Talk:Chef

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I am no Linguist but it seemed to me that most western languages etymology, especially french words are never thought of as loaned words from other cultures. Seems easy enough to see that "caput" or variants of it in Latin may seem lacking in mutation of word to form Chef/Chief. Following this reasoning, I asked around for quite a few native speaker of different languages, I've found quite a few resemblance, especially into East Asian ones.

Few East Asian term more closely sounding to the word Chef/Chief and might be closer in definition than as discussed in the article which loosely translate to "head".

• In Japanese, シフ（kana)/師父(kanji)/"shifu"(romanji) - meaning elder/more of an expert. which is a loan word from Chinese (general).
• In Korean, 사부(hangul)/師父(hanja)/"Sabu" - meaning boss/leader/teacher
• In Chinese 師父 -or- 師傅 (traditional) 师父 -or- 师傅 (Simplified)
  • Cantonese/similar dialects,(Jyutping: "si1fu2")
  • Mandarin/similar dialects,(Pingyin: "shīfù")
  • Fujian/Taiwan/similar dialects,( yindu: "sai-hū")
  • All variants pertain to teacher / master / expert / model / father figure / qualified worker.

I think it is worth a mention, although it may be a coincidence, an unlikely one, as i could see much more words are like this. I suggest searching for the words (characters), as the information is far more abundant than air (wink), Thanks for your time reading.

112.208.222.85 (talk) 19:45, 29 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

See (French) Wiktionairy - Caput that explains that the French word "Caput" is identical to the German word "Haupt" or the English word "Chief" of "head". I have altered the text a bit to make it clear and remove a USA-bias. The Banner talk 20:17, 29 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Some of the sentences are specific to USA like : "It is currently legal in all 50 states to be an Executive Chef without any credentials." under "Chef de cuisine, executive chef, chef manager, head chef, and master chef" Ashish Sharma (talk) 09:24, 9 March 2015 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. Also it's really only specific to the English-speaking world that "Chef" on it's own (without adding Chef of what) relates to a person working in cookery / a kitchen. 95.150.59.152 (talk) 14:27, 20 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Cuisinier means cook not chef because chef means head as in head chef or chef de cuisine. Or chef means head of a department or group as in chef patisserie/pastry chef or chef de partie. That being said, a cook is not a chef. But a chef may be a cook. Chef is a designation that should be used only to annotate someone who holds some authority in a classically trained brigade. Andrewmoore72 (talk) 05:18, 20 July 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed, the opening sentence of the article completely disregards the difference, saying that a chef is "a highly trained and professional cook." 129.42.208.182 (talk) 20:00, 10 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

It would be nice when we get more good quality pictures of professional chefs in a non-European/US setting and/or using equipment not standard to the European kitchens. The removal of the low quality picture of the chef using a tandoor was correct, but more attention to different cultures is welcome, to avoid a European-centred article. The Banner talk 08:41, 23 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@The Banner: Agreed! Note that the replacement photo is of a Ugandan chef, albeit in very European dress, from Wiki Loves Africa "Africa at Work". Would also love to find more gender-balanced photos, and some photos that show usage of the "chef" style blended with traditional dress.

For what it is worth, I seriously considered making the photo of the group of Mexican chefs the lead photo, since it features chefs of both genders and doesn't have a computer screen in the background - thoughts on that? It isn't great (outside at a resort instead of in a kitchen, which I think would be ideal for the lead photo) but I could not find anything better last night. —Luis (talk) 14:21, 23 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Here's a better tandoori photo. Can't import it tonight but if someone else wants to get to it go for it! Also maybe a more diverse kitchen, albeit in the US. —Luis (talk) 05:20, 24 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@The Banner: New, better tandoor picture (albeit from a restaurant in San Carlos, CA) included. Would love some help improving the gender diversity of the images in the article as well. Maybe by moving some of the images to a gallery? —Luis (talk) 21:19, 26 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

That might be an option. Do you think this picture would be suitable? It is a female chef in action, not a standard posed picture. The Banner talk 21:39, 26 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

They may not all have formal training, but they all have some sort of training Valereee (talk) 23:29, 30 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The redirect Fry cook has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2025 September 7 § Fry cook until a consensus is reached. Hildeoc (talk) 03:55, 7 September 2025 (UTC)[reply]