Working as a cook
There is no end of work available in Britain for people working in kitchens, but the job of a cook will normally be limited to those with the right qualifications and experience. If you are in fact a chef, the work may still be sporadic (in other words, the number of places that are hiring chefs will rise and fall depending on the time of year). If you are not going over to the UK until the winter, now is a good time to start learning the recipes of traditional Christmas food!
Useful phrases you may hear:
What sort of experience have you had as a cook?
Have you had any experience as a commis chef?
We'll start you on peeling potatoes and move you up as you gain experience.
On the subject of potato peeling, you may often hear this piece of good news:
We've got a machine to do that.
Are you good at working under pressure?
Do you have a certificate in food preparation and hygiene?
Make sure you clean down all the surfaces before you start work.
We're waiting for a delivery. You can start as soon as it arrives.
That knife's too blunt. You want to sharpen it.
Dice them a bit smaller than that.
Top and tail the carrots, then chop them coarsely.
The opposite of chopping something coarsely (thickly) is chopping it finely (in other words making thin slices).
Keep an eye out for that pan. Don't let it boil over.
At the opposite extreme:
Don't let it boil dry.
Fry the onions until they are translucent.
Fry them until they are a rich molasses brown.
Which one you have to do obviously depends on the dish you are making. The latter is great for Indian curries (personally speaking).
Just brown the chicken pieces lightly on all sides.
This is often said when the meat is going to be cooked later on.
Boil the potatoes but steam the rest of the veg.
You'll often hear the word veg as a short form of vegetables. The term fruit and veg is often used when buying things from a greengrocer's. Believe it or not, there is even a popular BBC radio programme called Veg Talk which is half an hour of two rather excited presenters talking about vegetables almost non-stop!
When the dishes are ready, put them in the serving hatch. The waiters will collect them.
Where's that table five order?
Come on! We haven't got all night!
Don't be surprised if you get shouted at a lot in a restaurant or a hotel kitchen. Everyone is working under a lot of pressure and many people have compared this sort of work to their idea of the myth of Hell. On the other hand, you may get some better treatment from people you never see. This phrase occasionally gets to the kitchen:
One of the customers has asked me to thank you personally for the food.
Useful vocabulary:
a ladle chochla
a teaspoon łyżeczka do herbaty
a desert spoon łyżka deserowa
a tablespoon łyżka stołowa
There are other kinds of spoons which the waiters will need to know about, but these three are common measurements.
An American recipe may also have c which means cup. A cup is about 240 ml.
a chopping board deska do krojenia
a fish slice łopatka do ryb
a frying pan patelnia
a skillet Another name for a frying pan, usually with a heavier base
a saucepan rondel
a pressure cooker szybkowar
Pressure cookers are not used that often in restaurants it seems, but you never know.
a recipe przepis
ingredient składnik (although you normally see the plural ingredients)
If you are cooking a steak, these are the most common ways of doing so, from least to most time under the grill:
rare, medium rare, well-done
There is one before rare which some customers ask for: blue. Basically you just warm it up. The American English word for this is bloody.
One more language point:
For most people, the word chef and the word cook mean the same thing. Remember not to make the old language-learner's mistake of saying that you are a cooker!