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Culinary Arts & Cooking vocabulary · Menus & Courses

Special

Meaning in culinary arts & cooking, with examples

/ˈspeʃəl/nounCore term

In culinary arts & cooking, special means: A dish that is not on the regular menu but is offered for a limited time, often for one day, using seasonal ingredients or extra stock.

In Turkish: günün yemeği, günün spesiyali, şefin önerisi

How it is used

Chefs create specials to test ideas, use seasonal produce or sell surplus stock. Servers present today's specials to guests, often from a specials board. The kitchen tells the floor how many portions of the special are available.

Example sentences

  1. Tonight's special is grilled turbot with saffron butter.

  2. We only have twelve portions of the special, so tell the guests early.

Common collocations

  • today's special
  • daily special
  • specials board
  • chef's special
  • lunch special
  • menuThe list of dishes a restaurant offers, with their descriptions and usually their prices; also the planned set of dishes for a meal or event.
  • produceFresh fruit, vegetables and herbs, and sometimes other fresh farm products, as bought and stored by a kitchen.
  • 86Kitchen slang meaning that a dish or ingredient has run out and cannot be ordered, or to remove it from the menu for now. The origin of the expression is unclear.
  • portionThe amount of a food served to one person. As a verb, to portion means to divide food into equal amounts for serving.

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