FANS OF "THE BEAR" WILL RECOGNIZE SOME OF THESE TERMS

10 Kitchen Jargon Terms That Distinguish Chefs From Beginners

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Just like every craft has its own slang, the world of restaurant cooking is an infinite trove of phrases, lingo, and idioms used to describe actions, places, things, and many other aspects that need an accurate description. What does it mean if something is dying on the pass? Or what is a rail doing in a kitchen? Scroll on to find the answers to these and a few more terms that make up the colorful kitchen slang.

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In a restaurant environment, the dining room is referred to as the floor. When anyone from the kitchen walks out onto the floor, their uniforms are supposed to be clean and they should act appropriately in the sight of guests.

Managers typically do rounds and walk the floor several times during a shift to check on customers.

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The act of waxing a table means that a dining space is being prepared for a special guest. This VIP service is usually reserved for important guests like the restaurant owner's family, a critic, or regular customers known as big tippers.

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As it should be, restaurant dining room tables are identified by how many guests they can accommodate. A table that seats two is called a two-top. A table that seats three is called a three-top. Similarly, for example, there are four-top, or six-top, as well. This system of categorizing tables by their capacity helps streamline operations in busy dining environments and ensures a smooth flow of service.

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Kitchens can be a very busy place, especially during rush hours. Therefore, to avoid collisions with other staff members scurrying around, it's considered polite to clearly say, "Behind," as you pass behind another person.

This is particularly important if you are carrying a full tray of food, a hot pan, or a rack of glassware. Variations of this expression like "Sharp behind," or "Hot behind," to indicate someone is passing by carrying an object that could harm another staff member, are also used.

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A fancy way of saying that something is done in a hurry, the kitchen phrase a la minute is a French term that translates to at the minute or on the minute. It describes a cooking method that relies on freshly prepared ingredients, but it's also used to signify a dish or condiment must be made to order.

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The expression dead plate is used to describe a dish of food that is unservable, either because a customer sent it back or because it was prepared incorrectly. It might be added that, while dead plates are usually considered fair game for servers or cooks to eat, this depends on each restaurant's policy.

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If a dish needs to be reheated quickly, the cooks will flash it with high heat on the charbroiler, or the oven. This usually comes as a request from a server when a dish is undercooked, the customer has asked for it, or it has been sitting in the window too long.

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When you go to a restaurant and ask for a certain food -usually meat- to be very well done, the servers will tell the cooks to kill it. Killing a steak or a chicken breast means to overcook it. What tastes like charcoal to somebody, will be perfectly right for somebody else, right?

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The pass is the window where cooks leave the dishes ready for the servers to take to the diners. A dish dying on the pass means that it has been sitting for too long in the window and is at the risk of becoming unservable because it's drying up, getting too cold, or due to other issues.

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The cooks in a restaurant use a rail or board to hold all of their incoming tickets. It's a strip of metal above the food window that holds tickets in place so anyone on the line can read the orders. Clearing the rail means that all the tickets have been completed. Efficiency and communication are key to a successful service.

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Carpe Diem & Other Latin Phrases You Can Add to Your Personal Vocabulary!

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There’s a common misconception that Latin is a dead language. While nowadays no one gets caught in a pleasant conversation in Latin about the weather, the truth is that this ancient language is by no means completely extinct. For instance, it is still routinely used by the scientific world: the scientific names of animals and plants are strictly written in Latin. And, perhaps more importantly for this article, there are a myriad of Latin phrases that we still employ in our everyday lives.

Here are ten selected Latin phrases that are still extremely relevant in our modern world. Keep on reading, maybe you’ll find a new motto to live by. Enjoy!

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We’ll start with a classic. This Latin phrase was made famous by Robin Williams in the 1989 film "Dead Poets Society", in which he plays a literature teacher committed to imparting his love of poetry to his students. Williams’ character uses this expression to encourage his students to "seize the day", and to make the most of what life has to offer.

With all due respect to this iconic film, it seems a more acceptable translation to this phrase would be to "pluck the day". The first written use of Carpe Diem comes from the Roman poet Horace, who lived during the 1st century B.C. Horace wrote, "Seize the day; put no trust in the morrow."

