Chef an Endangered Species

Cooking is an art as well a science.

Its a vast and a never ending process of learning and improving. Its not because its a rocket science its just because it is very vast and diversified. Every region has its own style of cooking its own recipes and its own  regional specialties.

Being a chef we have to very firstly understand the basics of food cooking the very basic of sauce, stock and marinades preparation. This needs actually a long years to become a master of it. 

Now a days in an industry specially in an international 5 star culture the young chefs are not very much focusing on the core basics of foods, they simply ignore the fundamentals of cookery the technical characteristics of meat or vegetables, there internal temperatures or the cooking temperatures.

Now a days business owners as well as the senior managements are basically focusing on the Room Sale Business which covers the maximum profits to an organization and a food has become just an business improving tool by adding complimentary such as breakfasts, amenities, lunches etc.

Specially in a 5 star culture what i noticed is food is now no more a backbone of the business as the technologies like e advertising, e booking.

No hotel now a days focusing on the actual skill development or hiring a educated and well trained chefs at junior levels.

Management just need a man force to complete the tasks of preparing a food.

Various Human Resources practicing the employee development by Cross Training a employee who us not at all related to culinary field at all and that is how the entry of a lay man happens to the industry.

I agree that its based upon skills and hard trainings many of the great chefs today in the world was ones a kitchen stewards.

But matter of the fact is they spent long extra hours to learn the basics of culinary with chefs in the kitchen. Then after they gained the basics the have to show their skills on a platform then he or she may start his career as a chef.

Now a days what i noticed especially in abroad people just join at the basic levels in Housekeeping where there is no skills required no education required.

Then after a year working for the same facility they apply for the cross training to Culinary not because the genuinely want to learn the skills but they come into culinary because they will get food on duty also. Then they finish the tenure of their cross training and join as a basic levels of Chef (commisIII)

Now i agree nothing is wrong at this point.

The actual trainings starts from here out of 100 there is 1 or 2 % people who join industry are genuinely interested to learn rest are interested in getting a on duty free good quality meals as a benefit  of working in Kitchen and after working for 5-7 years in a company they come into comfort zone and these people start training the young people who join the industry. 

A question i want to ask to senior professionals here is a training of a specific menu ur a specific style of plating is more important to the young chef or the basic fundamentals, techniques as well as scientific properties of an ingredients is essential? 

Here i am confused whom to blame a Human Resource who are hiring such people withount a culinary education or a background and also give promotions to them based upon the number of years spent in the company?

# the major problem is due to internal promotion policies with in the big brands of hotels the actual talent is not getting a chance to enter into a team on mid management positions because of HR policies to give preference to internal employee who spent several years into the company and have no extra knowledge or skills apart of what is happening with in a company?

Or 

A senior Chef who are bound to accepts such people just because of the HR policies to fulfill the headcount in their department to perform the basic tasks?

I saw Sous Chefs and CDPs who are very good at the specific menus in a specific kitchens because the work for number of years at the same place, but it comes to the basic knowledge about the same they are as blank as a new crisp A4 paper sheet and these people are training the young chefs into the industry. 

As per my experience in the industry cooking is more a Emotion than A Profession. 

How we will get a best chefs if we don’t hire the best chefs to train a young generations?

Today in the industry we are facing a scarcity of well educated chefs, because people are not opting this as a profession as its one of the lowest paid profession around the world. There was a time when being a Chef was a very passionate profession. But today its all about following SOPs and working like a donkey business specially in 5 star culture. 

This is what I observed while working in an Industry for past 7 years, and i observed the above mentioned issues not everywhere but in most of the companies i worked for.

Need a professional comments from people of HR and senior management professionals and specially the chefs who are into the industry.