Why do chefs wear hats shaped like Cauliflower? Okay, it’s a tradition, but what is the original reason? We were in a little restaurant in Paris recently and the chefs were wearing them - it obviously wasn’t for “show” but is it just an old-time hairnet, or is there something deeper?
Cecil Adams on Why do chefs wear those tall white hats?
I’ve wondered about this too. I always figured it had something to do with diffusing heat away from the chef’s head in a hot kitchen. The wide band would also prevent sweat from falling in the eyes. Cecil doesn’t address this in his column, and I certainly don’t fault his research, but it seems to make sense to my Cuisinart of a mind.
In a kitchen kept in accordance to health codes, hats or hairnets are worn to keep stray hair out of food. A regular hat traps heat and make for an uncomfortably sweaty scalp upon a long night of bitching out the saute underlings. And most men aren’t going to wear a hairnet to avoid that problem. The chef’s hat is an outward mark of distinction, but perhaps it also says that the wearer has enough experience under his-or-her belt to wear some functional headgear.
They’re called “toques” by the way.
Yeah, that’s why the King of the Beasts never made it as a professional chef.
They didn’t want to go one toque over the lion.