Toque Blanche

Hélèlne Darroze, Paris

 How ironic that chefs wear "toques." Chefs are said to "toke" cigarettes and, well.... Is there any relation? 

 No. To wear a toque is a different matter all together. It is a point of pride, rank and history {although I have seen quite a few cigarettes tucked in the brim...} As you fit its pleated paper over your top-knot and secure it with a bobby pin you are somehow closer to the kitchen gods... It's true. Its starched white stovepipe an act of cleanliness, and therefor close to godliness, and therefor close to greatness... Imagine the Carême kitchen toques of the 1800's, possibly earlier, possibly fashioned after the Popes of Rome, pleated and pointed, they pressed up to heaven like billboards screaming some weird godly significance. There are many times a day a chef will beg, "God help me..." Proximity matters. 

 They are strange to wear. Like wearing a paper bucket on your head. But imagine again the first kitchen toques, made of linen or cotton, some airy and floppy... I imagine they were worn by women, to bundle up the heavy length of their hair... Hélène Darroze wears a classic soft chef hat. It billows out like a deflated Jiffy Popcorn Popping Pan. It's funny looking. But then it's beautiful. It has all the romance of the past. French copper pots big enough to bathe in {rondeau} and big blocks of ice to cool the cooler.... I can smell the demi-glace simmering.