Toques / caps for women

The chef's hat and the kitchen cap are accessories that make it possible to perfect the professional kitchen outfit. They offer real comfort to the person who wears them in addition to preventing possible hair loss or any other foreign body in the dishes being prepared. It is above all a guarantee of professionalism and hygiene for workers in the food and catering trades.

The chef's hat, a mix of tradition and professionalism

In the collective opinion, the chef's hat is just as essential as the women's white coat for cooks. It is associated with a sort of traditional image in the profession, but it is also presented as a guarantee of professionalism. In gastronomy, it remains an index allowing to recognize a cuisine of quality and excellence. Just like the models for men, women's hats have several variations, as you can see at Oxwork.

High hat for women or chef's hat

White in colour, about 25 cm high and enjoying a certain volume, this classic hat is often associated with a chef. Today, however, only a few restaurant kitchens use it. However, it generally remains de rigueur in high-end restaurants. It is possible to associate it with a kitchen pants, an kitchen apron t des kitchen shoes.

The women's cap

It's sort of the modern version of the classic hat. Its design was made to reflect the image of a good cook. The cap is worn in all sectors of the food and catering trades. Its height is 12 cm.

The cap, or kitchen beret for women

The cap, or kitchen beret, is most common among cooks adopting the modern kitchen. Young chefs also wear it.

The kitchen bandana for women

Because of its casual side, the bandana is not much appreciated in haute cuisine. It is indeed a scarf that is tied behind the head. Practical, it adapts very well to all head shapes and sizes and is perfect for a woman with long hair.

In general, hats and caps are available in white and black. Other colors are possible depending on the establishments and their standing. The size of the head of a toque or a cap for women is generally unique. Some models are adjustable. This type of kitchen hat also has ventilation eyelets to allow the head to regulate its temperature and thus limit the amount of perspiration.

Regulations on the headdress in the kitchen

Any professional working in kitchen or in a food handling area is required to maintain a standard of cleanliness senior staff and must wear appropriate and clean clothing and accessories. This is specified in EC Regulation 852/2004 related to good food hygiene practices. This is the only text that governs the headdress in a kitchen. However, its objective is clear: to avoid possible microbial contamination. It is therefore crucial to do everything possible to prevent hair or dandruff from falling into the dishes. This is the main function of the hat and the cap for women. For the manager of a restaurant, the latter is required to impose the wearing of this kind of protection.

The story of the chef's hat

Like everything, the chef's hat has its own story. But forgetting the legends a little, we know that the appearance of the hat would be following a hair found in the soup of King Henry VIII. The cook would even have lost his head there, so furious was the monarch. Thus, his replacement had to wear a headgear, which became mandatory in the kitchens.

But the toque as we know it today only came into being in the 1800s in France. It is through the initiative of a chef named Marie-Antoine Carême to reinforce the idea that a chef must have a specific uniform. In this business, he wanted each of them to wear a hat of the same shape and colors. And to assert cleanliness in the kitchens, white was chosen. Moreover, at the time, the cotton caps used did not reflect practicality at all. They were indeed shapeless and too soft. This is where the toque was imposed.