What is the difference between a ‘chef’ and a ‘cook’?
If you ask me, the only difference is that the chef wears a silly looking hat. Just kidding!
The major difference is that the chef is a professional; the individual has a degree in culinary arts. He has spent two to four years learning his/her trade, and he/she usually works in a professional environment — a hotel, or a 4 or 5 star restaurant, sometimes independently owned pubs for example.
A cook, on the other hand, need not have professional credentials; anyone who dabbles in the kitchen can be called a ‘cook’.
You and I can be called a ‘cook’. The word ‘chef’ is the short form of the French ‘chef de cuisine’, meaning ‘chief of the kitchen’. And as the chief, he/she has many people working under him/her including several cooks.
Usually in our homes, a ‘cook’ toils on his/her own! Perhaps much more important, a chef gets paid a lot more than a cook.
Most chain pubs in the UK won’t have a chef but instead will hire cooks, this is the case with Weatherspoon’s where the menu is set of a basic recipe and is followed the same in every location.
This helps to reduce food waste, staff wages meaning in the long run food can be sold cheaper and still able to make a profit.
You will have noticed that independent restaurants and pubs struggle all the time to make profit and to keep stock up because they normally employ at-least two chefs and this unfortunately comes at a cost, yes the food will be better quality and more likely to be home made however the price margin will be much higher.
The Wharf Inn - Fenny Compton
Well firstly what a gem of a place, situated on the side of the south Oxford canal you couldn’t get closer if you tried, with plenty of mooring outside and two water points for passing boaters.
The outside seating area is large and is well looked after, plenty of benches, tables and areas to relax under the trees.
My first impressions where very good, very welcoming staff and the lads behind the bar are a great laugh, full of personality and know customer service and experience is key.
The selection of drinks is vast and they have plenty of spirits of all types and flavours, some drinks have been sourced locally.
I opted in to have something small to eat and settled for the Pan fried Mushroom Pancetta, one of my all time favourite starters.
Waiting time was absolutely fine, no delay and was kept informed by the chaps behind the bar who in turn made runs to the kitchen to check on progress of not just my food but other diners.
When it came out I dived right in, the bread is a lightly toasted french roll, creamy mushroom sauce that was not to salty so that’s a big plus, the mushrooms where baby button mushrooms and very fresh and tasty, strips of bacon where added and really added to the Smokey flavour of the dish.
The bacon was perfectly well cooked and the mushrooms had a very fresh taste about them, it was a shame not to see portobello mushrooms however the baby button mushrooms did the trick.
(The portion size was probably a little larger than the average however I demolished it all with ease). The bowl used to serve the food was a beautiful colour and suited the dish.
Great mix of ingredients and I must say probably the best dish I’ve had for a long time.
My personal rating of this place is a solid 9/10
The Boat House - Braunston Junction
The Boat House, a well placed canal side pub / restaurant situated at the all famous Braunston Junction.
Upon entering the premises my first impressions where good, well spaced out, lovely unique lighting, lovely furniture and a proper open wood fire.
I approached the bar to order a J2O and to ask if I could have a menu, unfortunately the chap working behind the bar didn’t show me to a table so I had to find my own, this ended up being table 17 in the corner.
The table was well set up to sit 4 guests, napkins folded nicely and cutlery was clean and polished. Unfortunately the candle was not lit and looked like it could have done with a new one all together, the salt and pepper should have been topped up and not left half emptied.
the chairs where very comfortable and suited the decor of the building, and didn’t have any marks on them.
When I was provided with a menu I was very disappointed at poor print quality, it looked like no one cared about the presentation of the menu.
The menu it’s self was detailed and clearly showed (gf) and (ve) options and had clear indications about allergies.
the prices seemed a little higher than one might have expected for such a basic menu. I had a good look over and settled on the Hunters Chicken as my meal of choice.
The wait time for the food was reasonable however when the food arrived I was extremely disappointed, here is what it looked like…
Upon investigation I found the bacon to be dry, chewy and burnt in places. The chicken was cooked however it was very dry as a result of it being grilled, the mature cheddar cheese was not to bad however some areas where more lumpy than others.
The thick cut and deep fried chips where lovely, crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, by far the best part of the meal.
Unfortunately I simply couldn’t finish this dish, when I turned the chicken over it looked very depressing and I made the decision to stop eating. This is what the under side of the chicken looked like…
I was asked if everything was ok before the plate was removed however I chose not to comment at the time in order to give myself the time to come to a proper conclusion.
Well, my overall view of this visit to The Boat House was 100% secured when I took receipt of the bill. I was shocked to see that the Hunters Chicken was incorrectly priced on my bill compared to the price on the menu, only by 50p however this is not a practice acceptable by a large chain pub and it was at this moment I had a word with the chap serving, he very quickly apologised and took a look at the menu and saw I was indeed right, I asked him to do the right thing and inform his general manager and he did just that.
Unfortunately for this visit I felt like I was let down and feel that The Boat House has turned into a more expensive Weatherspoon’s with poor quality food and lack of attention to detail.
My rating on this occasion is 4 out of 10
@thefloatingfoodcritic
