Additional materials
Work with recipes
The job of the cook, of course, involves in its majority working with recipes. Cooks have to know how to follow a recipe in order to prepare any given meal but also, how to double recipes, or triple them, or the opposite – how to half the needed ingredients depending on the number of servings they have to make. Understanding what is written in the recipe is also a key component of a job well done – what abbreviations are used and their meanings, for example. You must also be able to read and translate recipes properly and use the correct words to describe the cooking methos (which will be touched upon later in this unit).
Example of a recipe transated from Bulgarian:
Супа от зеленчуци без застройка
Продукти: 25г. краве масло, 25мл. олио, 210г. картофи, 50г. моркови, 50г. лук, 100г. грах (замразен), 100г. зелен фасул ( стерилизиран ), 200г. домати ( пресни ), магданоз, копър, сол, 50г.целина ( на глави )
Метод: Почистените, измити и нарязани лук, моркови и целина се задушават в олио с малко вода. Добавя се топла вода или бульон, когато кипне се добавят нарязаните на кубчета картофи, грахът и зеления фасул. Прибавят се обелените и настъргани домати. Супата ври при тихо кипене до готовност. Подправя се с краве масло и се поръсва с магданоз, копър и сол.
VEGETABLE SOUP WITHOUT THICKENER
Ingredients: 25g. butter, 25ml. cooking oil, 210g. potatoes, 50g. carrots, 50g. onion, 100g. peas (frozen), 100g. green beans (sterilized), 200g. tomatoes (fresh), parsley, dill, salt, 50g.celery (bulbs)
Method: The cleaned, washed and cut up onion, carrots and celery are stewed in oil and a little water. Warm water or broth is added and when it comes to a boil, the diced potatoes along with the peas and the green beans are added. The peeled and grated tomatoes are added as well. The soup boils on low heat until it’s done. It is seasoned with butter and sprinkled with parsley, dill and salt.
Language at work – USEFUL WORDS AND PHRASES
Meat:
- Poultry – domestic birds which are raised for eggs, meat or feathers
- Game – animals which can be used for food but are not raised in domesticated conditions; instead, they are hunted and killed for their meat
IMPORTANT! Be careful when dealing with meat products because there is a difference between the name of the animal and the name of the meat so make sure you use the correct terms in your recipes.
Language at work
Cooking verbs:
For cutting food items:
- Chop – to cut into pieces which are similar in size
- Finely chop – to cut into small pieces
- Roughly chop – to cut into bigger pieces
- Dice – to cut into small square pieces of the same size and shape
- Slice – to cut into thin flat pieces
- Trim – to remove a small part of something, which is not needed
- Mince - to cut meat into very small pieces
- Peel – to remove the skin of a food item
For mixing ingredients:
- Stir – to mix thoroughly, using a spoon or other kitchen utensil
- Beat – to mix ingredients with the same repetitive motion of the hand
- Blend – to mix 2 or more ingredients together
- Bind – to mix with a sticky substance in order to form a solid mass
- Cream – to blend ingredients until they are soft and smooth
- Whip – to beat rapidly until the mixture is fluffy
- Fold – to combine light and heavy ingredients, using a “folding” hand motion