Kitchen Terminology

If you guys are not working in the Hotel maybe you do not know some of the kitchen terminology. I said Hotel and not restaurant because some restaurant also are not aware of some words or terms that is common in the kitchen. This terms happen to be popular in the Hotel industry because usually Hotel are composed of mixed people from different country. And if you are working in a restaurant usually focusing only on the things they usually do.
Most of the kitchen terms are French


Ala carte - is usually the food or the menu that we order in the restaurant/ In the kitchen side this is every single order you prepare for the guest.
Allemande - Classic Veloute, Egg Yolks thicken sauce.
Aromatics - Herbs and Spices
Arrowroot - Starchy product, thickening agent for pudding, sauces€¦etc.
Au Sec – Coats the back of a spoon, not too thin or thick.
Banquet - an event in recognition of some occasion where foods and drinks are served.
Bechamel - White sauce made by stirring milk and roux.
Beurre Blanc – White wine, vinegar & Shallot reduction. Chunks of cold butter swirled
into the sauce.
Bisque - Thick, Soup using pureed seafood & cream
Blanch - To put fruits & veggies into boiling water for a short period of time, then placed into ice water to stop cooking.
Bouillon - Any broth made by cooking veggies & meat in concentrated water
Bouquet Garni - Bunch of herbs, tied together
Broth - liquid from cooked veggies or meat or fish in water
Veal Jus - Stock or liquid made from veal bones that are browned and mixed with mirepoix. Bones veal bones.
Buffet - ready for self service food on the table. You can take and eat the food you want. usually eat all you can for one price. On the kitchen side preparing a lot of food for the guest.
Canape - food usually small portion being serve by the roaming server on the event.
Chowder - Chunky seafood soup
Stock - A liquid flavored made from roasting or cooking chicken bones, prawns skins or fish bones or vegetable with with Mirepoix and water.
Clarification - To clear cloudy liquid by removing a sediment
Clarified Butter - Mild solids removed from butter
Gazpacho- Refreshing cold soup
Compound Butter – Herbs & spices added to butter, Butter creamed with other
ingredients such as herbs, garlic, wine, shallots…etc
Cream Soup - Soup containing milk and/or cream
Deglaze - Swirl liquid in sauté pan to dissolve cooked particles of food.
Degrease - Skimming fat from surface of hot liquid
Demi-Glace – Half brown sauce & half brown stock, reduced by half
Emulsion – Mixture of one liquid with another which can not normally be combines
smoothly (oil and water for example.)
Espagnole - Mirepoix, butter, flour, brown stock, tomato puree
Flavoring - Seasonings, herbs, spices to add or change the flavor of something.
Fond - Means stock
Fumet – Concentrated stock, one from fish
Garnish - Decorative, edible accompaniment to a finished dish
Gastrique - Caramel deglazed w/ vinegar for sweet & sour sauce
Glace De Viande – “Meat Glaze”
Glace De Volaille – Chicken extract. Reduced clear stock.
Hollandaise - Egg yolks, vinegar, pepper corns, clarified butter, cayenne pepper & salt.
Jus - French word for juice
Jus Lie - Brown stock, cornstarch or arrowroot
Liason - Thickening agent for soups. Made with cream & eggs
Lie - Gray made from brown stock
Matignon - Artichoke hearts stuffed w/ breadcrumbs & browned. Vegetable serves as a
garnish w/ several dishes.
Mayonnaise - Salad oil, lemon, salt, dry mustard, vinegar 8:1 Ratio
Mirepoix - Carrots, celery, onion
Mise En Place – Means “Everything in place”
Mont au Beurre – To finish with butter
Nappe - “Lumpy” too thick
Oignon Brule - Onion ½ caramelized, to add color to stocks & soups.
Oignon Pique - Onion w/ Bay leaves & cloves stuck into onion, put into soup or sauces
Pan Gravy - Sauce made from dripping from roasted meat
Potage - Means soup in French
Puree - To process through a blender to make the food thick liquid.
Pureed Soup - Made by simmering dried or fresh veggies in stock or water, then pureeing the soup.
Raft - The raft is the clear meat that floats on top
Reduce - To boil or simmer liquid away
Reduction - Simmering sauce to evaporate liquid, until sauce is thick.
Remoulage - Re-wetting of the bones to make weaker stock
Roux - melted butter with flour (mother sauce)
Sachet - Garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns, thyme, parsley stems
Sauce - Flavored liquid made to accompany food, to enhance & bring out its flavor,
sometimes thickened.
Salsa - Raw or cooked veggies, vary in mildness. Mexican word meaning sauce.
Seasonings - Ingredients or spices used to enhance & bring out flavor in foods.
Skim - To remove the top layer of liquids, such as fat or foam
Slurry - A thin paste of water & flour used as a thickening agent.
Stock - Flavorful liquid made from fish, veal, chicken, beef bones…etc.
Tapioca Starch - Starchy substance extracted from the root of the cassava plant.
Temper - Product is stabilized through a melting and cooling process.
Veloute - Blond roux, clarified butter, bread flour, white stock.
Vinaigrette - Basic oil & vinegar combination, used for salads & other cold meat or
veggie dishes.


Still there are so many words missing in here.. this is why I am saying there is so much to learn in the kitchen.