Cook: The Organization of the Kitchen

Kitchens had a strict hierarchy. In Rome, after the 3rd century bc, a kitchen would have a full brigade, with the master cook (archimagirus) controlling a second cook and a horde of under-cooks (coci) wielding the pestle and mortar, which was an essential tool. The hierarchy of the kitchens was much the same in medieval France, England, and Burgundy. Only the clerks of the kitchen, who controlled spending, were above the master-cook, who headed a substantial kitchen staff (all men): for instance, the French royal kitchen in 1386 numbered 73.