Toque roots are sometimes traced to the "casque à meche" (stocking cap) worn by 18th-century French chefs. The colour of the "casque à meche" denoted the rank of the wearer. Boucher, the personal chef of the French statesman Talleyrand, was the first to insist on white toques for sanitary reasons. The modern toque is popularly believed to have originated with the French chef Marie-Antoine Carême (1784–1833), who stiffened the "casque à meche" with cardboard . The pleated, low, round hat worn in French universities the equivalent of the mortarboard or tam at British and American universities is also called a toque.
Toque Profundo was forced to cease concerts, and each member found themselves trying to find ways to expand their musical horizons. Around this time some members formed several project bands, and guitarist Clemente Portillo left the country to the United States to live in Atlanta. Tony Almont spent that summer playing sporadic gigs in New York City and through word of mouth was also able to promote Toque Profundo's body of work as well. These efforts resulted in a showcase in Sirius Satellite Radio, an interview in Music Choice, and concert at SOB's in Downtown Manhattan. To this date, those interviews remain