廚房是飲食連續性的實踐與日常操作的場域，也是一種透過姿態與文字所傳達的，並且與某種特殊飲食相關的知識場所。廚房同時也是不同背景的廚師彼此互動的場域。事實上，對於專業廚師有三個層次的理解：第一個層次是他們如何實踐工作，第二個層次是他們如何感知工作，最後是其他人如何理解專業廚師的工作。我將從方法論與經驗研究的角度來探究這個主題。首先，我探討廚師如何在日常生活中透過彼此交流實踐他們的餐飲工作。第二，我重新思考「身為廚師的意義」，同時比較消費者和廚師自身對於廚師專業意涵的了解。最後，我的結論是廚師職業並非停滯或者單一制式的，環境和飲食形態等因素都會影響身為廚師的意涵。

Kitchens are the scene of continued practice and daily operations, and knowledge relevant to a particular type of cuisine which is transmitted by gestures and words. Kitchens are also the scene of interactions between cooks from different backgrounds. In fact, there are arguably three levels of understanding about professional cooks: the way they carry out their work, the way they perceive their work, and the way their work is perceived by others. I will develop this subject from a methodological and empirical perspective. First, I examine the practices that are used and transmitted on a daily basis, particularly through cooks’ communication about their work. Second, I reconsider “what it means to be a cook” – specifically the perception of what the profession actually entails compared with how the profession is commonly perceived by both consumers and by chefs themselves. I conclude that the profession is not a static and uniform universe, and that factors such as environment and types of cuisine ultimately define what it means to be a cook.