I seem to have developed a fondness for a certain type of reality show - the become a master chef competiton. Most noticably Hell’s Kitchen (The Gordon Ramsay one) and Top Chef (the one hosted by Padma).
One thing I have noticed is that a lot of the people competing on these shows seem to be smokers. It is far more evident on Hell’s Kitchen, where there are more sequences of the chefs in ‘down-time’, but you see it some on Top Chef as well.
I think I would happily say the majority of the competitors are smokers. Why?
I’ve never smoked myself, but by all accounts it destroys your sense of taste right? So surely that impacts your ability to put together a dish properly if you’re not just following a recipe, and these people are competing to be super-chefs?
It’s not just aspiring chefs, it’s part of kitchen culture. Some of the most famous chefs smoke. Anthony Bourdain smokes like a chimney. So does Mario Batelli. I worked in a lot of kitchens and the majority of line cooks smoked (not all, but most). Why, I don’t know except to hazard a guess that it has something to do with the decidedly blue collar, low rent nature of the talent pool. Kitchen work is a job you can get without a high school degree, and if you put some effort into it, you can go quite a way in the profession. As a result, you get a lot of people in kitchens who are very working class, unsophisticates. People who smoke and have tattoo sleeves and purple hair.
I think the blunting effect that smoking supposedly has on the palate is exaggerated. The difference it made for me was too marginal to really matter.
In my younger years of kitchen work, in decent restaurants, with smart people in college towns, it’s more to do with the ciggy gives you a real break in a hectic job situation. You can go outside and take a smoke break, and everyone leaves you be. I never saw anyone just say, “I need a break”, and sit outside for 10 minutes, though, ya should be able to do that.
The physical effects of nicotine probably help with focus and calming, even though it’s ultimately detrimental. Plus, there is a social cameraderie aspect to smoking, and, after hours in restaurant work, people sit around and smoke and drink to unwind. Usually, it’s late, everything else is closed, and the restaurant is it’s own little bar for an hour or so. The cycle continues cuz of the addiction.
Yeah. There’s that. Or it’s the fact that smoking feels good and at the very least, it’s a way to get a break. Every food service job I’ve worked (and I’ve worked a few) you will not get a break just to sit down. Doesn’t happen. If you say you want a smoke break, you’ll get one at the first chance. You go outside or to the designated smoke area and get a minute or two to take a deep polluted breath and pull your head out of your ass. This works because a fair amount of resturant people also smoke. They give you a break. You give them a break. Even better? You all get a break to go out and bitch about that table or that manager or that person who doesn’t happen to be out smoking at the time.
I never saw anybody who started smoking just to get the break. Most kitchens also gave non-smokers a break if they wanted one. The smoke break is definitely a part of the culture, thoguh, hanging around outside the back door, burning one and shooting the shit is where a lot of bonding takes place.
Right. You go out to shoot the shit and bond, but later it also gets you the break that you wouldn’t normally get otherwise and the bonding takes a secondary role.
I think this might be the point I’m missing. Not having smoked myself I have no first hand experience.
So it appears that I have completely swallowed some propaganda* that smoking ‘destroys’ your taste buds. But that is not necessarily the case it seems. Interesting to know.
*I call it propaganda, while yes smoking is bad for your health, I don’t doubt for a minute that anti-smoking lobbyists exaggarate some effects to further support their position.
I noticed this, also, on “Hell’s Kitchen,” and it bothered my a bit.
I’m not a doctor and I’ve never played one on TV, but it seems to me that the problem would be more on the sense of smell, rather than the sense of taste.
Also, as a former smoker, it’s unhealthy. On the show, these are young people who should be at the top of their game. Smoking is detrimental in the long run.
Believe me, I understand about the stress relief, but haven’t our years of public service advertisements paid off at all?
My husband started smoking in the Air Force, because the new recruits who smoked got a smoke break, while those who didn’t smoke were assigned to policing the area. Mind you, this was over 30 years ago, but that’s when and where and why he started to smoke, at the age of 18. Possibly he also missed smoking his weed, but he didn’t say anything about that.
It’s not just chefs or kitchens. It’s the entire service industry. Bartenders, baristas, waiters, management staff, everyone. The chefs just happen to be the ones on TV these days, but they aren’t any different than anyone else in the industry. It’s an industry where people start young, when most people do their experimenting with smoking, and then the smoke breaks and bonding (and office politics as they exist) serve to reinforce it. For many it might have remained a casual indulgence or a social activity if their work had them doing the 9 to 5, but once you get into the industry you end up smoking constantly since you are in the bar/restaurant environment all the time.
I love his show!
Actually, he made a point of saying he quit smoking in one episode.
That might have been a bit premature, as he is smoking again in recent episodes.
As a smoker myself, that doesn’t bother me…he is a wild-ass neurotic and I would hate seeing him give up his drinking and smoking in the series…the thing I like most about him is that he blends in with his equally addicted locals and they accept him as “one of them”. In the many third-world countries he visits, smoking and drinking to excess is a part of the culture.
As to the OP question why chef’s smoke?
Well, having worked in many restaurants, I can tell you it is very stressful and just taking a break and walking out in a dark alley can be good…and as long as you are there, well…got a light?
Or it’s the fact that smoking feels good and at the very least, it’s a way to get a break. Every food service job I’ve worked (and I’ve worked a few) you will not get a break just to sit down. Doesn’t happen. If you say you want a smoke break, you’ll get one at the first chance. You go outside or to the designated smoke area and get a minute or two to take a deep polluted breath and pull your head out of your ass. This works because a fair amount of resturant people also smoke. They give you a break. You give them a break. Even better? You all get a break to go out and bitch about that table or that manager or that person who doesn’t happen to be out smoking at the time.