So after having the most amazing sourdough bread in San Francisco I have been inspired to make some of my own.
Although while working as a chef I made lots of bread I have never made it with a sourdough starter so though I would have a go.
I looked up a recipe online and found one that used an organic apple as a natural fermentation. I started by mixing bread flour with water and the grated apple and left it for three days. Then once I was at this stage I discarded half and did the same again, more water and flour and left for another few days. After this stage the dough was active but according to my recipe it was over active. Plenty of bubbles but a layer of liquid at the top so more flour and water to return to a thick dough consistency. I am at the very last stage now and I added a little more flour and water after discarding half last night so hopefully tomorrow it will be active and I can start using it. I haven’t looked up how to use the starter dough in a bread recipe yet so any suggestions would be grateful. I cant wait to try it out and fill my freezer with lovely fresh bread!
Jessica
Head chefs
If paying good money and in a central location such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling, Dundee and Perth the availability of decent head chefs is good, basically, the more central and the larger local population the better availability.
What is good money for a head chef? This can vary from a small pub to a large five star or 3AA Rosette Hotel and can be anything from £12 per hour for a one man job cooking simple food to £45,000 and upwards.
For a standard hotel job in we would suggest £28,000 to £35,000 with overtime paid pro rata over 45 to 48 hours sanctioned by management.
Bonus schemes always help and can be based on getting a gross profit margin of over say 65 to 70% and it is always advisable stressing in advance how often the bonus is paid and what the exact criteria are. Other bonuses may be based on increase in sales. Keeping wages ratio down and helping to achieve certain net profits subject to maintaining quality of food, kitchen cleanliness and staff retention.
In more rural Scotland it is harder to get and retain chefs and often accommodation should be offered to attract suitable candidates.
Sous chefs
The availability of sous chefs in rural Scotland is getting poorer as we move into the middle of the season. Sometimes, a mature former head chef will be happy to take a step back to work alongside head chef.
In more central Scotland, there are quite a few candidates about and if paying decent money and offering good working conditions there is no reason why you cannot land and keep a good sous chef with a stable track record.
In rural Scotland, there can be a need to think outside of the box to retain and attract good sous chef candidates and many establishments find it easier to take on relief chefs for the season.
Chef de parties
Availability is ok in Glasgow, Edinburgh and the central belt.
In rural Scotland with accommodation there are fewer candidates but you will get applicants if wages are decent, suggesting £9 to £11 per hour. The more money you can pay the better the availability of chefs is.
For chef de partie jobs it is a chef market.
Commis chefs
There are usually a few candidates available centrally or further afield if offering accommodation.
Pastry Chefs: this is quite a specialist position and there are often a couple of specialised pastry chefs looking, not always though.
Enclosed link to minimum wages.
Availability of Relief Chefs changes daily and we can advise daily, it is currently quite tight as you would expect for the time of year. The rates of pay are the same as last year which is £12.50 to £16 per hour according to the position.
We have 67 relief chefs out we are 17 out for the week so far with lots more to be confirmed
The availability of relief chefs is tight as you would expect for this time of year, if you have any availability please get in touch with you dates.
We are nearly fully functioning at our new office just getting fiber broadband installed today 😊
I am off tomorrow, but Michael will be working on relief in my absence.
Here are a few who are out at the moment
Neil Hawthorne is at Stonefield Castle in Tarbert
Pawel Halicki is at The Summer Isles Hotel in Achiltibuie
Sarah Jeffrey is working to the end of the season at The Old Mill Inn in Pitlochry along with Jason Paxton
Ionel Rizea has taken a permanent job at The Dunnikier House Hotel in Fife
Callum MacMichael has just finished at The County hotel in Stornoway
Dave McConnachie he is at The Station Inn in Corrour
Michael Staniland is at The Kames Hotel in Argyll
Patrick Johnstone is at The Dunavon Hotel in Aberdeenshire
David Bedo is at Skeabost Hotel in Skye
Douglas Gillies is at Western Isles in Tobermory
Steve Nye was at Nethy Bridge and will be going back after his time off
Keren Tweedie is at Grant Arms Hotel in Grantown on Spey
Michal Modzen is finshing at The Whitmuir Organic Place in the Borders
David Ironside is in St Andrews at The Scores Hotel
Alan Baird is at The Bothy Bistro in Burghead
Michael George and Roo Edwards are both at Glenburn Hotel in Rothesay
Jenny Quashie is at Cringletie House in Peebles
Thanks all for your hard work
I think it is a well known fact that hospitality is a particularly hard trade to be part of. This is mostly due to the long hours, hard working terms and lots of time away from your friends and family and taking part in very little or no social activities. This can include missing out on time and special events like Christmas or special birthdays. The industry has so many rewards including doing something you love which is something I am hugely passionate about, but these hard-working conditions can take its toll on your health and most importantly your mental health. I have been reading this week, some interesting articles about mental health in hospitality. In the UK, more than 10 million work days are lost to stress, depression, and anxiety each year and with hospitality making up a huge part of the UK economy some part of this must be affecting the industry.
I think now more than ever mental health is more talked about and less a topic that is taboo. This has brought where mental health’s standing light-years forward with social media implementing different campaigns such as #itsoktonotbeok and this is endorsed by many celebrities too. But I think what is important is the way we can be dealing with stress, depression and anxiety in the work place and are there ways we can make this easier on employees and ways establishments can make up for the time lost with friends and family such as inviting them to social events put on by establishments, time back in lieu, one weekend off a month or overtime.
However, the idea of stress in a kitchen or being a chef being a high-pressured job is not really a new idea and with the media almost glamorising the industry with movies about fast paced kitchens and celebrity chefs it can be misconstrued for what it is which is a really hard but rewarding industry to be part of.
Because of this high pressure the chef world is faced with addiction such as drugs, gambling and alcohol and some are resorting to even using these as ways to get through hard shifts. There is also the mentality which is becoming less and less I hope which is the aggressive temperament towards the junior or newer members of the team which would constitute as bulling or even assault in most work places but as part of our industry is just part of the job.
So the question, is being a chef bad for your mental health? Is there any way we can implement innovative ideas and come away from the prehistoric ideas that behaving or putting this pressure on staff is acceptable and how can we stop this from happening?
Jessica
We have access to the internet in our new office, our phone lines are not quiet up and running just yet.
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Email - admin@chefsinscotland.co.uk
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