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How do chefs remember what ingredients and amounts of ingredients when they make food for customers?

I am a student at Waimea high school, for my career path, I want to be a chef
Do chefs have a book or papers saying how to cook different dishes or do they have to remember all of it by mind

chef culinary cooking culinary-arts food cooking-and-baking
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Dan’s Answer

A lot of it is just repetition to internalize it. As you make more recipes, you'll see some recipes have the same building blocks that you make small deviations from to create different flavors. To a certain degree, all chefs have a comfort zone that they are just familiar with (from exposure/ repetition/ etc) but no one knows everything. Every chef will refer to recipes to research new cuisine or perhaps to "recalibrate" a dish's flavor profile, and sometimes looking up a "recipe" may just be a last of ingredients or watching someone else's technique. I keep my favorite recipes written down in a notebook and my personal kitchen Bible is "Food for Fifty." If you go the culinary school route, you'll get a lot of great foundational training. If you go straight into a prep/line cook role, you'll probably only be responsible for a few recipes at a time. So you can learn gradually.
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Howard’s Answer

Yes, there are cookbooks and recipes for most dishes you prepare. Some are written by the head or executive chef. The person in charge decides which recipes you use. Then like sports or anything else, you practice. The more you work with dishes and recipes the more you learn and remember. Besides the amount of ingredients, you have to remember timing, temperatures, and how many portions you have to make. It is a good idea to pay attention in math class. It will come in handy.
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Sylvia’s Answer

Hi,
Yes, it's a game of repetition.
Some companies provide their own menu and recipes for their employees to follow; while others allow employees to free-style and prepare dishes from scratch. In my opinion, once you learn the difference between herbs, spices and seasonings, fresh ingredients versus dried, you'll be on your way.
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