Concilier les savoir-faire issus de la tradition et la réalité des enjeux de durabilité au sein des représentations et pratiques professionnelles : étude de cas auprès des chefs cuisiniers

The aim of this research is to explore how chefs perceive the evolution of some of their professional practices, in which issues of both sustainability and tradition are superimposed. More specifically, it is based on a study of chefs' professional representations of meat cuisine, since the environmental costs associated with the production of this food lead to the need to reduce the overall consumption of meat, which requires an adaptation of chefs' practices. With regard to meat cooking, two techniques illustrate the challenges of reconciling know-how with tradition and sustainability: sous-vide cooking and working with sauces. The two techniques were analysed on the basis of a corpus of semi-directive interviews conducted with 29 chefs from the French commercial restaurant industry. The results show that professional representations put pressure on the professional identity of chefs, leading to a lower acceptance of certain practices.