Jump to content

  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Culinary Terms that Should be Banned!

liuzhou

By liuzhou
in Food Traditions & Culture

 Share

Recommended Posts

Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

The "ie" ending grates. Its over familiar and has a negative sound to my ear.

 

Commie, bolshie, groupie, zombie....

smoothie, brownie, rotisserie, cookie....

  • Like 1
  • Haha 3

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kerala

Kerala

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, Anna N said:

Much as I am on your side, I think the battle is lost. Once cooks appear on TV they become chefs. Chef Nigella Lawson vs Cook Nigella Lawson. Try to imagine the ratings drop. 

Nigella was the first author who pointed me in the right direction. I've become snooty about some of what she says but I have no doubt she could cook me under the table. However, she's not a chef. But neither was Julia Childs nor Elizabeth David. I haven't googled so correct me if I'm wrong. However, by my understanding, none of these should be called a chef.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, Kerala said:

Nigella was the first author who pointed me in the right direction. I've become snooty about some of what she says but I have no doubt she could cook me under the table. However, she's not a chef. But neither was Julia Childs nor Elizabeth David. I haven't googled so correct me if I'm wrong. However, by my understanding, none of these should be called a chef.

 

None of the women you mention never held a position as a chef except on television.

  • Like 1

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kerala

Kerala

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, Anna N said:

None of the women you mention never held a position as a chef except on television.

Absolutely agree. Great cooks, not chefs. I have learnt more from these three than I have from any chef. I'm just saying the term "Chef" falls under the complaint of this thread. We don't disagree.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kerala

Kerala

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'm objecting to the appropriatiion of the title of Chef by anyone who cooks and wants to be in the limelight. Not to mention that "Chef" is not a title, although usage is "literally" pushing language that way.

 

Edited by Kerala
Usage (log)
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JeanneCake

JeanneCake

Posted
Posted

Julia Child didn't refer to herself as a Chef; she in fact made mention of the fact that she'd never led a brigade so should not be referred to as Chef.

 

The word that's getting to me is "artisanal" - not everything is artisanal 🤨 but I see it in regular rotation.  I'm not saying there aren't artisanal producers but the term is being applied very loosely IMHO.

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted
30 minutes ago, JeanneCake said:

Julia Child didn't refer to herself as a Chef; she in fact made mention of the fact that she'd never led a brigade so should not be referred to as Chef.

 

The word that's getting to me is "artisanal" - not everything is artisanal 🤨 but I see it in regular rotation.  I'm not saying there aren't artisanal producers but the term is being applied very loosely IMHO.

 

 

There is a movie line where the marketer says "so that just means it is more expensive"

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
IowaDee

IowaDee

Posted
Posted

Don't know if this qualifies, but the label on the meat at my local market says "Grown and harvested in Iowa.  I get this horrible mental image of people skipping through  a meadow and picking chickens off the poultry tree .  Or maybe watching the John Deere beef

baler carefully wrap up a side of beef.  Rows of wee lambs ripening on bushes......

  • Like 1
  • Haha 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, IowaDee said:

Don't know if this qualifies, but the label on the meat at my local market says "Grown and harvested in Iowa.  I get this horrible mental image of people skipping through  a meadow and picking chickens off the poultry tree .  Or maybe watching the John Deere beef

baler carefully wrap up a side of beef.  Rows of wee lambs ripening on bushes......

Oh yes - I posted somewhere here about the "harvested" term. I think it was lamb. The mental image as you note is odd.  I am an Elizabeth Kubler Ross person re death in humans - use the real word - dead -  killed, slaughtered, hunted but not "harvested". I eat meat - just not gonna pretend it did not involve killing - "humanely" or not. 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Kerala said:

Nigella was the first author who pointed me in the right direction. I've become snooty about some of what she says but I have no doubt she could cook me under the table. However, she's not a chef. But neither was Julia Childs nor Elizabeth David. I haven't googled so correct me if I'm wrong. However, by my understanding, none of these should be called a chef.

 

Nor was Pepin unless he sneaked into a chef job late in life

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, gfweb said:

Nor was Pepin unless he sneaked into a chef job late in life

Not necessarily in a restaurant setting, but he may have run a kitchen or two., be it for DeGaulle or with whatever he was doing at Howard Johnson's.

  • Like 4

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, weinoo said:

Not necessarily in a restaurant setting, but he may have run a kitchen or two., be it for DeGaulle or with whatever he was doing at Howard Johnson's.

Click

Scroll down to the end. He considered himself a cook despite his many positions which one might think would qualify him for the “chef” title. Gotta love his humility. 

  • Like 7
  • Thanks 2

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ElsieD

ElsieD

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Anna N said:

Click

Scroll down to the end. He considered himself a cook despite his many positions which one might think would qualify him for the “chef” title. Gotta love his humility. 

 

Great article.  Thanks for the link.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
heidih

heidih

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, gfweb said:

ooey-gooey

 

barf

 

Isn't the 3rd word in the phrase "deliciousness"?  It amuses me that over the years the stereotypical overly wordy legal  profession has worked hard to pare away unnecessary words, and other areas have piled on verbiage. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JeanneCake

JeanneCake

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

I think the phrase "cooked to perfection" ridiculous.  Whose idea of perfection?  

 

that makes me remember a line on several menus from various wedding venues "blah blah ... cake decorated to your perfection"  🙄  Seriously?  WHO'S "perfection"??? Isn't that why there's a website dedicated to cake fails (cake wrecks) - that was somebody's "perfection" too 😄

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Porthos

Porthos

Posted
Posted
On 11/25/2020 at 5:00 PM, JeanneCake said:

The word that's getting to me is "artisanal" - not everything is artisanal 🤨 but I see it in regular rotation.  I'm not saying there aren't artisanal producers but the term is being applied very loosely IMHO.

I've seen artisanal used on breads that came from large-scale commercial bakeries. Drives me nuts.

  • Like 5

Porthos Potwatcher
The Once and Future Cook

;

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

Posted
Posted

Unctuous.  Is that supposed to be a good thing? Maybe, if you love Velveeta. 

 

1 : having, revealing, or marked by a smug, ingratiating, and false earnestness or spirituality. 2a : fatty, oily. b : smooth and greasy in texture or appearance.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

@gfweb 

 

"decadent"  may be used , but only in reference to chocolate :

 

chocolate that has a fudge-like consistency 

 

really really really good fudge-like    

 

not grainy etc

 

it doesn't have to have a traditional fudge like appearance 

 

it can be in a pie , or a cake.

 

the kind of cake that requires ice cold milk as a chaser

 

probably thus flour-less.

 

only chocolate.

 

not chocolate-flavored.

  • Like 2
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...