Psychology of the kitchen -- and the great chefs

[richard johnson]

Dear All,

I'm interested in the psychology of the great chefs. And the mentality of the kitchen. Why the stress? Why 'the brigade'? Is it macho? Where do women fit in? Is it changing? With lots of anecdotes about the atmosphere of the hotplate....Could anyone please point me in the right direction? Are there psychologists out there with something interesting to say?

Best wishes,

--

Richard

[SWM]

hi richard, welcome to the forum,



i used to work as a kitchen porter a few years ago. from what i remember there was high stress levels in the kitchen amongst the chefs, due to pressure of performance.

there is a lot of organisation required to run a large and successful kitchen. the preparation of foods has to be synchronised so as all meals are completed on demand within a short space of time.

responsibility for the success of the kitchen is with the head chef. there is a hierarchical structure within a kitchen for the purpose control and organisation from the top down. as with any hierarchy there are tensions within it due to the power that the higher levels of the hierarchy have.

if i were wanting to understanding the psychology of the kitchen this is where i would start:-

group dynamics within hierarchical systems of power and how this group mind is affected by the pressure of performance.

i might be making this topic more complicated than you intended it to be,
i am wondering where your interest comes from, is this for work, study or is it personal interest?

[richard johnson]

My interest comes from work. I'm a journalist who specialises in food. And I'm doing my first restaurant shift -- or stage, as I think they're called -- next week. Is there a psychologist out there who has written on the area? Why are there so many instances of violence and aggression? Branding with palate knives etc?

Best wishes,

Richard

[SWM]

thats sounds like a great challenge. good luck with that.

i do not know of anybody that has written about the psychology of kitchens, cooking or chefs, perhaps this would make a good project for somebody. i had a google and could not find much myself.

on the subject of group dynamics a strating point would be the link below, it is forsyths group dynamics resource page http://facultystaff.richmond.edu/~dforsyth/gd/#13

from the same page there is a resource for intergroup conflicts, not the best resources but a starting place for ideas and perhaps some good key search terms for further investigation.

i also found these through google search of "intergroup conflicts"

http://www.mediate.com/articles/belak1.cfm
http://users.dickinson.edu/~jin/CONFLT.html

imo the dynamics within the kitchen are tense due to the hierarchical nature of the group and pressure to perform.

individuals become subserviant to the head of the group for the purpose of the work. this will require individuals to fall into positions within the group where they are subservient to the group leaders. many people will find it difficult to become subservient and adopt a lower position within a hierarchical structure. individuals having a strong sense of self, being self directing, autonmous will feel the impact to the sense of self that comes with being told what to do, and being given orders, add to this any blame or responsibility for mistakes and that individual will have a lot to lose. we then will see behvaiours which have been adopted inroder to protect each individuals sense of self form attacks or threats from the group. the machismo, bravado, bullying, aggression, mocking are due to the power struggles within the hierarchy and also for personal protection from losing self esteem.

this is just my opinion of course. it would be intersting to know what you think or if you have found anything further.

[cognitive]

My interest comes from work. I'm a journalist who specialises in food. And I'm doing my first restaurant shift -- or stage, as I think they're called -- next week. Is there a psychologist out there who has written on the area? Why are there so many instances of violence and aggression? Branding with palate knives etc?

Best wishes,

Richard

wow...what an interesting job ! I remember I once saw a movie with a journalist who wrote about restaurants and had to go incognito and eat in every of the restaurants she had to write .
She was paid by the paper director to do that plus they paid for her food .... and she would eat only fine ,exotic dishes....lol, how much I envied her !
I kind of envy you ,too.....lol !
Tell us if they pay you to eat the best dishes ,too 
I'm sorry I could not remember the title of that movie. 

You may start to search for the psychoanalysis (or psychological analysis )of the profession of chef ( I am not sure if this is the right word in English , I could not find in the dictionary the word  I was looking for , something maybe close to psychograma ?)...anyway ,it's a tool that would describe the psychological traits required by every profession.

Also, you may read the book "Occupational stress in the chef profession"  by R. Murray-Gibbons, C. Gibbons , maybe will help you.

[richard johnson]

Any idea where Gibbons works? Is he or she an academic? Maybe I can interview him/her?

R

[cognitive]

Any idea where Gibbons works? Is he or she an academic? Maybe I can interview him/her?

R

One of the authors details and contact information

http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofNursingandMidwifery/Research/NMRUStaffProfiles/MrChrisGibbons/

[hypnogood]

One of the authors details and contact information

http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofNursingandMidwifery/Research/NMRUStaffProfiles/MrChrisGibbons/

thank you. that's the exact info i'm looking for.