Rochard Chef's Hat and Cookbook Porcelain Limoges Box

The tall toque of a professional cook sits beside a cookbook in this hand-painted porcelain Limoges box. Rochard made it in Limoges, France, a tribute to everyone who has ever turned a recipe into a meal.

Toque of the Trade

Tradition says the pleats of a chef's hat once stood for the many ways a cook could prepare an egg. The toque became the badge of the French kitchen, and the cookbook beside it holds the recipes that are passed from cook to cook. Together they sum up both training and tradition.

Mise en Place on the Shelf

• A Rochard culinary piece, painted by hand in Limoges, France
• Fits a kitchen, culinary or professions collection
• Pairs well with kitchen stove, baguette and wine boxes

Plated for the Pass

Set it on a kitchen shelf beside your own cookbooks, near a spice rack or in a dining room hutch. It makes a fine present for a culinary school graduate, a restaurant chef on opening night, a caterer, or the home cook whose holiday dinners everyone looks forward to. Bakers and pastry chefs will appreciate it too.