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Sous Chef

​The sous-chef de cuisine (under-chef of the kitchen) is the second-in-command and direct assistant of the chef de cuisine or head chef. This person may be responsible for scheduling the kitchen staff, or substituting when the head chef is absent. Also, he or she will fill in for or assist a chef de partie (line cook) when needed. This person is accountable for the kitchen's inventory, cleanliness, organization, and the continuing training of its entire staff. A sous-chef's duties can also include carrying out the head chef's directives, conducting line checks, and overseeing the timely rotation of all food products. Smaller operations may not have a sous-chef, while larger operations may have more than one.[4]

Some kitchens are even broken down more specifically with separate chefs in charge of soups, cold desserts, vegetables and bread, to name a few. The fact that these jobs all have French names is no mistake. The basis of fine dining is French food, and when you hear about a chef being "classically trained," that means French cuisine and techniques. Even if it's not fine dining, chances are there's a lot of French technique involved, so unless you have some experience with it, you won't have much success as a chef.

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