Why is a chef's culinary hat so tall?

A look at the Chef's Hat including history, importance, size and what the pleats represent. ... It's part of what makes being a cook or being a chef so incredible; when you step behind the line of a kitchen, you are becoming part of a historical ... Each station and rank in the kitchen had a different height hat. read more

If a chef is cooking with one of those tall hats on, then when a knight swings at him more often than not it will just knock his hat off giving the chef time to escape. read more

Chef hats today don’t hold so many pleats, but they still signify a chef’s level of experience. Today, the chef hat remains a symbol of authority and knowledge, and few pieces of headgear are as recognizable as the traditional white hat that many chefs today still embrace as their own. read more

The number of pleats also indicates the number of ways the chef can prepare a dish as so any head chef worthy of the title must be allowed to wear a head chef hat in honor of the knowledge possessed. A chef’s hat worn these days is mostly a covering for the head than to depict any other symbolism. read more