# kitchen language



## freddychef (Dec 19, 2001)

Hi. I am looking into the various uses of language in kitchen context. I am interested in finding out about all words that make each kitchen unique or that share's with others. I have worked in kitchens that for example have code words for ordering, cooking, people, etc and then there are words for various appliances. Any posts would be great or email [email protected]


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## chrose (Nov 20, 2000)

Most of the words I'm used to hearing are f_ _k, s_ _t, g_ dd_mit,
this s_ _ks. Is this blackened or burned? Etc.
Ok. Now I'll step aside and let someone give this fine newcomer a real answer.


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## greg (Dec 8, 1999)

wind oven- convection oven
 ruin me a filet- ordering a filet well done (applies to any cut of any kind of meat ordered as such).
 getting Schanno'd- getting fired (our first fired employee's last name was Schanno).
 swanning- when the chef goes out into the dining room to talk to our guests (stolen from Anthony Bourdain's job description of an executive chef: "swanning about the dining room in a chef's jacket taking credit for other's toil.")
 savages- any guest that orders a dish prepared in a way we think it should not be preparered (see "ruin me a filet" above, as an example).
 pocohantas- anybody slow in the execution of their job.
 ordering- under our present system of timing our tickets, means the same (most of the time) as "fire". In other words start the dish and bring it to a point where it will be 4-5 minutes from being finished.
 pick up- finish and plate a dish that has been ordered.
 single out- called out like this; "ordering a sole and a fusilli, single out. In our place, both these dishes come off the same station. When called out like this, the person working that station knows to time these dishes so they are ready at the same time and plates them without any further calls from the expeditor.
Anything else I can think of at this point falls under the multi-asterisk category chrose has already covered.


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## katbalou (Nov 21, 2001)

how about pearl diving - dish washing.
86 - none left of a specific item, such as 86 the fish off the specials.
drop - as in drop the fries into the fryolater.
i also know a lot of those other words mentioned in the other post, but in about 4 different languages.


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## pollyg (Mar 12, 2001)

I love kitchen language, I'll try to think of a few of the ones that i've used recently.
Robo- refers to any food processor, from the brand name of the best, Robot Coupe
Blitz- to puree with a processor or blender
Rolf Harris- to cook and plate more than one order at the same time. Comes from a song that Rolf Harris sang with the line, 'All together now...'
Very late, brain not working, I'll think of more later.


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

Where I've been, "order -- fire -- pick up" are three distinct steps. *Order* is a warning to the cooks to start getting ready whatever they will need for the dish (pull the piece of beef out; slice and dress the hearts of palm and put aside). *Fire* means start cooking; this one relies on coordination among the cooks, to let each other know how long each item will take so that they all come off at the same time. *Pick up* means same as for Greg: get everything on the plate and up in the window at the same time.

There can be some confusion, though, since _PICK UP_ is also yelled at the runners to get their a**** into the kitchen and take the food out while it's still hot. I just worked with another cook who kept going crazy because he thought it was aimed at him, and so he was frantically cooking things off way before time.


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## greg (Dec 8, 1999)

Suzanne, you've obviously been in all the right places! Order, fire and pick-up *should* be three distinct steps. Unfortunately, the foh mgr. we had when we first opened wanted the servers to time the tickets, not the kitchen. Meaning, they don't send their orders until they think we should fire them.  Both the chef and myself tried to convince her our way was better, but she wouldn't budge. Now that she's been schanno'd (see my list above), we're going to do things the way you describe.


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## chefjohnpaul (Mar 9, 2000)

ordering a steak 'bleu' was so rare it was cool in the middle or 'Pittsburgh' meant charred on the outside and blood rare in the middle.

'86'- out of something 

mis en place- 'everything in its place', your prep work.

drop the fries or fritters,ect...- drop baskets or items into fryer

'Up DAWSON'S Creek'- the restaurant was DAWSON'S, and we were buried in orders, or pick up was not going smoothly,ect... 

order, fire, pick-up (self explanitory)


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

ChefJP: your "Pittsburgh" is my "black and blue." Your "up Dawson's creek" is my "in the weeds," which I suspect _everyone_ here knows all too well.

And then there's diner lingo: "whiskey down" for rye toast; "red shoes walking" for fries with ketchup to go ... Wish I knew more.

