The traditional tall, white, pleated chef’s hat is officially referred to as a toque, which is the Arabic word for hat. While this word has been used for thousands of years to refer to any brimless hat, the French popularized using “toque” or “toque blanche” to refer to a white chef’s hat.

Marie Antoine-Carême, an early pioneer of the grande cuisine cooking style, is widely credited with creating the standard chef’s hat that we know today. However, there are a number of possible stories explaining how the chef’s hat first emerged and how it evolved over time.

One of the main theories is that the chef’s hat came about as a way to keep hair out of food and maintain hygiene and cleanliness in the kitchen. According to one origin story, King Henry VIII supposedly beheaded a chef after finding a hair in his meal, so all the chefs after him were ordered to wear a hat while cooking.

Typical label
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C.G.C.F
1972
SIZE 7
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(~56-57cm)

Please note: as these are military surplus there may be some colour, quality and style variation to the image shown.  Whilst these have no military markings they have come to us via "Australian Department of Defence Surplus"