Sous Chef: 24 Hours on the Line (24 page)

atelier
a workshop or studio, esp. one used by an artist or designer

back waiter
an FOH staff member who delivers food from the kitchen to the dining room, clears plates between courses, fills water glasses, and assists the chef de rang

bain-marie
a container holding hot water into which a pan is placed for slow cooking or keeping warm; a double boiler (owing to the vessel’s cylindrical shape, bains-marie are frequently used as storage containers for smallwares)

bar mop
a heavy cotton towel used for cleaning work surfaces and to prevent burns while handling hot pots and pans in the kitchen

BEO
(Banquet Event Order) any documentation detailing the requests of a large party reservation or private dining client

beurre blanc
a semi-stable emulsion of reduced white wine and butter, usually flavored with shallots and vinegar or lemon juice, often accompanying seafood

bistro
a small restaurant serving simple, moderately priced meals in a modest setting

BOH
(Back of the House) the kitchen; also, the kitchen staff

Bonnet stove
a custom-made cooking suite made by the French equipment manufacturer Bonnet, often held to be the top of the line

boquerones
mild white anchovies marinated in vinegar and olive oil with garlic and parsley; a common Spanish tapa

bottarga
the dried, pressed roe of a fish, usually either tuna (bottarga di tonno) or mullet (bottarga di muggine), that is produced and sold in blocks, which can be shaved or grated into various dishes

boudin blanc
a pork-based “pudding”-style sausage common in French, Belgian, and Cajun cuisine, which typically contains liver, heart, milk, and sometimes eggs and other ingredients

bouillon
the strained liquid that results from slowly simmering ingredients in water (in practice, bouillon differs from stock in that it is usually seasoned and reduced to a slightly more viscous consistency)

braise
to sear (food) lightly and then stew slowly in a closed container until tender

brigade de cuisine
the quasimilitary kitchen hierarchy delineated by Georges Auguste Escoffier in his c. 1903 opus
Le Guide Culinaire

Brinata
a white soft-rind sheep’s milk cheese from Tuscany (aged twenty days)

brunoise
(in knife work) a perfectly cubical vegetable dice of a size no greater than 3 × 3 × 3 mm

C-fold towel
A rectangular leaf of paper toweling that has been folded twice lengthwise so that a cross-section resembles the letter C

Cambro
a brand of kitchen equipment (CAMBRO®) whose name has been adopted in common vernacular to denote any of
several storage containers made by said company, most commonly the CamSquares® line, available in 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 18, and 22 quart capacities, or the Camwear® hotel style food pan line; “pass the stock through a chinois into a 22-quart Cambro”; “put all your mise en place into ninth Cambros”

cake tester
a steel pin one inserts into and removes from a given food product to assess its doneness (based on any residue or residual heat the pin carries with it when removed)

canapé
a small piece of bread or pastry with a savory topping, often served with drinks at a reception or formal party; in the common vernacular, “canapé” is used interchangeably, if erroneously, with “amuse-bouche” and “hors d’oeuvre”

caramelization
the process by which the sugar molecules in a given food product (either native or supplementary) are heated to the point at which they relinquish their water content (roughly 340°F) and proceed to fragment into the isomers and polymers responsible for the characteristic caramel flavor and color; the noticeable results of this process (the term “caramelization” is often mistakenly used to refer to the Maillard reaction)

cartouche
a disc of parchment paper with a hole in the center meant to retard the evaporation of moisture from a pan of cooking food without generating the same level of condensation that a conventional lid would

cassoulet
a bean stew usually made with bacon or other meat

caul fat
(usually of a pig) the amniotic membrane enclosing a fetus; the lining of a pig’s stomach

cazuela
a shallow round earthenware cooking vessel

cervelle de veau
veal brains

chanterelle
(
Cantharellus cibarius
) an edible woodland mushroom with a yellow funnel-shaped cap and a faint aroma of apricots, found in both Eurasia and North America

charcuterie
cooked or cured meats that are served cold, e.g. terrines, rillettes, pâtés, galatines, boudins, hams, confits, etc.

Château-Chalon
a nutty, AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) vin jaune made from the Savagnin grape varietal in the Jura wine region of France near the village of Château-Chalon; also, a sauce made from wine of this sort (Château-Chalon is a traditional accompaniment for
poulet de Bresse
, a breed of chicken originating in the nearby Bresse area)

chef
(usually executive chef) a highly skilled professional cook who has expertise in every area of the kitchen; the chief cook in a given restaurant or hotel

chef de cuisine
(often in a restaurant that is part of a larger group of restaurants owned by the same person or persons) a chef who runs a particular kitchen or branch of a given restaurant group in the stead of an executive chef; usually the executive chef’s is still the primary name associated with the restaurant, but the chef de cuisine runs the operation day to day (e.g. Chef Thomas Keller’s restaurant Per Se is currently helmed by chef de cuisine Eli Kaimeh)

chef de partie
the cook responsible for governing a particular area of production in a kitchen, e.g. fish or meat; usually a chef de partie manages several other cooks below him or her on that station

chef(s) de rang
the chief liaison(s) between the kitchen and the front of the house (in a large restaurant, the dining room is broken into sections called
rangs;
the chef de rang is the person responsible to the kitchen for each of those sections)

chef plongeur
head dishwasher

chine
(as noun) the backbone of an animal, or a cut of meat containing this bone; (as verb) to remove this bone from said cut of meat