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This Latin phrase, which means "always faithful", is mostly associated with the United States Marine Corps, since Semper Fidelis has been this military branch’s official motto since 1883. Usually shortened to "Semper Fi", this maxim is meant to reflect the marine’s devotion to the safety of their country.

Moreover, Semper Fidelis is also the official motto of cities like Abbeville in France and Exeter in England. It has also been the motto of several European families since the 16th century, particularly in England, Ireland, and France.

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Having a few glasses of wine with some friends can definitively be a pleasant experience, but this Latin phrase serves as a reminder of what can happen when we have too much to drink. In Vino Veritas translates to "there’s truth in wine", which is a classier description of that feeling we can get the morning after when we grasp our heads in shock and think "Did I really say that?"

The first written record of this phrase dates back to the first century AD and was recollected by Roman author and philosopher Pliny the Elder. However, since Pliny classifies this saying as a popular proverb, it is likely that the origins of In Vino Veritas are even older.

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Just like with Carpe Diem, this Latin phrase can be an excellent piece of advice and motivation for those times when we need a little pick-me-up. Per Angusta Ad Augusta translates to "through difficulties to honors" or "through trial to triumph".

Whichever version you prefer, every meaning attributed to this expression seems to encourage us to push forward through adversity, with the promise of greater things on the horizon. Per Angusta Ad Augusta is a phrase particularly popular among those whose everyday lives include facing obstacles, such as soldiers, boxers, and first responders.

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Veni, vidi, vici is attributed to Roman emperor Julius Caesar, and the story behind it reveals the leader’s more boastful side. Allegedly, Caesar wrote this phrase in a letter to the Roman senate informing victory by the Roman army in Zile, Turkey. In his letter, Caesar brags about the quick triumph achieved by simply stating "I came, I saw, I conquered".

Veni, vidi, vici is one of the most popular Latin phrases. From Caesar’s time until the late 17th century, it was mostly used in military contexts. Since then, it has been featured in several popular films, songs, and books.

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If you ever find yourself visiting London’s stunning St. Paul’s Cathedral, go pay your respects to Sir Christopher Wren, the Cathedral’s architect, by visiting his tomb. You’ll come across a simple slab of black marble with an engraved inscription written by Wren’s son: Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice.

This short phrase translates to "Reader, if you seek a monument, look around you". Just by looking at this architectural masterpiece, we realize that these engraved words are truly a wonderful tribute to Wren’s legacy.

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Let’s travel back in history, to the dark and mysterious ages before we were able to return purchased items back to the store. In Ancient Rome, a common law advised buyers to thoroughly inspect the products they were buying before the transaction was completed since there was little to no recourse they could take against the sellers.

This rule of thumb was known as caveat emptor, which loosely translates to "let the buyer beware". Interestingly, the word "caveat" has been adopted by the English language, and it has retained a slightly similar meaning to caveat emptor.

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This entry might feel a little bit like cheating, but it is too iconic to ignore it. When Rene Descartes introduced the first principle of his philosophy in 1637, he meant for it to reach a wider audience: Therefore, his now iconic principle, "I think therefore I am", was originally written in French.

However, in 1644, Descartes published his "Principles of Philosophy" completely in Latin, coining the famous expression Cogito Ergo Sum. This particular phrasing would later become the essential philosophical concept still studied to this day.

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Bronze can surely last a long time: Many museums proudly exhibit bronze statues, sculptures, and artworks made thousands of years ago by ancient civilizations. In that sense, Roman poet Horace was fully aware of this fact when he boasted about the quality of his prose. After all, he chose bronze to illustrate the timelessness of his poetry.

In his "Odes", Horace stated Exegi monumentum aere perennius. This pompous phrase literally translates to "I have made a monument more lasting than bronze". That being said, Horace’s bragging might be very well-deserved, considering we still read his contributions to poetry over 2000 years after his death.

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We’ll end with our favorite phrase, or at the very least the one we believe has the most powerful message.Amor Vincit Omnia is an expression first coined by Roman poet Virgil, and it can be translated to the simple yet deeply moving message "love conquers all things".

This phrase was popularized by timeless English authors, including the Bard himself: Shakespeare included Amor Vincit Omnia in his play "King John". It also appears in Chaucer’s iconic "Canterbury Tales", on which a character wears a distinctive brooch engraved with Amor Vincit Omnia.