# What's the origin of the chef's hat?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-chefs-hat/796637>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [September 18, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-chefs-hat/796637 "2017-09-18T14:43:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-chefs-hat/796637/1 "2017-09-18T14:43:34Z")

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> **[What’s the origin of the chef’s hat?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342573/what-s-the-origin-of-the-chef-s-hat)**
>
> A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD

Thought there was a thread already for this 1999 Staff Report, but couldn’t find it.

I noticed a misspelling in the first paragraph: “The chef’s hat originated when a royal cook in the **emply** of King Henry VIII started going bald.”

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**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\
**Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-chefs-hat/796637/2 "2017-09-18T22:18:28Z")

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I heard a completely different origin story.

To avoid hair in the cookery, chefs would wear a kerchief. In busy kitchens this got hot, so the stiff wrap with the pleated top was adopted to provide an air space to help stay cool.

They all have the sense of possibility.

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-chefs-hat/796637/3 "2017-09-19T01:33:16Z")

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Actually Cecil wrote on page 25 of _Return of the Straight Dope_–(WHAT? You don’t have a copy–for shame)

> [@Cecil](#):
>
> “Lay scholars who took refuge in seventh-century Byzantine monasteries during persecutions adopted headgear based on that of their clerical hosts” and “The top of the cap got progressively poufier over the years as master chefs sought ways to indicate that they outranked the pot washers.”

. This was from a column in the _Reader_ before 1994.

Note that in **VegForLife** ’s 1999 report said “…when chefs were considered learned men…” and “…took refuge in the local church…” , his reach exceeding his grasp.

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**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-chefs-hat/796637/4 "2017-10-04T02:43:15Z")

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So why is it called a “toque”, and does this have any relation to the name of the standard Canadian knitted cap?

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**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-chefs-hat/796637/5 "2017-10-04T23:50:38Z")

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It’s an old word, found in many Romance languages, meaning “cap”, and, yes, the Canadian ski hat is another use of the word.