chinois
a conical sieve with an extremely fine mesh, used to strain custards, purees, soups, and sauces, producing a very smooth texture

chit
a short official note, memorandum, or voucher, typically recording a sum owed

circulator
see
thermal immersion circulator

collagen
the main structural ingredient of animal connective tissue, which yields gelatin when boiled

combi
an oven capable of producing a combination of steam heat and dry heat, prized for allowing users to precisely control the humidity of the air inside the cooking chamber

commis
a junior cook employed by a restaurant (unlike a stagiaire, a commis works for pay, though their tasks are usually similar)

compression
the process of vacuum-sealing ingredients (usually fruits and vegetables) in plastic in such a way that their cell structure is compressed in order to concentrate color and flavor (compression projects often involve the simultaneous infusion of an additional flavor, e.g. a spice, liquid, or fat, as the vacuum process forces the flavor into the item being compressed)

confit
(as verb) to preserve, often in fat; (as noun) the product of this process

convection oven
an oven that circulates the air around its chamber, usually with a fan

cook
(as verb) to physically denature (food) by the administration of heat; (as noun) a person employed by a restaurant to do such work (cooks are those who have not yet graduated to the level of chef; while all chefs are cooks, not all cooks are chefs)

cornichon
a pickled gherkin cucumber, usually of a dill flavor profile

cover
an individual guest, often as part of a tally of guests: “we did seventy-six covers at lunch today”

croquette
a small rod or orb of chopped vegetables, meat, or fish coated in bread crumbs and often fried

crosne
a sweet root vegetable similar to the Jerusalem artichoke, distinguished by its grublike appearance

Cryovac
brand name of a vacuum-sealing company, which has been adopted in the common vernacular to refer to any reduced oxygen packaging (ROP) process or apparatus

cuisine
a style or method of cooking, esp. as characteristic of a particular country, region, or establishment

cuisson
the method of cooking something; also, the results of said method

deli
a round plastic vessel with an 8-to-64-ounce capacity, similar to the containers in which one receives prepared goods from the deli (these are also often referred to as quart or pint containers)

demi-glace
a jus (typically veal or beef) that has been reinforced (i.e. cooked again) with wine, vegetables, and meat trim and reduced to a shiny sauce consistency

dice
(as verb) to cut a given food product into cubes; (as noun) the resulting cubes

drop tray
a rectangular tray made of thin-gauge steel upon which prepared food items are placed, or dropped, throughout service; drop trays can be used for seasoning, retherming, and presenting to Chef

dupe pad
a pad of paper on which waitstaff write down orders from guests; the paper is often backed with carbon so that a duplicate of the order can be given to another (usually the kitchen) if necessary

emulsion
a colloidal suspension of one liquid in another with which it is typically immiscible

en crépinette
(of meat) wrapped in caul fat

enokitake
a Japanese mushroom used for soups and salads (the
cultivated enoki, aka straw mushroom, is remarkably different in appearance and flavor from its wild kin,
Flammulina velutipes
, which is pink in color with a larger cap and a stouter stem

entremetier
a vegetable cook

evasée
a saucepan whose circumference at its top is greater than that at its base, used primarily for evaporating liquids

extern
a cook working in but not an official employee of a given restaurant; professional externships are required of most culinary school students

fabrication
(in butchery) the reduction of a whole animal to smaller pieces

farce
(in food) a filling of any sort

fat
any natural oily or greasy substance, usually derived from animal bodies or plant products, that is used in cooking

fermentation
the chemical breakdown of a substance by bacteria, yeasts, or other microorganisms, typically involving effervescence and the giving off of heat; the process of this kind involved in the making of beer, wine, and liquor, in which sugars are converted to ethyl alcohol

ficelle
(French for “thread”) a small, very thin loaf of French bread

filbert
a cultivated hazel tree that bears edible oval nuts; also, a nut from such a tree

fines herbs
(pl.) a mélange of fresh chopped herbs, esp. parsley, chives, tarragon, and chervil

fingerling
a variety of potato having a pink, yellow, blue, or light tan skin and flesh, so named for its similarity in size and shape to a human finger

finnan haddie
haddock cured with the smoke of green wood, turf, or peat

fire
to begin preparing a given food item

flat-top
a stovetop cooking surface made of cast iron or black steel that shields pans from open flame while still conducting the same amount of heat; flat-tops are preferred to conventional open burners because they help prevent inadvertent in-pan flare-ups and because they can accommodate many pans at once

floor
the dining room; also, the staff of the dining room

fluid gel
a relatively stable colloidal suspension of a solid dispersed in a liquid, which bears properties of both states of matter; typically fluid gels are chilled 1 percent pectin solutions that have been pureed into a more liquid form

FOH
(Front of the House) the dining room; also, the dining room staff

foie gras
a food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened; by French law, foie gras is defined as the liver of a duck fattened by force-feeding corn with a gavage tube, although outside France it is occasionally produced using natural feeding

fondue
a thick sauce usually containing emulsified dairy

food service film
industry nomenclature for plastic wrap or cling film

forceps
pincers or tweezers, usually of surgical origin, that assist in handling food delicately, especially as compared to the more conventional tongs; often called metal fingers

gambas
Spanish term for prawns

Garasuki
a heavyweight Japanese knife designed for butchering large birds and small land animals

garde manger
a cool, well-ventilated area of the kitchen where cold items such as salads are prepared; also, the person who works this section of the kitchen