can be kicked off quickly. Chefs who wear a ballcap or bandana may not have this advantage. Chefs who wear a trucker cap with plastic elements may be setting themselves up for bad scars!

[@Jakob6920]

Ballcaps and bandanas are easily and quick to take off. If you get scars as a cook it almost every time on your hands, arms or from the waist down.

[@blandrooker6541]

Once I earned it, I hated wearing it, as being over 6' I was always bumping it on the ventilation hoods, knocking it off my head.

[@20thcenturytunes]

Bravo sir, I've worn the chef's hat a few times

[@davidgoreted]

I adore you

[@supergillou6596]

I don't have the patience for waiting you french version of you report. Very interesting like always.

[@megapangolin1093]

Excellent explanation, thank you. Clearly the Carême- caramel is one of his eponymous dishes.

[@CrazyCatzLady2025]

Very interesting

[@randynovick7972]

When I was in the kitchen as a young man, I preferred canvas welder's caps or bicycle caps. You could soak them in the sink and wring them out and stay cooler. Thanks for this episode.

[@Teneu-ym9yd]

I've really enjoyed your content! Please continue producing the history of hats. Thank you!

[@trappenweisseguy27]

In Canada the soft knitted toque is a common headgear all winter long and I have only ever heard it referred to as rhyming with the word spook.

[@chonconnor6144]

Yeah eh?

[@Dr.K.Wette_BE]

Interesting as always !

[@konradvonschnitzeldorf6506]

Now I am hungry and I wanna go to france. Merci

[@bikegames0]

Now I’m hungry. I gotta go eat. 😋

[@ComfortsSpecter]

Incredible Beautiful Humanistic History Great Art Good work I Love the Finer Respectable replacements Like a simple Efficient Humanistic White Headwrap of whatever Style It’s so much Nicer than cheap bags and-or nets And still very Efficient, Practical, Humanistic, Cultural, Artistic and Personal Quite Beautiful

[@charlescourtney4402]

That was so interesting. Thank you for sharing!

[@cherokeeglock]

very good job!

[@RobertBDANIEL-ouest7est]

🎉 merci bcp. pour la vidéo ! J' habite dans le colorado - en attendant ~ " cowboy hat. " 🎉

[@kkupsky6321]

Omg he’s so French. Ugh. 🤦‍♀️. I love it. Rock on gascon

[@randynovick7972]

I thought he was Canadian, myself.

[@hhvictor2462]

Chef Boyardee famously wears one on the canned pasta labels.

[@videomag6980]

Bravo ce boulot 👌

[@MMaximmachinegun]

Awesome video. It would be cool if you do a video on the boonie hat or beanie, as I think both are very interesting and comftorbale pieces of headwear.

[@johnfisk811]

I cannot but notice the resemblance of the classic tall rigid toque to some Ottoman military hats such as of the Janisseries who were themselves traditionally classed as both cooks and as soldiers. Hence I suspect that the toque indeed came from the great French chef but he was inspired by the headgear of the Janisseries.

[@philipcurnow7990]

Yes. I have one but strangely collapsible. Maybe I forgot the starch.

[@fitzfizzy]

A toque…beanie vid requested 🤠

[@aaronellingboe8893]

Will you do a video on turbans? Seems like it too big of a topic for one video.

[@Pepejul2]

I love it so hard

[@emergefamily]

Can you do an episode on the Nepalese Dhaka Topi hat

[@hathistorianjc]

I'll make a note of it

[@janetmackinnon3411]

I have just come across your channel with delight. But whi do you hang that flag (rouge with two lions passants or) sideways? Is this a poliicazl statement? In fact , is it not unusual that the lions face left?

[@UltraPatate]

J'aurai pensé a l'intro du chef MICHEL DUMAS ou des petites references ah ah mais ca reste sympa

[@sergekauzunovich533]

Why is the shape change in hats from straight to soft top? :)

[@HarborLockRoad]

I take it that Henry the 8ths favorite dish was chops?😂 Odd to think the Tudors were cousins to my Geraldine bloodline, and their red x crest is on the union jack today

[@scented-leafpelargonium3366]

Why are chef's hats so tall? To hide a bottle of whiskey under! (I was told in Ireland!) 👨‍🍳 ☘

[@NewfieAsianKid]

The Toque is the hat that every chef should wear with PRIDE!

[@Rig0p]

Je vois un tremblement de l'image sur le coté c'est bizarre. Un soucis avec e focus peut être.

