Glossary
Prep Cook Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential prep cook terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key prep cook vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in prep cook training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Batch
- A large quantity made at once.
- Blanch
- Briefly boil then chill.
- Brunoise
- A very fine dice.
- Chiffonade
- Thin ribbons of herbs or greens.
- Cross-contamination
- Spreading germs between foods.
- Day dot
- A label showing prep or use-by date.
- Dice
- Cut into cubes.
- FIFO
- First in, first out.
- Julienne
- Cut into thin strips.
- Mise en place
- Ingredients ready for service.
- Par
- The amount needed for service.
- Portion
- A measured serving.
- Prep list
- The list of items to prepare.
- Sanitize
- Reduce germs to safe levels.
- Yield
- The usable amount after trimming.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Prep Cook practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Prep Cook training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.