I've just finished reading Down and Out in Paris and London, George Orwell's account of time spent on the breadline working as a dishwasher in a Parisien hotel. Here are some interesting observations:
On being told to shave off his moustache on the basis that only chefs were allowed to wear them: "I saw that it was an etiquette, like not wearing a white tie with a dinner-jacket, and shaved off my moustache. Afterwards I found out the explanation of the custom, which is this: waiters in good hotels do not wear moustaches, and to show their superiority they decree that plongeurs [dishwashers] shall not wear them either; and the cooks wear their moustaches to show their contempt for the waiters."
On the kitchen pecking order: "[Chefs] do not earn quite so much as waiters, but their prestige is higher and their employment steadier. the cook does not look upon himself as a servant, but as a skilled workman ... He despises the whole non-cooking staff, and makes it a point of honour to insult everyone below the head waiter ... The waiter's outlook is quite different. He too is proud in a way of his skill, but his skill is chiefly in being servile. his work gives him the mentality, not of a workman, but of a snob. He lives perpetually in sight of rich people, stands at their tables, listens to their conversations, sucks up to them with smiles and discreet little jokes. He has the pleasure of spending money by proxy".
On the way in which chefs and waiters manhandle dishes and dip their fingers into sauces: "Whenever one pays more than, say, ten francs for a dish of meat in Paris, one may be certain that it has been fingered in this manner. in very cheap restaurants it is different; there, the same trouble is not taken over the food, and it is just forked out of the pan and flung onto the plate, without handling. Roughly speaking, the more one pays for food, the more sweat and spittle one is obliged to eat with it".
Sometimes this happens in some hotels but its always good to look at the waiters cleanliness in any hotel even before thinking of taking there food. Not all the small hotels offer low quality food, i have visited some with some of the best dishes you can get but some of the staff in some small hotels need food safety training
Great book. Makes me think of a discussion I was having recently about waiting staff being much higher regarded in mainland Europe than the UK, where in all but the most affluent restaurants waiting is not considered a career worthy of recognition.
CSI for all of your international hospitality and catering requirements
um, thomsar....
i think you should probably check the date of publication of this book, as there was NO health and safety around at the turn of the LAST century.
thymeandplaice
Favourite cookery/food-related books, chef?
I love food and cooking and I love to read. Sometimes I can lounge around and read food-related books. There are many books, that I would have to go back and look for them, but basically, if it has to do with food, I read it. I whizzed through all of Anthony Bourdain's books a few months ago and was drawing a blank as to what to read next. Luckily I snagged a copy of Michael Ruhlman's "The Soul of a Chef" at a used bookstore for dirt cheap. It is really great. It has some recipes, some reviews of restaurants, and some general food topics. Something for every foodie. I am going to have to try some more books that I haven't read yet.