Okuzeka
Culinary Arts & Cooking vocabulary · Prep & Kitchen Workflow

Prep

Meaning in culinary arts & cooking, with examples

/prep/nounCore term

In culinary arts & cooking, prep means: Short for preparation: the work of getting food ready before cooking or service, such as washing, peeling, cutting, portioning and making sauces. Also used as a verb.

In Turkish: hazırlık, ön hazırlık

How it is used

One of the most used words in any kitchen: prep list, prep cook, prep time, prep area. Cooks prep vegetables, prep their station and finish prep before service. A prep list shows what each station must prepare that day.

Example sentences

  1. Check the prep list before you start; the fish needs portioning first.

  2. Can you prep two boxes of shallots for tomorrow?

Common collocations

  • prep list
  • prep cook
  • finish your prep
  • prep time
  • morning prep
  • mise en placeThe preparation and organisation of all ingredients and tools at a station before cooking or service begins. From French, meaning "putting in place".
  • par levelThe amount of an ingredient or prepared item that should be on hand for a shift or until the next delivery. Also called par stock or just par.
  • stationAn area of the kitchen where one cook or a small team prepares one type of food, such as the grill, fry, sauce or garnish station.
  • commis chefA junior chef at the start of their career who works under a chef de partie, doing prep and learning each section of the kitchen.

More terms: Prep & Kitchen Workflow

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: