The 5 Commis Chef you will meet

No matter which position you hold in your kitchen, Commis, Chef De Partie, Sous, so on and so forth, it is very likely that you will see a Commis Chef come and go, maybe they'll even stick around for a while, for better....or for worse.

So here we are, we have compiled a list of the 5 most likely to run into Commis'.

1. Catering College Commis

Fresh out of whatever course he or she did, catering college or just a hospitality course. This Commis probably has quite a bit of interest within the kitchen, but they're going to remind you fairly often that they attended catering college. Prep the fish wrong? "But in catering college..." Turn up late for work? "But in catering college..." Set fire to the kitchen? "But in catering college.."

2. Wusthof Tin Opener Commis

"Hey, can you open a tin of olives?" "Sure, but I can't find the tin opener, this'll do". We all like to hope this never happens, but many of us have seen it. If it isn't your fresh faced Commis Chef then it's the Kitchen Porter that thinks nobody is looking. Any knife will do, even if it's taken from right in front of you. This Commis is going to have a bad day.

3. My own recipe Commis

It doesn't matter how many times you explain the menu to this Chef, you are ALWAYS going to be surprised by what he puts in the pass, you probably havn't ever seen this dish before. Heavens knows, maybe it's great, but it isn't what we were aiming for. Cold food in the pass? It's gonna be this guy, you told him a thousand times to check his food, he's in his own world, maybe coming up with a new dish?

4. Part-timer Commis

Who is this guy? Every now and then you see this stranger in whites, talking about whatever it is he's studying or doing with the rest of his time, you're not quite sure what to make of him. One thing is for sure, if you have a massive booking in or just need the extra pair of hands, this is NOT the guy to call, he's either busy or flat out rejects your call.

5.Sorry Chef Commis

It becomes ambient noise after a week or two, "Sorry Chef..", "Sorry Chef..". You send this guy to get fillets of smoked Coley and he comes back with tenderstem broccoli. The mashed potato is stuck to the bottom of the pot, the pasta falls apart in your hands....the fridge has cream cheese all over the doors. This Commis might throw out some perfect work now and again, but he stumbles into every wall on the way. You will find yourself letting out heavy sighs on a regular basis.

But lets not forget, we have all been there and there's a strong chance we have all made at least one of the aforementioned mistakes, it's a process and it takes time. Just try not to kill anyone in the mean time.