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Culinary Arts & Cooking vocabulary · Kitchen Brigade & Roles

Brigade system

Meaning in culinary arts & cooking, with examples

/brɪˈɡeɪd ˌsɪstəm/nounCommon term

In culinary arts & cooking, brigade system means: The traditional way of organising a professional kitchen into a clear chain of command and sections, developed by the French chef Auguste Escoffier in the late 19th century.

In Turkish: brigad sistemi, mutfak hiyerarşisi

How it is used

Also called the kitchen brigade or brigade de cuisine. The order runs from executive or head chef to sous chef, chefs de partie, commis and kitchen porters. Most modern kitchens use a simplified version.

Example sentences

  1. The hotel still runs a full brigade system with twelve sections.

  2. In a small bistro the brigade system is much simpler: chef, sous chef and two cooks.

Common collocations

  • kitchen brigade
  • classic brigade system
  • brigade de cuisine
  • full brigade
  • head chefThe person in charge of a kitchen, responsible for the menu, the team, food quality, ordering and costs. Also called chef de cuisine.
  • sous chefThe second in command in a kitchen, who helps the head chef, supervises the cooks and runs the kitchen when the head chef is away.
  • chef de partieA chef in charge of one section of the kitchen, such as fish, sauce, grill or pastry, often with one or more commis chefs working under them.
  • commis chefA junior chef at the start of their career who works under a chef de partie, doing prep and learning each section of the kitchen.

More terms: Kitchen Brigade & Roles

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