‘Les noirs ne sont pas des cuisiniers, c’est des plongeurs!’: exploring the lived experience of migrant cooks in Paris

Abstract

A global shortage of chefs and cooks currently exists within the hospitality industry, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Migrant cooks are essential to the culinary industry, yet remain relatively anonymous within the academic literature, a research gap which this original paper seeks to address. Using a phenomenological epistemology, combined with the theoretical framework of hospitality and practice theory, this qualitative research focused on investigating the lived experience of the professional lives and identities of immigrant cooks working in Paris, France, the birthplace of the restaurant. Extant literature was reviewed, and a focus group with migrant cooks explored themes within and missing from the literature, followed by eight in-depth semi-structured interviews with migrant cooks. Thematic analysis of the transcribed interviews revealed two main themes: challenges and attitude. The ‘Challenges’ theme had two sub-themes: (1) integration and segregation, and (2) human resource issues. The second theme ‘Attitude’ also had two sub-themes: (1) what it means to be a cook, or ‘agency’ and (2) gastronomy. The findings should be of interest to hospitality professionals, policy makers, academics, and advocates for migrant workers’ rights. We conclude that the hospitality industry should be more hospitable toward its staff – particularly toward migrants. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Foodservice Business Research is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)