Things you should never ask a chef

The food network just released a survey on things that chefs never tell you, and probably some questions you should never ask a chef… Most of the survey overlooks the fact that there are some seriously bad common practices in the kitchen, which tells us there is a lot still to learn, when it comes to hygiene and food safety.

Below are some key points that stood out for me:

1. Roaches are more common than you think.
   Yes, 75% of chefs said they’ve seen roaches in the kitchen. And yet, chefs swear their kitchens are clean. On a scale of 1 to 10, 85% of chefs ranked their kitchens an 8 or higher for cleanliness.
2. That rule about not ordering fish on Sunday might be worth following.
   Several chefs warned, “We don’t get fresh deliveries on Sunday.”
3. The five-second rule actually applies.
   A quarter of the chefs surveyed said they’d pick up food that dropped on the floor and cook it.

In reality most kitchens rank between 5 – 7 out of 10 for hygiene and food safety. The fact that cockroaches are present in the kitchen is likely a lot higher, and yet the least of the kitchen’s problems. Sunday is not the only day of the week not providing “fresh” ingredients, and surprisingly food dropping on the floor isn’t the worst thing a kitchen can do…