[Sca-cooks] Proper Kitchen Attire

[Kathryn Gordon]

I am in culnary arts at Platt college and in our class books it states the following:
The professional chef's uniform consists of comfortable shoes, trousers (either solid white, solid black, black-and-white checked or black-and-white striped), a white double-breasted jacket, an apron and a neckerchief usually knotted or tied cravat style.  The uniform has certain utilitarian aspects:  Checked trousers disguise stains; the double-breasted white jacket can be rebuttoned to hide dirt, and the double layer of fabric protects from scalds and burns; the neckerchief absorbs facial perspiration; and the apron protects the uniform and insulates the body.  
  The crowning element of the uniform is the toque.  A toque is the tall white hat worn by chefs almost everywhere.  Although the toque traces its origin to the monasteries of the 6th century, the style worn today was introduced at the end of the 19th century.  Most chefs now wear a standard six- or nine-inch-high toque, but historically, a cook's rank in the kitchen dictated they type of hat worn.  Beginners wore flat-topped calottes; cooks with more advanced skills wore low toques and the master shefs wore high toques called dodin-bouffants.  Culinary lore holds that the toque's pleats -101 in all-represent the 101 ways its wearer can sucessfully prepare eggs.
I hope this gives you a starting place for looking up the uniform.
Lady Kathryn atte Unicorn

"Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius.magister at verizon.net> wrote:

On Sep 28, 2005, at 3:57 PM, Jenn Strobel wrote:

> So, I pose to you this question: What is the correct attire 
> (generally) for
> cooks during the middle ages/renaissance and what documentation do 
> you have
> for it (so I can replicate the data, not some big weird 
> authenticity test or
> anything)?


Kathryn Gordon 
Lady Kathryn atte Unicorn 
Matriarch Inn of the Weeping Unicorn