One thing I really love is that with so many Spanish speakers working in the kitchen, a lot of items end up being called by their Spanish names by everyone. For example, we always called for "camotes para uno" rather than "sweet potato fries for one."

BTW, does anyone remember that Barbara Feldon's character on "Get Smart" was _Agent 86_? Ever think about that???


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## peachcreek (Sep 21, 2001)

Don Adams, was Maxwell Smart, Agent 86. Barbara Feldon was Agent 99. A good trivia question-what was Agent 99s' name in the series? I'm not telling!

"Hazelwood"-dumping an oily or greasy mess on the floor.
"Jonestown"-a REALLY quiet night.....


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

Peachcreek, you're right! Ooops.

OMG-- Jonestown. OOOOOOOH Hope your place doesn't serve Koolaid!


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## thebighat (Feb 21, 2001)

This is probably pretty specific to where I work..

Danishing...the act of wandering through the dining room just before lunch, polishing off the desired tidbits in each bread basket. 

others I've heard

a hockey puck..for a well done burger
on the fly....means do it fast
brakes on the mayo...no mayonaise
a hamburger honeymooning....lettuce alone

The words "order" and "pick up" were the only two things I would allow waiters to say in the kitchen. They would say order and put the dupe on the spindle. We would do whatever was needed to get the dish almost ready. and when they said pickup, we'd finish it and plate it. I don't know what I would do if I worked in a kitchen with a mindless little printer spewing tickets at me.

this has something to do with being Schanno'd. Every time someone quit or got fired I would take the last thing they prepped and freeze some of it. then later we'd take it out and say '"remember this jerk." I once had a lunch cook who took dinner items, changed them all around, and ran them as lunch specials with the same name. I told him that was kind of showing up the rest of us. Nice dish, but call it something else. When he quit I gave him a package of hot dogs and said "Russell, I've worked with a lot of hot dogs, but you pally, are Oscar Meyer." It took him a minute to figure out the insult.


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## palmier (Oct 17, 2000)

Nuke-it: throw it in the microwave
Flash-it: throw it under the salamander
Drop-it: throw it in the deep fryer
With wings: to go
on the rush, on the fly, stat, a-sap: as soon as possible


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

grazing, and put some sneakers on it!!!!!


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## cwk (Nov 24, 2000)

I think Chrose pretty much had it nailed down.
We are a little sarcastic about things where I work, for example if i'm in the middle of a dinner run and someone hangs a dupe for a grilled cheese
I'll just yell "Put your wallet away, I'ts on me!"
Everyone knows that I mean grilled cheese.I don't know how that happened but it works.Sometimes I'll 
yell "Honey lets shoot the bonus!" for a porterhouse.But hey that's just us.
Bill


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## nicko (Oct 5, 2001)

What about *"In the weeds"* when someone is behind.

And one that relates to that is "Give'em a weed wacker" for some one who is in the weeds.

Also I didn't see up there *"Shoemaker"* for someone who can't cook. Or also "he's wearing a leather apron today" which is another reference toa shoemaker.

*Suburbies* for us were always the people from the suberbs who came into the city for a fancy meal and ordered their vennison, duck, or salmon well done.


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

don't forget "Bambi"-refering to venison
"Thumper"-refering to rabbit
"Player"-for someone who just ordered a really expensive bottle of wine
"amateur night"-Friday and Saturday nights when all the suburabanites come out to dine
"Blue hair night"-Sunday night when most of the older generation seems to come dining
"Place"-short for mise en place or all of your prep
"Crispy, burnt, ruined,etc."-all for well done
"make it shoe leather or a shoe heal"-also refering to well done
"meet you on the other side"-when the kitchen gets hit hard and it's time to put your head down and cook, no extra talking.
"jacking the kitchen"-when a waiter holds orders and rings them all in at once instead of spacing them out
"24 hour flu"-what someone has when you know that they went out the night before and call in sick
"fire a monkey"-our slang for fire a monkfish
"who's buying the beers?"-short for it's been a crazy night and I am going to go drink myself into oblivion so who's coming?


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## freddychef (Dec 19, 2001)

I think of the word stovepipe for the tall hats..nothin but a nuisance when you are working...geraitrics was the key for busses--they where basically a soup and sandwich older crowd...


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## chefboy2160 (Oct 13, 2001)

What about the 5 second rule ? Any takers on this one ?


