A chef's hat, also sometimes referred to as a toque-blanche, is part of a chef's uniform. The brimless hat covers the entire head of hair to eliminate any stray hair from falling into the dishes being prepared.

Several versions of the origin of the chef hat prevail. One story goes that the chef for King Henry VIII was going bald and was beheaded after the king found a hair in his soup. Henceforth, all royals chefs were required to wear a hat.

Traditionally, this type of hat is quite tall, from 9 to 12" (228-305mm), which has vertical pleats that run around the body. Made of either stiffly starched fabric, mostly cotton and cotton blends, or of paper, chef's hats come in either white or black.

Traditional versions of this hat always include one hundred pleats. In keeping with the Assyrian hat theory, it is said that the reason a chef hat had one hundred pleats is because a master chef knew how to prepare eggs one hundred different ways. In that time and part of the world, eggs were considered to be symbol for the universe, and as such were highly regarded.

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