[@hathistorianjc]

J'ai une nouvelle caméra, donc je m'y habitue encore

[@Max6180]

Vous avez plus de vues avec la version française des vidéos mais vous sortez d'abord les versions anglaises, dommage...

[@hathistorianjc]

pendant la première année de la chaîne c'était le contraire et j'en suis resté à mes habitudes.

[@emmgeevideo]

A tip of my hat to the profession of "chef". Very few professions have a title that people love to use like "chef". I understand that going to culinary school takes time and effort, but so does engineering, finance, supply chain operations, and any number of professions that have advanced degrees, certifications, licensing requirements, etc. I work in high tech. No one calls each other "Engineer" the way people love to say, "Chef". The engineers I work with don't have a distinctive hat. Physicians have conned the world into calling them "Doctor" but nurses sadly don't get such a distinction. Professors have tried to co-opt the title as well. Ministers get t be called "Reverend". But overall titles and hats are anachronistic.

[@LymanPhillips]

Don't forget one other profession that has an honorific - coaches. I've been coaching youth sports in my town for over 15 years and when I'm out in public almost invariably someone calls out "Coach!" to get my attention.

[@emmgeevideo]

@@LymanPhillips I think "Coach", "Chef", and "Doctor" are anachronistic. I work in high tech and I guarantee that the people I work with are just as skilled and highly trained as any professional (certainly more than coaches) and you don't hear people around my office calling each other "Engineer!" or "Accountant!" or "Marketeer!". It's a relic of a bygone era. No one says "Sire" or "M'lady" or "Your Highness". BTW, I have a PhD and I don't ask people to call me "Doctor".

[@LymanPhillips]

@@emmgeevideo People don't use the honorific "coach," especially years after I've coached their kids, because I ask them to. They apparently do it out of respect for a job well done, or based on the impact that coaching a sport has had on their child. Do a good job, treat even the least skilled person (like a child learning a sport) with respect, and you'll gain respect. Put people down and it will reflect badly.

[@emmgeevideo]

@@LymanPhillips You're missing my point. So people spontaneously address you as "coach" and they respect you for a job well done. Congratulations. Now let's consider your colleagues. Do people come up to their math teacher say "Teacher"? Do they address the Principal with his/her honorific? No, because for some strange reason "coach" has stuck in people's minds. I don't get it. "Chef" is the same. Rick Bayless, one of the most qualfied of culinary professionals who has gained fame for his TV shows, books, and restaurants goes by the name "Rick Bayless". Not "Chef Rick Bayless" and not the cutsie "Chef Rick". I respect that. But in the KZbin comments section, you'll find plenty of people addressing him as "Chef". I could site other KZbin presenters in the topics that I follow who are engineers, historians, artists, etc. and you just don't see comments with honorifics except in certain professions. I had a dentist once who asked that people call him by his first name. I really liked that. He called me by my first name (I have a PhD, he could have addressed me as "Doctor") and I called him by his first name. I went him for years until he retired because he was a great dentist. I respected him mightily. But I didn't feel that addressing him or not with an honorific had anything to do with the amount of respect I had for him. You're right, if someone calls you "coach" because that's their choice, fine. I hope you don't introduce yourself as "Coach Smith" or "Coach Bob". Unless you address the parents by their honorifics as well, I think you should say, "Thanks, but my friends call me 'Bob'."

[@kkupsky6321]

I bet the prank Prussian war was great for cooks. Franco American isn’t Chef Boyardee.

[@Brick_guyy]

Cheeseburger

[@ms.annthrope415]

I've read somewhere, in formal French kitchens, each rank and each position hS a different hat. The more senior the cook, the higher his hat, the chef has the tallest hat. And each crease is supposed to symbolize every way a chef can prepare eggs. Specialty cooks like the saucier or the dessert cook has a specific hat, higher than a regular cook but lower than the chef.

[@steven6709]

I went to culinary school and they told us about the folds, but I'm not sure I buy that. You would have to visit your chapelière every time you opened your cookbook!

[@Dommymarano]

I like your channel, I love hats. I went to culinary school in 96. This is most ridiculous and useless hat in the history of hats!

[@thomasbeach905]

On the other hand, no hat will keep beard hair out of the food.😢

[@CineMiamParis]

Right. Which is why no beards are allowed in traditional pro kitchens in France.

[@mm-yt8sf]

would the chef's hat be even cooler if it was open at the top? surely no one is going to bend over so much any hair can fall out the top of it... though if someone was beheaded for that i guess better safe than sorry..

[@hathistorianjc]

the rigid ones are usually either open at the top or have a thin mesh with holes in it (mine is open)