Break Down or Just Cut It Up

[mkayahara]

We use plate all the time - half the time I serve family style, half the time put on plates in the kitchen depending on the dish. My wife needs to know how to set the table, so she asks me if I am going to plate or not. Seems like the most sensible way to describe it.

While we're on the topic, can I just say that I find the expression "family style" to seem affected when used in the home? I mean, is it really family style when I'm serving my actual family? Usually I just say I'm "letting people serve themselves."

(OK, OK, I'm playing devil's advocate here, just a bit. I've adopted the expression "family style". But it is a restaurant crossover term, let's face it.)

[munchymom]

When I attack one chicken, I may think dissembling.

Shame on you, you should always tell those chickens the whole truth.

The usage that always annoys me is appending the word "off" to whatever cooking method one is using: "Okay, now I'm going to bake off these cookies" or "fry off these potatoes." What does it add?

[bmdaniel]

While we're on the topic, can I just say that I find the expression "family style" to seem affected when used in the home? I mean, is it really family style when I'm serving my actual family? Usually I just say I'm "letting people serve themselves."

(OK, OK, I'm playing devil's advocate here, just a bit. I've adopted the expression "family style". But it is a restaurant crossover term, let's face it.)

Especially so in my case, since there are just two of us and half the time we just eat out of the common serving bowl.

[phatj]

We are becoming "Chefs" of our own domain as more and more people are getting into home cooking and food in general no doubt due to the FN. Is that a bad thing?

And no, I don't believe we're chefs of our own domain. Chefs run professional kitchens. We're cooks.

I've never worked in a professional kitchen nor paid any particular attention to the profession... what is the distinction in that setting between a chef and a cook? My (possibly completely erroneous) impression is that the chef is responsible for the entire operation of the kitchen, from procurement through plating, while the cooks prepare food at the direction of the chef. Is that close?

Assuming I'm not way off base, why can't we draw a parallel to a home kitchen? I am responsible for pretty much all the meals in my home, I generally do all the shopping myself, and when I require help in the kitchen, my assistants work at my direction. Is this not much like being a chef, on an amateur scale?

I call myself an amateur chef to distinguish myself from home "cooks" who think they're cooking because they heat up a can of Spaghettios on the stove.

Sorry for derailing the thread. I don't think I would say "break down" in this context but then I don't watch cooking shows.

[pastrygirl]

When I attack one chicken, I may think dissembling.

Shame on you, you should always tell those chickens the whole truth.

The usage that always annoys me is appending the word "off" to whatever cooking method one is using: "Okay, now I'm going to bake off these cookies" or "fry off these potatoes." What does it add?

To me, 'bake off' indicates baking a portion of a previously prepared item. Example, in a bakery, cookie doughs are made in big batches, portioned, and kept in the cooler to be baked as needed over the next several days. Instead of baking all the cookies at once as soon as the dough is made, they are baked off in batches of a few dozen here and there. Likewise, muffin batters can be made in large batches and stored in buckets to be portioned as needed and baked off over a few days.

[Chris Amirault]

I've never worked in a professional kitchen nor paid any particular attention to the profession... what is the distinction in that setting between a chef and a cook? My (possibly completely erroneous) impression is that the chef is responsible for the entire operation of the kitchen, from procurement through plating, while the cooks prepare food at the direction of the chef. Is that close?

Assuming I'm not way off base, why can't we draw a parallel to a home kitchen?

Because "chef" is a sign of professional, not amateur, attainment. A chef is the person who oversees all aspects of food production: menu design, kitchen team coordination, purchasing, on and on. A chef is a person who has earned that title through experience.

Stated personally, I crank out meals at home day in and day out, but I am not worthy of comparison with the chef at the restaurant where I bartend.

[BadRabbit]

Chef also is a French cognate of the English "Chief" which clearly indicates that you are in charge of other people. Since most people do not have a herd of line cooks and sous chefs at their home, it would seem a weird term to use about a person cooking at home alone or with their spouse.

[Tim Dolan]

I had a friend refer to his "mise en place" the other week. Dude's a fireman. I told him he was watching too much Alton Brown. Back when I was in high school, the very non-professional kitchens that I worked in would always have one or two guys who went to cooking school out of the 8-10 guys working in the kitchen, and they always got made fun of for throwing around their cooking school terms. Mise en place was a dead giveaway. Then every once in a while you'd have a guy who was intent on explaining exactly what it meant, and since no one cared it would quickly get him labeled as a douchebag. Probably not fair, but definitely funny at the time.

[syoung68]

Like others, we use "plate" quite a bit. Same situation... "Are we serving ourselves, or are you plating". I never say "mise", but I do say "my prep". I have also been know to say "86" or "all day" but that is pretty rare, like at parties when I am cooking for a crowd. In my defense, I did work in the restaurant business (front and back of house) for years in my youth. However, I think I would die laughing if I ever heard someone say "fire that hot dog, dad."

[CDRFloppingham]

With all respect to Weinoo, in my humble opinion, this is all about nothing. This observation reflects the passage of time and ready dissemination of information and terminology.

I am a physician. IMO, as much as I love food and cooking, being a physician is a greater accomplishment (since there are objective standards) than being a "chef," which has no regulatory standing.

That being said, since the dawn of the internet era, docs and other healthcare professionals have have to deal with jargon from patients like "scrips" and pronouncements/demands from patients and others who MAY have no knowledge beyond direct-to-consumer advertisements and wikipedia.

