Break Down or Just Cut It Up

[weinoo]

It seems like a lot of people who have come into home cooking over the past, say, 10 or so years, like to use terms that used to be the provenance of restaurant/professional kitchens.

Terms like...break down. Since when do home cooks break down stuff like chickens. I just cut them up. How about you?

[jsmeeker]

I butcher my chickens.

[weinoo]

I butcher my chickens.

At home? Do you slaughter them too?

[weinoo]

BTW, if anyone wants to "break down" chickens, they should go work in a professional kitchen and do a few cases a day...that's breaking down.

[weinoo]

Hold on - I gotta go fire my lunch.

[Joe Blowe]

How are ya gonna plate that?

[Beebs]

I use "plate", but only to my DH and in the context of "Honey, can you plate the broccoli?", as opposed to "Honey, can you take the broccoli out of the pan, grab a plate, and dump the broccoli on it?"

[weinoo]

How are ya gonna plate that?

I don't know. Do you think peanut butter and jelly sandwiches look better cut on the diagonal or into 2 rectangles?

[Mjx]

'Cutting up', unless it's a whole animal, then it's 'butchering'. Things like cutting meat off the bone are 'dissecting'. I haven't come across much professional kitchen terminology, but biology looms large in my background, so its terminology does come up (although 'plate' does get used, for the same reason given by Beebs).

[Alcuin]

I cut up poultry. "Break down" seems like an affectation, like referring to people as "Chef ____" (a topic well discussed on another thread). Maybe its the respect for the differences between my kitchen and a professional kitchen (different beasts entirely really). Or maybe its the importance of driving the wedge between work and home that my mom (a longtime pro cook, but never rising to the rank of chef, in some PA and Philly kitchens) drove home for me. For me, it's a sign of respect and acknowledgment of the difference between the two, for her I'm sure it was a necessity for her own sanity. I don't know anyone who'd actually want their kitchen to be like an actual professional kitchen-that would be crazy.

[gfweb]

LOL lots of jargon-wielding amateurs out there. A product of Food Network, no doubt.

I really hate pointless jargon/cliches in general, but the worst culinary one I can think of is "aromats" for aromatics. First off aromatics refers to group of veg like celery and onion. When does one ever need to refer to them as a group other than in the teaching setting? Real people don't say, "Hey Joe, gimme a cup of aromatics". To need to abbreviate this to aromats is particularly pointless. You don't have time to add the "ic" in between the t and the s of a word that you don't use anyway??? Gimme a break!

Ruhlman does this a lot. Very annoying.

Edited January 25, 2011 by gfweb (log)

[heidih]

I don't know that I ever use the word in conversation but the question did make me think. Breaking down a chicken versus cutting up a whole chicken are equivalent in my mind and neither is a shorter phrase. I think since so few people buy the whole chicken for other than roasting (wild surmise here), maybe when you say "breaking down" they have at least heard it on TV and know what you mean, since (wild surmise again) loads of folks watch the food shows and never lift a knife to raw meat.

[Rico]

I don't say breaking down, but upon giving it further thought, to my ears it is more specific than "cutting up" a chicken. I think for that reason alone amateurs (such as myself) would find good reason to use it. Specificity is specificity, regardless of kitchen rank. I'm sure there are a lot of words we use in everyday language that originated in a professional world in which we don't make our living.

[BadRabbit]

I use a lot of the jargon at home but I spent a lot of my life in a professional kitchen. For example, I am now an accountant but have been known to tell my wife that I am "weeded" when I'm very busy. I also refer to "mise" and "plating" pretty regularly.

After 10 years in restaurants, it's hard to revert back to typical home kitchen language.

[JeanneCake]

This whole appropriating another "language" outside of the normal use makes me chuckle. I once dated a doctor who never used any hospital jargon outside of work; but when we were with a crowd from (his) work, then it was too much to keep up with. I learned a lot, though

But this kind of thing probably happens across all industries not just the cooking profession.

[Big Mike]

I think saying "breaking down" has a much different meaning than "cutting up", since breaking down means taking it apart in a specific way. Cutting up a chicken could mean a few things...taking the breasts off, grilling the breasts and slicing them, taking leftover meat off the bone for chicken salad, etc.

Now, if you were in the backyard and said "fire one medium" instead of "Hey Mike, throw a steak on the grill for me" you would be a knob.

Edited January 25, 2011 by Big Mike (log)

[mkayahara]

It is interesting to see where different people draw the line on using professional jargon in a home context. How do you feel about saying "mirepoix"? I mean, it's just onions, carrots and celery, right? How about referring to the meat component of a plate as the "protein"?

Personally, I use a lot of professional jargon despite being a non-pro, and I've certainly been known to say "break down" when I mean "cut up." I've even been known to "bake off" some things. Then again, no one has ever accused me of not being pretentious.

[Mjx]

I can't imagine anyone finding fault with 'mirepoix' (or the like), it's a common cooking term that concisely describes something specific.

To me, 'break down' implies 'to reduce to the smallest possible components', which conjures up the visual of me, the chicken, a stump, and a 20-pound sledgehammer. I don't actually know of a recipe that demands that particular prep, but I'll bet it exists.

[slkinsey]

For me, I suppose it depends on what I'm doing to the chicken. If I'm simply cutting it into the usual breast/thigh/drumstick six-pack, I'd call that "cutting up" the chicken. I don't do that very often, though. If, on the other hand, I'm cutting out the backbone, removing the breastbone and thigh bones, and cutting the tendons at the end of the legs but otherwise leaving the chicken whole, I'm more likely to call that something like "breaking down" or "processing" the chickens. "Cutting up" doesn't really describe what I'm doing very well in that case.

Edited January 25, 2011 by slkinsey (log)

[Chris Amirault]

I definitely think of "breaking down a chicken" as having a very specific meaning. As did you, Mitch, it seems, given your response in that topic.

[gfweb]

It is interesting to see where different people draw the line on using professional jargon in a home context. How do you feel about saying "mirepoix"? I mean, it's just onions, carrots and celery, right? How about referring to the meat component of a plate as the "protein"?

Personally, I use a lot of professional jargon despite being a non-pro, and I've certainly been known to say "break down" when I mean "cut up." I've even been known to "bake off" some things. Then again, no one has ever accused me of not being pretentious.

Mirepoix isn't jargon to me. Protein instead of meat? Yeah, I'd say that's silly no matter who uses it...its less specific than the "amateur" word.

[Mjx]

The problem with 'meat' is that it doesn't include fish (and people are put off when I say 'dead animals'). But I still can't imagine saying 'protein' instead, because it doesn't make me think of professional kitchens, but health nuts who have gone around the bend (the ones who say 'flesh foods' with an expression that suggests that they consider you a murdering creep).

Edited January 25, 2011 by Mjx (log)

[weinoo]

I definitely think of "breaking down a chicken" as having a very specific meaning. As did you, Mitch, it seems, given your response in that topic.

Foiled again. Actually, I was cutting that chicken up, which I learned from this book, the seminal book for home "cutter uppers."

That book is so old my dear departed mutt had chewed off the corner...about 25 years ago.

[Chris Amirault]

I think that the question is one of intent and effect. If you're using the term to be a blowhard, imitating chefs in a world you've seen on television, then, yeah, that's kinda dumb. But words aren't all equivalent, and the profession often defines terms with greater precision than lay cooking instruction does.

In other words, protein isn't synonymous with meat, and if you're referring to protein in toto, go for it. But if you're referring to your chicken thigh and say, "Place the protein into the hot oil," well....

[weinoo]

How about "please butcher that protein before blanching it in the hot oil..."