stereotypes about chefs and cooks

[_john]

What is the current zeitgeist of chef and cook stereotypes? A lot of things have changed from the times of curly mustaches, accents, stovepipe toques and drinking problems. Which of the current stereotypes actually hold some truth?

[Mjx]

Since chefs are people, they're bound to vary as much as any other group; the noisiest ones may convince the media and the public that whatever they do is characteristic, but somehow, I doubt any of the cliches can be trusted as being even remotely universal.

[Chris Amirault]

Agreed with Michaela. The more I get to know actual chefs, the less any stereotypes -- from Boyardee to Bourdain -- make any sense at all.

[MaxH]

I'm also with Mjx on this, I've known a lot of them, in fact I'm wondering what _john had in mind in the comments about stereotypes.

A few are even synthetic marketing icons. "Boyardee" is a stylized artificial character. The original, Boyardi, ran a successful restaurant (ca. 1900? I don't remember offhand) and sold kits with uncooked spaghetti and prepared sauce. (From my recollection of Mariani's classic American Heritage essay "Everybody Loves Italian Food.") Nothing to do with canned pre-cooked pasta. The kits established his name, later converted to something artificial that could be milked -- what MBAs like to call a "brand."