On the Fly Part II: The language of Madness
Another edition of how to speak like a chef
If you’ve ever worked in a professional kitchen, you know how quickly one can become accustomed to the noise of plates being stacked or pans clanging on the stovetop.
The sounds of the hood vents sucking up smoke and grease, oven doors opening and closing are all part of the experience that is working in the professional kitchen.
Today we’re back talking a little bit more about some of the different words and terminology that are used by chefs, cooks, and servers across the world, here are a few more examples of the language of the kitchen. You can check out the first edition of On the Fly right here,
On the Fly: Learning the Language of the Kitchen
If you’ve ever eaten in a restaurant with an open kitchen you’ve probably heard some of the noise and chatter being thrown around in the midst of the culinary chaos. To the untrained ear, this can sound like word salad between expletives and safety calls.
On the Fly
I remember the first time that I heard the term “On the Fly”. A server had rang in an appetizer ticket that said “On the Fly” I mistakenly thought it meant to take your time, the task that was asked of you wasn’t all that urgent. I was wrong, very wrong.
I am sure that many of you are familiar with this term, and you more than likely know that it does not mean to take your precious time, it means get it done yesterday!
I can’t blame the front of house for everything, but in my experience when a frantic server rings in a ticket and lets you know that they need it “On the Fly” it was them who has made the error. Sure, the kitchen makes its fair share of errors but in my opinion, servers are usually the ones to blame, but I may be a bit biased on this one.
Dying in the Window
“I’ve got prime dying in the window”. What does that mean? This is not a phrase that is uttered anywhere else but in the professional kitchen. Dying in the window, what could that possibly mean, you wouldn’t say a car is dying in the window or My dog died in the window, but you may hear something like “These eggs are dying in the window”.
If a line cook places a plate of food under the warmers for the servers to go ahead and take to the table, the area that they set the food in is called the window or the pass depending on where you are and who you’re working with.
Prime dying in the window refers to a big juicy slice of medium rare prime rib that is quite literally dying in the window. Meaning that the quality of the food is degrading by the second and the server needs to get it out of there ASAP.
I used eggs as an example because eggs are a fragile food, meaning that they can become unappetizing very quickly if not served immediately, and you don’t want your eggs to die in the window.
In the Weeds/In the Shit
The phrase “In the Shit” was made popular by the film Full Metal Jacket, or at least that’s my story. In the film, however, they aren’t talking about working in a professional kitchen, they are talking about the Vietnam War!
Why would terminology that is used about war also be a term used about working in a kitchen? One could infer that the chaos of the kitchen could make some feel as if they were in an all-out war with the orders that were flying in.
Whether you’re in the weeds or in the shit you’re not having a very good day and someone is going to have to bail you out of that situation. As a chef, it’s my job to be able to read the dining room and the kitchen to predict when a line cook will be in the weeds, and if you’re in the weeds, you’re screwed.
F.I.F.O.
How many of you have heard this one before? What the hell does this acronym mean? F.I.F.O. of just Fifo if you’re being informal about it is a term used in inventory management, something that chefs should be on top of but hey, nobody’s perfect. Except for every chef who ever lived, or not.
FIFO stands for First in, First out. What that is referring to is when receiving an order of product all existing items are removed from the shelves and restocked with the new items. These new items are to be placed in the back of the shelf and anything older is placed in the front. So the items that went in previously are to come out first First in, First out.
This is not just a crazy thing that anal-retentive chefs do for fun, although I have known some who have, it is a great way to ensure that you aren’t wasting product and it also allows you to count your inventory more accurately.
I love this series. It brings me right back there every time.
We definitely used "dying in the window", "in the weeds", and, of course, "on the fly" all the time.
calling for runners, too!