Step 1 : Introduction to the question "What is a toque?"
...The tall, white, crisply starched and pleated hats worn by chefs are toques, or toque blanche. Along with a white chef's coat, toques are an essential part of a standardized chef's uniform. There's more to a toque than a signature hat, however. The height of the hat indicates the rank of the chef within the kitchen. The taller the hat, the higher the rank. The pleated folds symbolize the number of ways to cook an egg mastered by the chef. A chef's uniform became standardized in the early 1800s. Source: TheDailyMeal.com
