Yet another version, similar to the ascribes the pattern of the modern-day chef toque to the headdress of During the decline of the at the end of the sixth century, intellectuals and artists sought Many of these mend were good cooks and became chefs in the kitchens. Some imperial chefs from royal uniform households As a disguise, these refugees adopted the habits and headgear of their hosts -- but, instead of the traditional chef black, they chose garments in white. Sifting fact from fiction seems impossible. Many people believe that today''s toque blanche is a more recent result of the gradual evolution of head coverings worn by cooks through the centuries. Looking through illustrations uniform of past headgear, one sees that the "toque" originally referred to a head covering worn by both men and women.

It eventually chef assumed the shape of the small, round, close-fitting band or "crown" uniform of cloth without a projecting brim but encompassing a gathering of material covering the top chef of the head. Sometimes of gatherings were pleated. By the end of the the height, shape and stiffness of the gathered material varied from country to country. It ranged from the flattened beret style of the French to the formally pleated middle height of the Italians to the tall, softly-gathered style favored Illustrations in cookbooks of these periods show male cooks wearing a variety of headgear, including floppy berets, tall toques gathered in to topknots, skull caps and stocking caps resembling pointed nightcaps.

As uniform the twentieth century comes to a close, these nouveau style chef uniforms have their place in certain establishments; restaurants today, after all, are considered a form of theater. As with anything, the chef''s uniform continues to evolve, who knows what the future has to hold? uniform One thing is certain though, the image of a chef, in a pristine white jacket and toque, is recognized the world over as a professional, and we have our predecessors chef to thank for this. Chefs, for the most part, wear their uniforms almost every day uniform of their working lives, replete with toque, checked pants and double-breasted jacket. chef and uniform Though these uniforms are ubiquitous in the foodservice industry worldwide, they are often taken chef for granted and worn without much thought. uniform However, many may find that the origin and reasons behind traditional chef''s attire are as interesting as it looks.