cook's cote (was Re: SC - test- don't read)

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Jen Conrad wrote:
> 
> Adamatius wrote:
> >Actually, while we're on the subject, is there any evidence to suggest
> >that the concept of chefs in white coats extends to cooks in period?
> 
> I'd also be interested in this.  I'm currently considering making white
> trigger Mongol dels for my husband and I to wear while cooking.  I came up
> with the idea to do this while making dels for him for Pennsic, and have
> also seen similar styles in mundane chef coats.

Sort of. Most chef's jackets are double-breasted for two reasons: the
doubled layer in front provides protection from heat, hot oil, burns,
etc., as well as providing a theoretically clean undersurface that can
be quickly brought to the front if the chef has to visit the dining
room, offices, job interviews, and so forth. They also often have an
extra length of sleeve cuff that can be doubled back to protect the
backs of the hands and forearms from radiant heat (for example, when you
leap into a convection oven), and even rolled down for emergency use as
a potholder. There's normally a slightly raised, Nehru-esque collar,
again, for protection from heat.

The best versions also have little cloth buttons and loops (yes, just
like a cotehardie) that can be ripped open and off the body, if, for
example, you get your front saturated with hot oil, and a common feature
of the deluxe models is a pair of curved seams going straight up the
back, along either side of the spine, and curving across the shoulder
blades, which is useful for saving armpit seams when reaching up onto
high shelves.

I've found these design features translate really well into a white (or
rather, unbleached, undyed cotton or linen) cote such as you see in the
14th-15th-century Tacuinum Sanitatis illustrations of various workmen,
including cooks. (Have I just answered my own question?) Making one in
the form of a Greenland gown looks spiffy, but, I found, isn't as
functionally comfortable.  

Never tried it as a del, though.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com