Chefs wear distinct hats known as the toque blanche or, in more popular words, a chef’s hat, while working in kitchens. One of the main reasons to wear a chef’s hat is to stop any stray hair on the chef’s head from falling into the dish being prepared at that moment. Many chefs wear a head net that covers the entire head and then put on the chef’s hat on that. This locks the hair in place and provides no chance of that hair falling into one of the dishes about to be served to a customer.

Chef’s hats go back a long way, as long as the early 16th century. Although popular fables exist as to how the hat exactly came into picture, it is certainly to hold the hair back while cooking. The only thing to be considered is that even the smallest restaurant needs its cooks and chefs to put on the hats while cooking to avoid any unpleasant scenes due to a strand of hair in the food served to the customer.

Chef hats come in various shapes and sizes, depending on the chef’s number of years of experience, and so it is possible to have a hat as high as 12” for the head chef. Chef hats are made of either stiff cloth like cotton or a cotton mix or can be of the disposable kind like the paper and fiber mix hats. Also the cooks and the apprentices need to wear the hats while in the kitchen. As a matter of fact, it is one of the rules that all the cooks and chefs in the kitchen need to wear the hats to avoid losing points when the food inspector feels like making a surprise visit to the restaurant.

Chef hats come in one-size fits all head sizes that can fit any head size. These usually have the elastic or the Velcro fit and so can fit in almost anyone. Some restaurants that are a part of large chain of hotels or restaurants have their own logo on the hats so as to make them personalized. This lends a definite classy touch while making it obvious as to which hotel the chefs belong.

Chef hats come in different styles depending on the country where they are being made. A slight difference in the shape would give them a unique look. Popular chef hat models are the vertical pleats hats that are commonly used in most small restaurants in all over the world. Even the number of pleats on the hat symbolized the chef’s experience traditionally. A head chef was supposed to wear a chef hat having a hundred pleats, although it is not always true these days.

Chef hats are available in white, black, or a mix of white and black checkers. However, the most popular are the white chef hats that are most commonly used by chefs anywhere in the world.