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## chrose (Nov 20, 2000)

Now I don't want any comments about racism or anything it wasn't my comment however I had a french chef who would throw you out of the kitchen if you wore "PFC's".
_Puerto Rican fence climbers_ (sneakers)


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## ross (Dec 16, 2001)

we have a show kitchen, so the whole dining room is right there, so we have had to renovate our own bastard lingo so the increasingly intelligent diners wont catch on, (all of this because of tony's book, thanks tony ha ha )

on the fly- as we all know this means "yesterday" it is the green light from the expo. to go ahead and employ any of these culinary guerilla warfare emergency techniques.

french cook that please- throw the **** thing in the deep fryer.

mother goose on this one- sit on it, or set a pot of au jus on top of it to destroy it to well done(only used when french cooking can not be used).

pass this on to chef mike- slide it around the corner to pantry so they can nuke the **** thing in the microwave.

bring this up a bit- throw it in the salamander and crank it up already.

sauce on side here- only said when the sauce or crust has already been placed on the protein and we are forced to dip and rinse the beef related entrees into the bain of au jus or for fish and poultry a quick swim in the tong rinsing water.


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## mofo1 (Oct 15, 2000)

This is fairly specific to where I work, but when an attractive customer comes in. The code is "PREP, Please". This alerts the other cooks to come and see. We work in an open kitchen, so one must bring something or be wiping something. Can't be obvious. We use the three second rule. Five seems a little too long.


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## pollyg (Mar 12, 2001)

Ha ha, so funny that the 3 second rule is all over the world. I didn't know that anyone else did it.


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

3-second rule? But of course! The only problem is that I use it at home, too (but never when I cook for company!).


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## monkeymay (Feb 11, 2002)

Hello eveyone,
I know this is an older thread but I laughed out loud reading this stuff...
seems it's the same no matter where you cook.
In our kitchen it's

WAITER ON CRACK
when someone puts in an order that is filled with substitutions, sauces on side, or my favorite- "see server" which means they can't figure out how to use the modifiers on the screen. Can also be used as CUSTOMER ON CRACK.

ALL DAY - when we have multiple orders of the same dish that all go out at the same time. "Four steaks rare all day"

818 0r 714- area codes refering to amatuer night. See BRIDGE and TUNNEL
for same meaning.

ABC MAN - refers to the Health Dept. inspector that always shows up on your busiest nights in the middle of dinner rush. L.A. restaurants are graded on an Alphabet scale that is posted at the space which shows the level of "cleanliness" to customers. We started calling him that so the customers wouldn't overhear the waitstaff hissing loudly "the Health Dept. is here!"

SHOEMAKER in my kitchen is my sous chef who can fix anything-compressor break down in the middle of service - "where's the shoemaker?"
We call the guy who burns things ASASSINE (with your best Spanish accent please!)

MALO ESPIRITU is the malevolent force that haunts our kitchen and causes things to go wrong. Bacon burned for no apparent reason? Malo espiritu.
Dishes fly out of your hands and break? Malo Espiritu. After a bad night dueling with the forces of evil it's time for SHOTS.
Or simply put at the end of the night -"ARE YOU IN?"

Peace.


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## moxiefan (Jan 31, 2002)

I've always wondered wether our name "monkey dishes" was a regional or universal thing -- you know those little bowls that hold a single portion of coleslaw or sauce when served on the side? I was suprised to learn that "in the weeds" was universal.

I also submit:

dish monkey -- dish washer

schwag -- all things vile

daycare -- server coping with unruly children

big red -- unruly server, often related to daycare

yo' mamma -- trash room

"breakfast" or "that time of the morning" -- drinking at or after work, regardless of the hour.

car payment -- take a five dollar salad, add a half-portion (3 oz. or so?) of grilled fish or chicken and voila! a twelve dollar salad (and several other instances of outrageous markup)

special of the day -- managerial aproval to throw spoiled food/broken equipment away, as in "what should I do with this expired fish?" -- "Make it the special of the day."

"Wake Up!" -- the practice of one crazed kitchen manager who, when he thought the line was slacking, would throw a handful of Ice in the fryer.

I hope most of you don't identify with this list. These examples are taken mostly from my first job in a kitchen. The rest of the staff was so bad that I went from dishwasher to line cook in two weeks -- and I was sixteen. Very illigal and very improper. Truely a horrible kitchen -- I'm amazed nobody was, to the best of my knowledge, killed. Often a whole lot of fun, though.


