Why does a chef's hat have 100 pleats?  - HT School (2024)

FAQs

Why does a chef's hat have 100 pleats?  - HT School? ›

In the early days, the number of pleats in the chef's hat represented the number of recipes a chef knew for a given food item, like egg or chicken. Having a hat with 100 pleats meant he knew 100 recipes to prepare with an egg. The same applied to the height of the hat. The taller the toque, the more a chef knew.

In the early days of the toque blanche, it was said that the number of pleats would often represent how many techniques or recipes a chef had achieved. For example, a chef would have 100 pleats in his hat to represent 100 ways he could prepare eggs.

Chef hats, known as toques, traditionally have 100 pleats, are said to represent the supposed 100 ways you can cook an egg. In some kitchens, they represent the standard of the chef with the most important chefs having the most pleats.

At one time, a chef had 100 pleats in his hat to signify the 100 ways he knew how to prepare eggs. Chef hats today don't hold so many pleats, but they still signify a chef's level of experience.

“A chef's hat was often made of black cotton, and intended to soak up sweat on the brows of those working in sweltering conditions, blackened by the embers of the fireplaces. This headgear also served to prevent hair from falling into food and to protect the wearer from splatters.”

Boiled, scrambled (soft or hard), poached, baked, basted, fried, shirred, coddled, pickled (as in quail eggs) and used to make omelets, quiche, frittatas, and soufflés. Eggs go into cake batters, quiches, breakfast burritos, toads-in-a-hole, and are used to make mayonnaise and hollandaise.

The pleats in the hat are not just there to make them look stylish, although that is an element. In the 1800s in France, in the early days of the toque balance, each pleat was said to represent a recipe mastered by the chef, so the more pleats, the more skilled the chef.

Chef's hats are so tall because they were once a symbolic way to communicate a chef's skill level and rank in the kitchen. But this tradition all dates back to the 18th century.

Hair contamination and food safety

Even the most meticulous kitchen practices can fall short if proper precautions are not taken to prevent hair from contacting food. Chef hats act as a barrier, preventing loose hairs from falling into dishes and reducing the risk of contamination.

Scrambled eggs (American English) or scrambled egg (British English) is a slang term for the typically leaf-shaped embellishments found on the visors of peaked caps worn by military officers and (by metonymy) for the senior officers who wear them.

Why are there 100 folds in a chef's hat? ›

In the early days, the number of pleats in the chef's hat represented the number of recipes a chef knew for a given food item, like egg or chicken. Having a hat with 100 pleats meant he knew 100 recipes to prepare with an egg. The same applied to the height of the hat. The taller the toque, the more a chef knew.

Here's a breakdown of the Chef Hat system: 12-13 points: a good restaurant. 14-15 points: one hat, worth a stop (similar to one Michelin star) 16-17 points: two hats, worth a detour (similar to two Michelin stars) 18-19 points: three hats, worth a trip (similar to three Michelin stars)

A chef's hat is known as the “toque” in French and it usually has exactly 100 folds.

A chef hat was originally designed as a tall rippled hat called a Dodin Bouffant or more commonly a toque. The Dodin Bouffant had 101 ripples that represent the number of ways that the chef could prepare eggs.

In the early days of French cuisine, the number of pleats were intended to represent the number of recipes a chef had mastered for a given food, like egg or chicken. Having a hat with 100 pleats meant you were a master chef.

One prevailing theory is that the hats evolved from the toques worn by French chefs in the 16th century. These early toques were a symbol of their rank and expertise in the kitchen. As chefs honed their skills and advanced in their careers, they would add extra height to their toques to indicate their elevated status.

But in this kitchen, all of the cooks wore chef pants—and I quickly discovered why. Chef pants are designed to be breathable (with all the open flames, the kitchen's average temperature hovered around 90 degrees) and have many pockets into which you can shove Sharpies, thermometers, and rogue tickets.