5 Qualities to become a successful Chef

Has your passion for food and cooking ever made you think about taking a step onto the career ladder of the catering industry? There are some amazing opportunities to turn your passion into a full time career as a chef in one of the thousands of restaurants and eateries across the UK and beyond. Becoming a chef isn’t for the faint hearted though, which is why we’ve taken the time to look at some of the redeeming qualities that an ambitious candidate should bear in mind. Take a look below at some of the main qualities that make a chef.

1. You Love Food – It sounds obvious, but every chef should have the love and passion for food! However there’s more to it than preparing and eating your favourite dish. There’s so much to learn about food types, flavours and textures, not to mention the knowledge in bringing all those together to create an amazing meal. Chefs will tell you that there’s always something new to learn in the kitchen, which is sure to keep your passion for food and cooking alive!

2. Attention To Detail – You’re working with food, so it’s expected that you take pride in the appearance of your dish. After all, food has too look good as well as taste it! Your attention to detail doesn’t stop at the appearance either, with flavours playing a massive part in the creation of your dishes.

3. Working Under Pressure – If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen….it’s where the saying was born after all? Working in a kitchen does bring a lot of pressure and time can be against you when you’re preparing food to feed a restaurant full of people, but it helps you perfect your craft and is most rewarding when you’re making people happy with food.

4. Teamwork – This is an important quality to have in a kitchen. Great communication, patience and perseverance is what’s needed from a chef, as is the ability to work with a group of likeminded people, under pressure, to deliver an amazing service.

5. Innovation – Along with the skill of cooking, creativity is what really makes a chef. If you have a knack to whip up a culinary delight, without the need of a recipe, you could be well on your way to making a career out of it! You’re not someone who’s afraid to try out new flavours and techniques, even try your hand at creating your own recipes.

An innovative chef isn’t afraid to step outside their comfort zone, after all look at Heston and his weird and wonderful creations. Snail ice cream, anyone?!