The Brigade de Cuisine, Then and Now – Part 1
For those of you interested in how professional kitchens operate to get food out to your table, especially when the heat is on and the orders are coming in fast and furious, you have to look back in history to the great Auguste Escoffier. Chef Escoffier devised a system he called the Brigade de Cuisine that created a hierarchy for all the positions in the kitchen.
Most kitchens today use a similar system based on Escoffier’s ideas, and this article describes the similarities and differences between them. Because of its length, I’ll post this article in two parts.
If you are thinking of going to culinary school or starting a career in the restaurant industry, you’ll enjoy reading this post. If you are looking for a culinary school, baking/pastry school, or hospitality management program, I highly recommend you fill out the form to the right for a directory of culinary schools, baking/pastry schools, and hospitality management schools near you.
The Brigade de Cuisine, Then
Way back when there were only two classes, the aristocracy and everyone else, the titled elite could afford to spend hours and hours “at the table” while a chef-prepared course after elaborate course for their culinary pleasure. They could dawdle about, drink, and dally while waiting for each course.
After all, what else did they have to do except be rich? And everyone else? Well, they cooked for themselves. If they could find anything to cook, that is. (Remember a little thing we like to call The French Revolution)?
In the Middle Ages, merchants and craftsmen began to form guilds and eventually became a powerful class in their own right. By the latter part of the nineteenth century, culinarians began to notice that there was money to be made off of this rich class of people. They had the money to have someone else prepare their food but still needed to work.
A system was needed by which culinary tasks were codified and delegated to specific workers in the kitchen. Enter Escoffier and his Brigade de Cuisine. Escoffier realized that if he could pare the time at the table from six hours to only one or two, the middle class could work a full day and spend their money at a fine hotel restaurant. Escoffier was maybe one of the first, at least in the culinary world, to realize that Time Is Money.
Escoffier modeled his Brigade system on the military hierarchy. This system was based on a strict chain of command and separation and delegation of tasks to a host of different kitchen workers.
The traditional brigade system is specialized almost to the point of dysfunction if one or two of the workers were sick or got kicked by a horse or something.
In the brigade, every man has a job and there is a job for every man. Just as in the military, the chain of command is never brooked, and the kitchen is run with extreme precision.
Members of the Brigade
The general hierarchy is as follows, with each position directly responsible for the position above him.
| Title | Role Description |
|---|---|
| Chef de Cuisine | This chef runs the entire kitchen. He creates menus, buys ingredients, and oversees all kitchen operations. |
| Sous Chef de Cuisine | "Sous" means under in French. This chef is the second-in-command and follows the chef de cuisine’s directions. He steps in when the chef de cuisine is away. |
| Chef de Partie | Also called a station chef, this chef manages a specific section of the kitchen. Each chef de partie may supervise cuisiniers, commis, or apprentices. |
| Cuisinier | A cuisinier is a cook. He prepares assigned dishes at a designated station. |
| Commis | The commis is a junior cook. He works at a station and maintains tools. He reports to the chef de partie. |
| Apprentice | Apprentices gain experience by helping with prep and cleaning. They may start by washing dishes and eventually move to working stations. |
The Stations
There were many stations in the kitchens of Escoffier’s time. Each station was run by a chef de partie who reported to the sous chef. I am leaving out some of the more esoteric stations because in my opinion, they have no relevance in todays’ commercial restaurant kitchens. The stations listed below are still seen, in whole or combined with other stations, in modern commercial kitchens.
| Position | Description |
|---|---|
| Saucier | The sauté cook. Handles sautéed dishes and makes all the sauces. |
| Rotisseur | Chef in charge of all roasted meats. Traditionally also oversaw the grillardin and friturier. |
| Grillardin | The grill chef. Responsible for perfectly grilled meats and timing for fast service. |
| Friturier | The fry cook. Handles all deep-fried foods like fries, oysters, and catfish. |
| Poissonier | The fish chef. Prepares all seafood—sautéed, poached, or otherwise. |
| Entremetier | Chef de partie for entrees, which were lighter starter dishes in Escoffier's day. Also supervised the potager and legumier. |
| Potager | The soup chef. Used leftovers to create soups, helping reduce food waste. |
| Legumier | Vegetable chef. Prepared hot vegetable sides like gratins, pilafs, and braises. |
| Garde Manger | Cold food chef. Handled salads, pates, charcuterie, and cold soups. Focused on reducing food waste. |
| Patissier | Pastry chef. Created all desserts. Oversaw ice cream (glacier), candy (confiseur), showpieces (decorateur), and baking (boulanger). |
| Boulanger | The baker. Prepared breads and breakfast pastries. |
That’s a lot of people in a kitchen; remember, I left some of them out. Please do not think I am being flippant about Escoffier. He was perhaps the greatest European chef, and many ideas that he instituted, such as a la carte dining and serving one course at a time, remain relevant today. To learn more about this fascinating chef, read Auguste Escoffier: Memories of My Life
Tomorrow, I’ll examine how Escoffier’s Brigade system is used today.
6 Responses
Looking forward to Part II
It’s now posted Kate at http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/modern-day-brigade-de-cuisine/
This was a very wonderful blog post to me as a high school student! It helped me on a very important research paper. 😉
very helpful to me as another high school student and a research paper on Georges Escoffier!!!
Helpful many thanks looking forward to part 2
Helpfull thanks