If a patient thinks they should dictate their medical treatment to a competant healthcare professional based upon what s/he read or watched on TV/internet, how can an eGulleter object to a home "cook" "breaking down" a chicken?

Edited January 26, 2011 by CDRFloppingham (log)

[phatj]

Because "chef" is a sign of professional, not amateur, attainment. A chef is the person who oversees all aspects of food production: menu design, kitchen team coordination, purchasing, on and on. A chef is a person who has earned that title through experience.

Stated personally, I crank out meals at home day in and day out, but I am not worthy of comparison with the chef at the restaurant where I bartend.

I guess I could call myself a "cooking enthusiast" or something but just plain "cook" doesn't seem to capture it.

[gfweb]

People van be pretentious and foolish in multiple areas. :-) besides cooking and medicine we could also add sports talk radio.

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[CDRFloppingham]

People van be pretentious and foolish in multiple areas. :-) besides cooking and medicine we could also add sports talk radio.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

So maybe we should let this outrageous use of professional kitchen jargon go?

[weinoo]

I guess I could call myself a "cooking enthusiast" or something but just plain "cook" doesn't seem to capture it.

Why not? That's what I called myself when I was actually cooking in a professional kitchen.

People van be pretentious and foolish in multiple areas. :-) besides cooking and medicine we could also add sports talk radio.

Of course that has nothing to do with breaking down or cutting up.

[phatj]

I guess I could call myself a "cooking enthusiast" or something but just plain "cook" doesn't seem to capture it.

Why not? That's what I called myself when I was actually cooking in a professional kitchen.

Too vague to me.

[Pierogi]

FWIW, on page 100 of the current (and I should mention very sparce and disappointing) February edition of "Bon Appetit", in a section entitled, I believe either "Prep Kitchen" or "Cooking School/Class" is an article called...."How To Break Down A Chicken".

Thus, the madness is perpetuated.

[ScottyBoy]

I guess I could call myself a "cooking enthusiast" or something but just plain "cook" doesn't seem to capture it.

Why not? That's what I called myself when I was actually cooking in a professional kitchen.

Me too,

Even though I create and manage every part of my company, I'm not running a kitchen full of employees so i don't refer to myself as a "chef". A lot of high-end kitchens I've worked in everyone calls each other chef, really quite entertaining and a little joke at the term, when everyone starts referring to even the stages as "chef".

[harrysnapperorgans]

I say break down, because I learned how to do it from a YouTube tutorial video, titled 'How to Break Down a Chicken'.

[Mjx]

I guess I could call myself a "cooking enthusiast" or something but just plain "cook" doesn't seem to capture it.

Why not? That's what I called myself when I was actually cooking in a professional kitchen.

Me too,

Even though I create and manage every part of my company, I'm not running a kitchen full of employees so i don't refer to myself as a "chef". A lot of high-end kitchens I've worked in everyone calls each other chef, really quite entertaining and a little joke at the term, when everyone starts referring to even the stages as "chef".

Labels are for boxes and museum specimens.

Seriously – and I'll candidly admit to having a visceral aversion to unnecessary labels – I'm wondering why anyone needs a non-professional label of any sort. The discussion of whether or not you call yourself a chef or a cook makes sense professionally, because if you're applying for a job, for example, 'chef' informs whoever looks over the CVs of the general nature of your skill set. So does 'cook'. But if you happen to be someone who enjoys (or is passionate or fanatical about, or however you'd care to describe it) food, and haven't chosen to do this for money, why go all Procrustean, and reach for a label (this also underpins part of my aversion to 'foodie')? What's wrong with 'I like/enjoy/appreciate food/cooking'? It doesn't even involve more words – three words, whatever you say – so the 'conciseness' argument doesn't apply.

I love cooking and baking, and enjoy eating to the point that vacation plans are frequently determined by the food a place has to offer, but I'm certainly not a chef (I haven't the professional qualifications or experience, and I don't do it for money), nor would I care to characterize myself as a cook: notwithstanding my deep appreciation of food, there are other things I do and enjoy as well. I enjoy food. Also, detective fiction, nitpicking arguments, violent physical exercise, and drawing. Stick a label on yourself > start gathering dust.

I will now go and hack apart a chicken.

[weinoo]

I guess I could call myself a "cooking enthusiast" or something but just plain "cook" doesn't seem to capture it.

Why not? That's what I called myself when I was actually cooking in a professional kitchen.

Too vague to me.

Chief cook and bottle washer?

[David A. Goldfarb]

"Break down" seems to me more about quantity than a specific method for cutting something up. I think of someone breaking down a side of beef into the primal cuts or breaking down a case of chickens, but to "break down a chicken" sounds a little silly to me.

[weinoo]

Agreed, David.

[Chris Amirault]

Sigh. I'll never say it again.

Speaking of silly, home enthusiasts like me should know that referring to yourself as a chef in a restaurant setting is liable to end with unpleasantness.

[scubadoo97]

Silly to continue this further but I had to ask. How do you feel about a the use of the term private chef? Obviously this person may not not be in charge of a team of employees and it often only in charge of producing meals for their client. Not unlike a home cook.

[Anna N]

Silly to continue this further but I had to ask. How do you feel about a the use of the term private chef? Obviously this person may not not be in charge of a team of employees and it often only in charge of producing meals for their client. Not unlike a home cook.

I dunno - personal/private cook just ain't got the same cachet as personal/private chef.