Lingo: The Kitchen Vocabulary
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| Bake Blind: Baking a pastry case or flan, completely or partially before adding other ingredients or fillings |
| Bain-Marie: Literally a hot water bath. Normally a roasting tray that is filled with water to temper and soften cooking heats in an oven. Or used as a container that keeps dishes and ingredients warm without drying or burning during service |
| Baton: To cut vegetables into thin sticks normally no longer than a matchstick. Also known as 'en batonnets'. A baton, although thicker than a 'julienne' should still be of the same length |
| Bard: Laying fat or bacon over meat or poultry while it is roasting. Encourages flavour and moisture |
| Baste: To pour fat or liquid over an ingredient while it is cooking as a means to promote flavour and moisture |
| Baveuse: Partially liquid or a liquid that hasn't quite set |
| Beurre Manie: Equal quantities of butter and flour that have been kneaded together. Used to thicken sauces and liquids |
| Blanch: Immersing an ingredient briefly into boiling water as a means of par cooking or preparation |
| 'Blast': Kitchen slang for rapid heating in a fierce oven or microwave |
| 'Blast Chiller': A cold cupboard that rapidly chills hot foods |
| Blind Beans: Beans, rice or pulses used in conjunction with grease proof paper to weigh down a pastry case while it is being 'baked blind' |
| Bollocks: Traditional english culinary term used in great moments of shock, disgust or good old fashioned panic. |
| 'Brown' or 'to Brown Off': Cooking an ingredient until it begins to colour as a means of encouraging flavours. The scientific term relative for this is the 'Maillard reaction' |
| Bouquet Garni: A small bundle of flavouring ingredients added to a liquid as a means of adding flavouring. Traditionally celery, bay leaf, parsley and mace |
| 'Buzz': To blend or liquidize |
| 'Cheesy': Term of disgust given for bland food, music and political opinions |
| 'Chef': Casual term used to address the head chef by a junior whilst in the kitchen |
| Chef de Partie: A chef de partie is a section head and is responsible for managing his part or section of the kitchen (i.e. the pastry section, veg section, fish section etc) A chef de partie is beneath a sous chef but above a commis chef. |
| Chiffonnade: Slicing lettuce or rolled salad leaves into a 'needle-like shreds' |
| Chinois: A conical strainer or sieve |
| Chump: Affectionate term for a cross between an idiot and a fool |
| Commis Chef: The lowest ranked chef in a kitchen. Responsible for basic food preparation |
| Concasser: To roughly chop or pound a meat or vegetable (i.e. tomato concise) |
| 'Cowboy': A chef that cooks with poor or incorrect methods |
| Dice: To cut an ingredient into a small square shape. |
| Executive Chef: Either above, below or equal to the Head Chef and only likely to be found in very large kitchens. A relatively new position created as legal issues and paperwork mounted in the catering trade. The 'Exec Chef' handles costings, health and hygiene issues, menu planning and ordering. |
- Fold or Folding: The gentle stirring of liquid ingredients. Used to avoid agitating food stuffs or reducing a mix's volume of air bubbles
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| Garnish: The final decorative touch given to a dish |
| Glaze: To spread a layer of fat, jelly, jam, syrup or oil over a finished dish as a means of garnish or preserving |
| Head Chef: The Don Daddy of the kitchen |
| Hobart: Generic name for an industrial mixing machine (so named after the stalworth brand that once upon a time appeared in almost every kitchen) |
| Julienne: To finely slice an ingredient into 'needle-like shreds'. A julienne, although thinner than a 'baton' should be of the same length |
| Jus: Pan juices that occur during roasting. Traditionally a jus is never thickened with flour but by reduction. (A jus thickened with flour is a gravy) |
| Kitchen Assistant: New politically correct term for kitchen porter |
| 'KP' or Kitchen Porter: The backbone of any kitchen. A great kitchen porter is often the only person that stops a stressed kitchen from falling apart. Normal duties consist of cleaning and organizing a kitchen's stores as well as basic food preparation, but in most cases a KP is a chef's right hand. |
- Lard or Larding: The act of threading strips of fat through meat and poultry to give extra flavour and moisture
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| Liaison: Any ingredient or mixture used as a means of thickening a liquid i.e. beurre manie, flour, cornflour, blood, egg yolks etc |
| Line or 'To Line': Lining a cake tin or roasting tray with baking parchment or to line a flan case with pastry |
- Macerate: To soak food in a liquid as a means of marinating or infusing flavours. (Traditionally done to fresh and dried fruits)
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| Manky: Kitchen slang for nasty, wet or soggy |
| Marinade: An assortment of liquids and dry ingredients that are used as a means of flavouring and tenderizing |
| Mise en Place: The preparation of food prior to actual cooking. Also a state of mind that allows a head chef to manage the kitchen at high efficiency |
| Mirepoix: A 'bed' of vegetables placed either in a pot or roasting tray upon which poultry or meat is placed before cooking. A mirepoix is a means of adding flavour |
| Muppet: Kitchen slang for idiot or chump |
| Napper or 'to Nappe': To cover or coat an ingredient with a thick sauce |
| Parboil: To partially cook or soften an ingredient by boiling |
| Pass: To sieve or strain a liquid or ingredient through a sieve or chinois |
| Pipe: The act of squeezing a foamed or soft ingredient through a bag and nozzle to form various shapes. i.e. whipped cream or mash potato |
| Politics: Bad working relations between a kitchen and management |
| Prove: Allowing a yeasted dough to rise before baking to show or 'prove' that the yeast is still active and hasn't been destroyed during preparation |
| Punter: A client or customer |
- Quenelles: Shaping a soft or malleable food source into a slim 'egg' shape. Normally done with the aid of two spoons.
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| Rechauffee: Reheating a previously cooked dish (for health reasons you should only ever reheat a cooked dish once before discarding) |
| Reduce: To reduce an amount of liquid through boiling to thicken a sauce, liquid or syrup. |
| Refresh: To run an ingredient beneath cold (or sometimes hot) water to prevent further cooking, prevent colour loss and to remove excess starch |
| 'Robo-arm': Common nickname for a industrial liquidizing / blending unit that is fixed onto a long metal stem or 'arm'. |
| 'Rumbler': An industrial machine used for peeling potatoes. So named for its deep, 'rumbling' noise that permeates the kitchen |
| Sauter or 'to Saute': Pan-frying an ingredient until cooked and coloured |
| 'Scald': To heat at a simmer or the point just before boiling |
| 'Send off': On a chefs last day he or she is given a 'send off' which normally consists of being doused or dunked in nasty, old and smelly kitchen ingredients. (The drunken, debauched party normally happens after.) |
| Service: The duration of the time when food is served or a restaurant has its doors open to the public |
| 'Slap or Smack': Traditional kitchen punishment for naughtiness or stupidity |
| Sous Chef: Second in command and runs a kitchen in absence of the head chef |
| Spider: A strainer used for removing ingredients from oil or water. So named because it resembles a spider sitting in a web |
| Steel: Tool used to maintain a knife's sharp edge |
| Stone: A 'wet' or 'oil' stone is used to sharpen a blunt knife |
| Sweat: To gently cook |
| Sweet: Dessert or kitchen slang for 'nice' |
| 'Walk-in': Either a large walk-in style refirgerator or freezer or a punter who has walked into a restaurant without making a prior reservation. |
| 'Wipe Out!': Kitchen slang for either dropping a finished dish on the floor or the act of a chef slipping on a wet surface before falling on his backside or face. Normally accompanied by laughs of derision and much finger pointing |
| Zest: To grate the outer layer of a citrus fruit |
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