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I had a relative who owned a restaurant. One of his tests when interviewing a new chef was "Make me an egg."
by dreamcompiler 3y ago
I had a relative who owned a restaurant. One of his tests when interviewing a new chef was "Make me an egg."
- Karellen 3y agoWhat sort of response were they looking for with that? "How would you like it - boiled, poached, fried, scrambled or turned into an omelette? Or a meringue maybe?"
- OJFord 3y agoGP said a restaurant, not a road-side 'caf'/'diner'. They'd be looking to be given something good, whatever the candidate wants/comes up with/thinks they can do well. e.g. a bad candidate returns literally just a fried egg on a plate, a good candidate returns a devilled egg neatly presented, say.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- akvadrako 3y agoSo it's just guessing what the interviewer wants? As a restaurant customer, I would prefer a fried egg over a deviled one.
- Symbiote 3y agoThe restaurant owner is interviewing a chef, not a cook. Part of the chef's job will be to innovate -- new dishes for the menu, small changes to existing dishes when customers ask for it or particular ingredients aren't available, something completely different when a coeliac vegan turns up.
- OJFord 3y agoIt's doing something technically impressive which a fellow domain expert can appreciate whether they'd personally order it from a menu or not.
- dreamcompiler 3y agoExactly. If the chef said "What kind of egg would you like?" the chef didn't get the job.
- Karellen 3y agoI guess that makes sense. It's weird how different industries work - even if they're both creative ones. If a customer under-specifies what they want, and I just make what I think will wow them rather than what they were thinking of but didn't think to tell me, that's a bad job on my part for not engaging with them and finding out what they actually desired.
- OJFord 3y agoNot a customer though, an interviewer who asks you how you'd go about designing the architecture for an IoT-controlled fleet of egg-cracking robots. You might talk in great detail about SoA design, and the interviewer might be hiring for a monolith, but still respect the acumen, you could still be a great fit. It doesn't mean the chef's only going to be cooking tasting menus any more than it means the engineer has carte blanche over greenfield design or to rewrite an existing project.
- whywhywhywhy 3y agoThink if you’re good at cooking the answers become obvious. If you’re excellent at cooking even more so.
- pavlov 3y agoIf this were a software engineering interview question, it would be five paragraphs long and start with: "Assume a female Gallus gallus domesticus lays a capsule containing an unfertilized ovum..."
- gedy 3y agoHa yeah and if the 20 year chef asks "what?", then push away from the table with a shocked look: "um how long have you been cooking again?"
- someonewhocar3s 3y ago[dead]
- martinflack 3y agoAnd the candidate would respond with a Dockerfile that says "FROM egg".
- tapland 3y agoThat's supposedly common, but as a non-chef I have no idea what the expected outcome is :D
- duckmysick 3y agoEggs are versatile and require special handling, so egg dishes are good for showing both creativity and technique. There's a lot to pay attention to: cracking eggs, picking cooking vessels and utensils, seasoning, plating, texture, how fast you move, etc. Efficiently making an egg dish that can be served to customers would be a pass. The standards depend on the restaurant and the chef that does the interview.
- hnfong 3y agoEggs are also extremely easy to overcook (I'm far from a professional, I think around ~70C/160F, and the temperature tolerance band is quite small), so there's a lot of techniques in controlling the temperature.
- selectodude 3y agoRumor has it that every fold on the top of a chefs toque signifies one of the ways to cook an egg.
- bookofjoe 3y ago>In 1903, Auguste Escoffier wrote the essential book for French cooking, Guide Culinaire, and outlined 143 ways to cook eggs. https://www.thepaseoclub.com/blog/the-magic-of-eggs https://www.thepaseoclub.com/blog/the-magic-of-eggs https://archive.org/details/cu31924000610117 https://archive.org/details/cu31924000610117
- twic 3y agoA French omelette is a classic interview test for restaurant cooks, as touched on here: https://www.seriouseats.com/classic-french-omelette-recipe https://www.seriouseats.com/classic-french-omelette-recipe
- ericbarrett 3y agoAn egg perfectly over-easy is quick and super impressive. I've never been able to do it at home without breaking the yolk.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 3y agoThat’s table stakes for a cook. While it has been years since I was a line cook, even I can still consistently make over easy without issue.
- mensetmanusman 3y agoThrow the entire egg in a blendtek blender on high for 10 minutes until it is a frothy soup with no indication of the egg shell. Microwave for 3 minutes. Add chocolate.
- copperx 3y agoYou're hired. Welcome to Chili's.
- I_complete_me 3y agoMy imagined reply - as I am not a chef: "What do you think I am? A hen? If you want an egg dish, ask for it. An extra word won't hurt you. I can't work with tight people, I'm outta here."
- Lio 3y ago> "Make me an egg." I'd be reaching for the polystyrene, spray paint and duck tape. Possibly, a 3D printer to show my technique is up to date. I suspect I'm far too literal minded for this kind of test but then I'm an engineer. The man wants to be an egg. The customer gets what he wants.
- 0xffff2 3y agoIt's just domain-specific language. This would be clearly understood as "prepare me an egg" by anyone receiving the question in context.
- listenallyall 3y agooff-topic, but since we're talking about chefs, please take a second to remember Frederic Forrest, who died yesterday. Among numerous roles, he played 'Chef' in Apocalypse Now, an amazing, iconic, memorable performance. "Never get out of the boat."