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bensonrad,
I think you should read Gordons Autobiography (Humble Pie)
then u will understand a little more about his childhood and the chefs that trained him, especially the big guy Marco Pierre White, he once made Gordon cry he gave him such a xxxxxxxing, looking at him u would think that is hard to do,i believe that he just strives to the highest degree for perfection, not all of us show our passion this way but its his choice and he's sucessful for it.He just loves food and doesn't believe in letting anyone abuse it.BUY THE BOOK!

Is it really necessary for him to F in nearly every sentance and be so aggressive.

Hi PaulGray. You will be following in the footsteps of many of us who started the same way. No sin to come up up the hard way, learning by your own and some authors mistakes. Always remember that just because a top chef writes a book does not mean he proof read it!

Good luck when you decide to jump.

David

PS: Just remembered AWT is one of us. A chef who has not been professionally trained. One for your List James With Wig!

This is what interests me about the industry guys.

You have the College students who are in general being trained by the text book and you have people who have no formal training but have been cooking for years, who love food and understand what good food is.

Which one do you hire.

I do wonder if tomorrows chefs are more likely to be more experienced cooks who learn from the kitchen rather than kids leaving school without a clue or real interest in food but spend years in training.

I only say this because this is the change I am looking to make. I've no formal training, only years spent in the kitchen enjoying cooking, watching chefs, reading books and now reading technical books about cookery. I've even got the CIA Text bible winging it's way from the US to plough through. I source all my home cooking produce now locally and am building relationships with producers.

I am probably taking the opposite way of starting in the industry but to be honest I feel as if I have something to offer.

My medium term aim is too open a Pub/Restaurant selling traditional food but cooked to a high standard using the best of the best local produce.

I'm not in it to make millions, I want to be in it because that's the lifestyle change i want to make and enjoy.

i hear ya Chef marco
the industry just isnt the same anymore i remember working free hours to learn and gain knowledge and having so much love at a young age.Nowadays you're lucky to have one person out of five that want to learn .Only want a payslip and go home, where's the dedication to learn now and make money later!I just got done reading Marco Pierre Whites autobiography he is a brilliant chef i love his passion for food i thrived off it the whole time i read the book trying to picture his brilliance, i would of givin anything to have had the opportunity to work with him and show him the passion i have in me as well.Gordon Ramseys book is good as well he's one funny guy who just knows his stuff

Thats Right Chef 19 , some of the best chefs i have worked with have very little or no qualifications, But they have a Passion for what they do and an understanding of why they do it, i have like you worked under many great chefs many of which got their stripes with hard graft and many many mistakes thats why Chefs like you and i are so well tuned ,I get so frustrated with the students that finish college and think they are Marco Pierre White when infact they have another 10 years of training.

I took a student out of one of our colleges in the north to assist me and 5 other chefs on a charity function , It was the last time i ever do that.

we had 400 maincourses going out and the young lad said are we not going to probe each bit of chicken , I said no they are fine, he was astonished when i said i know because i can feel and see they are ok ,it wasn't his fault , that is just how the next generation of chefs are being trained , TO RELY ON TECHNOLOGY rather than Taste and gut instinct.

To all writing about being a chef im 16 years in the business 7 years as a head chef and the first thing you need is love and passion for the product from a to z. My self i was lucky enough to train under a master swiss chef , no culinary schooling, just the school of hard knocks, i honed and devolped skills that i utilize everyday, and i experimented with food at home constantly making my mistakes at home rather than work, for this i say that im still a cook because i never stop learning could be from anyone in the kitchen, and the day you think you know it all you should hang up your apron.You have a team of cooks and without them you are nothing, Chefs aren't magicans, i need to be surrounded by people who are just as passionate as i am or the puzzle doesnt fit, when u have that team u can achieve anything.So whether your a true chef is up to yourself to decide only you know how much you care about the food you produce by using only the freshest product possible,(locally).How true are you to yourself?then you can judge whether your a chef or not!

Sorry James with wig you are way out. A chef is a part of the tightest team you will ever see, from Head chef down to kitchen porter. If any part of that team does not pull their weight every one goes down the pan. Your right the kitchen staff do support the " Head chef " but it goes both ways. And as for Gordon having publicity seek him relentlessly, HE seeks it relentlessly thats why his face is in every Thershers offlicence window!

Name them.

Check them out.

Then you will find they aren't entitled to call themselves a chef. For your information Rick Stein is not trained, and does not call himself a chef. He calls himself a cook and a lover of food who is passionate about food.

every celebrity chef seeks publicity, it is in the nature of their job.
actually, many celebrity chefs do not have any classical training or qualifications.

The one thing Gordon Ramsey doesn't have to do is seek publicity. It seeks him, relentlessly.

"a chef is a cook who works as part of a team in a proffesional kitchen, so for example, rick stein is a chef, but nigella lawson is a cook"

Incorrect, a chef has training and qualifications to his or her name, nothing to do with working as part of a team, the team is there to support them.
A cook can work as part of a team in a professional or non professional kitchen, or work alone in the said kitchens.

totally agree nipple 1, he'll do anything for publicity!

When Gordon Ramsey first made it big i loved his food and his books. I got so much insperation from Passion for Seafood, Passion for Flavour, A chef for all Seasons but now i have lost all respect for him. His tv programs are all ****, and he is just a d list tv personality if you can call him that, and i feel a lot better now thats of my chest!

Lil abby, i meant aside from cooking talent, but then i thought that was implied

"being able to source good local ingredients doesn't make someone a chef, it just makes them a very good cook"

It makes neither c o. But they are very lucky if they can.

and i loathe gordon ramsey

being able to source good local ingredients doesn't make someone a chef, it just makes them a very good cook
a chef is a cook who works as part of a team in a proffesional kitchen, so for example, rick stein is a chef, but nigella lawson is a cook