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## nick.shu (Jul 18, 2000)

well some ive come across are:


Mingin' :well not so crash hot
Gam or gammy: same as above
Seafood Ark: fishermans basket with 2 of everything cos thats what a customer told us it should have
Fish Market: Jambalaya
Mick n Dave: Microwave
Masterchef: Apprentice
D???head : functions manager who tries to sell a kitchen a proving oven thats not really needed.
Wombat: Slow chef or person
Suds: beers
Lets go outside and dance: fighting

if i can think of more,,,


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## chef david simpson (Sep 25, 2000)

I love the restaurant business!!!! Don't You? So much to learn and so little time to learn it. :chef:


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## unichef (Aug 14, 2000)

*BTW, does anyone remember that Barbara Feldon's character on "Get Smart" was Agent 86? Ever think about that???* 
I was thinking more about Maryann and Ginger!

Para Calle - To Go
Give it wheels- I need it now
Heard- When replying to an order called out by expiditer, IE. "2 grouper heard".
Echo- Repeat the order please
Price check- Quick! Come and see what just walked into the dining room!


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## surlycook (Feb 27, 2002)

3 second rule!!! ok its not just us ;-)


We have a few that are a little different. We have an open kitchen so we have to be careful what we say and do.

B'hamchee - baked ham and chese sandwich

Give a little love - as in hey that toast looks burnt give it a little love (ie scrape a little of the burnt off if you can) works for a bunch of stuff.

Pull a Bill - forget to start something ( ie: waiter - wheres my side of bacon? cook - just a minute on that I pulled a Bill) Bill forgets stuff regularly

Irv - our one and only high temp spatula. We use Irv for our breakfast items he is our one indispensable tool

and my personal favorite

Biscuit - attractive female customer.

As I said we have an open kitchen, there is also a table near the line close enough that they can hear most of what is said if they pay attention. So I like to say to my cook when that table's order hangs "Well look at that -- time for our coffee break!" Just to see if they are paying attention. We are quite informal so that sort of thing isn't too frowned upon


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## markdchef (Jan 26, 2001)

NUKED - HEATED, OR MICROWAVED

JULIA ROBERTS - BAD FOOD OR RUINED DISH

FLAME - BROIL

IRISH - POTATOES

ENGLISH - BLAND

CALIFORNIA - RAW FOODS

NAKED DOG - TOFU HOT DOG

CAT SPECIAL - CHINESE DISH

WALKING - TO GO

TEETH - EXTRA CRISPY

HEART - HEALTHY

FIRE - SPICY HOT


WHEN I AM ALONE IN THE KITCHEN: SH*T, FU**, ****, JESUS!

NO OFFENSE TO THE ENGLISH, IRISH OR CHINESE.


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## shahar (Dec 15, 1999)

Zoo stock - when you throw different animals into the same stock pot

We use to call for servers(who never seem to be around when the food sits in the window, drying out, moving from rare to medium under the lamp) - "SSEERRVVEERR!!!". Then we started using similar spounding words, they don't even notice - "Sherbet!", "Pervert!" etc.

"In the weeds"? Nahh, "In the ****". Yep, nice and worm.

And lastly, words from the box - "Use me, please", "Keep it veal", "Awful"(offal), "cute little bunnies", "cool fat"(caul)...


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## monkeymay (Feb 11, 2002)

oh yeah, I forgot this one-

WATCH YOUR BACK - turn the ****around!!!!


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## chef david simpson (Sep 25, 2000)

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!! that was a good one!:lol:


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## marmalady (Apr 19, 2001)

Hey, Mark - Guess we'll have to be sure you're never alone at a King's class!!!!


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## freddychef (Dec 19, 2001)

I have gotten a lot of response about this from various websites that are, for the most part North American. Anyone know of other English cultural culinary websites from other countries--India, NZ, Aussieland???


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## ness99 (Mar 13, 2002)

Salt Water Drummies=Crab Legs


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## freddychef (Dec 19, 2001)

Thanks for the replies. I have been getting a lot of responses here and at other sites. For the most part the terms tend to overlap here in North America. any suggestions for sites outside N. A.--Australia/U.K./N.Z.???Any help is appreciated.freddychef


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## peachcreek (Sep 21, 2001)

"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"- an inappropriately too large garnish, i.e. parsley.


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## spratts (Jan 21, 2002)

"Give it to family" - anything that is going bad or was overcooked goes to the staff meal.


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