The Vocabulary Show: Kitchens & cooking - Learn 28 English words and phrases in 11 minutes! 👩‍🍳

Welcome to this sizzling hot video on kitchen and cooking vocabulary.

We're about to whisk you away

to a world of sautéing pans, simmering pots and baking delights.

Whether you're a seasoned chef or a newbie in the kitchen,

you're sure to find plenty of food for thought in this tasty lesson.

So, let's get cooking and learn the words, phrases and idioms

that you need to know to spice up your vocabulary.

Hi, I'm Dylan and welcome to my kitchen.

I hope you're hungry, because today, we are going to 'cook up a storm'.

When we 'cook up a storm', we put a lot of effort or enthusiasm into our cooking.

For example, I 'cook up a storm' on Christmas Day.

This means I put an extra amount of enthusiasm and effort

into the meals I cook on Christmas Day.

I hope our first phrase has 'whet your appetite'

for more useful cooking vocabulary.

If something 'whets your appetite', it leaves you wanting more of that thing.

We can use it with regards to food and drink.

For example, mm, the heavenly smell has really 'whet my appetite'.

But we can also use it in any context

where one thing increases your desire for something else.

For example, the advert for the new film really 'whetted my appetite'.

I can't wait to see it.

'Whet', W-H-E-T, is an old English word which means 'to sharpen',

so when we talk about 'whetting our appetite',

be sure to include the H, W-H-E-T.

This is a regular verb,

so if we use it in the past simple or in the present continuous,

we use a double T —

'whetted' in the past or 'whetting' in the continuous.

Now that your appetite is 'whetted',

let's go into the kitchen and start to 'prep'.

OK. I'm sure most of you are familiar with the word 'prepare',

which means to get something ready or to make something for later on,

but we can also shorten it to 'prep'

and often do so when talking about preparing food for cooking later on.

We can use 'prep' as a verb,

for example: Sonia preps her dinner before she goes to work.

We can also use it as a noun:

let's go into the kitchen and do some prep.

OK, let's take out our 'chopping board', which is the flat piece of plastic or wood

which we use to cut food on and begin to prep.

There are a number of ways to prep food,

but one common way is to slice your vegetables.

When you 'slice' something, you cut it into long, thin strips

and some common vegetables that we would slice

could be potatoes, onions, courgettes, carrots and many, many more.

Or you might 'chop' your vegetables and meat

and this is when you cut them into small, bite-sized pieces.

'Chop' is a special kind of word.

It is an example of 'onomatopoeia'

and this is when a word sounds like the word it represents.

Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop.

The word 'chop' sounds a little bit like the action, doesn't it?

Now there are many, many examples of onomatopoeia

in the kitchen and in relation to cooking.

Can you think of your own examples and share them in the comments section below?

Let's see how many we can collect together.

Moving on, if you are really organised - more organised than I am,

then you might want to 'marinate' your ingredients

and this is when you soak your ingredients in an oil or a sauce or in spices

over a period of time, so that it has more flavour when you cook it.

'Marinate' is the verb form, for example,

I marinated the beef overnight, so it is really flavourful. Mwah!

And 'marinade' is the noun form.

This is the liquid or spice that you put over food before cooking it.

So, we say: I marinated the beef

or: I put the beef in a marinade.

Let's head over to the stove and get cooking.

A 'stove' is a piece of equipment that provides heat for use in cooking.

They can be fixed in place or they can be portable,

meaning they are able to be moved.

Let's turn it on and decide which pots and pans we are going to use today.

For soups or stews, we might use a 'saucepan',

which is a long, deep pan with a handle.

They are great for boiling potatoes or boiling pasta,

but today, we are going to use a frying pan.

A 'frying pan' is a shallow pan

that we use to fry meat, vegetables, fish or other ingredients.

Frying pans are really common in British kitchens

and they are an essential part of traditional cooking.

They are not to be confused with woks.

'Woks' are more commonly used in Asian cooking

and they have a large, rounded bottom which makes them perfect for stir-frying.

Let's get back to our frying pan

and put it on a medium heat.

Next, we are going to drizzle some oil into our pan.

We can use the word 'drizzle' when it is raining lightly, just a little bit.

But, in the kitchen, we use it when we are pouring a liquid

slowly and evenly on or in something.

So we can drizzle some oil into a frying pan

or we can drizzle a little olive oil over a salad.

When the oil is nice and hot, we can add some sliced ginger and garlic.

To 'add' something means to put it into the food.

So, in this case, we are adding ginger and garlic,

we are putting it into the pan.

We can use it during the cooking process or we can use it afterwards.

For example, Jaden added some olives into his salad.

When cooking, we are going to need some cooking utensils,

so here are some of the ones that we might use regularly.

You might need a ladle.

Tongs.

Grater.

Rolling pin.

Tin opener,

or a measuring jug.

OK, back to our meal.

Next, we are going to 'fry' our ingredients.

This is when we cook them in shallow oil in a pan,

in this case, a frying pan.

So, let's add our meat and vegetables to the oil, ginger and garlic

that are already in the pan.

'Fry' is a verb.

For example, Nadia is frying eggs.

OK, we're nearly done, but before we finish cooking,

we're going to add a little seasoning.

'Seasoning' is a noun

and it is something that we do at the end of the cooking process

or at the table.

In the UK, we frequently use it to talk about salt and pepper,

but it can apply to other herbs and spices as well.

Hmm, this meal's a little bland.

I think I'll add a little seasoning.

Alternatively, we can use its verb form: 'season'.

I'm going to season my meal with a little cumin and black pepper.

At last! The meal is ready. Yes.

The cooking is done and now it is time to 'plate up'.

This means to put the food onto the plates

and often means in an attractive or stylish way

to make it look particularly delicious.

For example: Dinner's ready - I'm going to plate up now.

Alternative version of this phrase include 'dish up' and 'serve up'.

Take your seat, I'm about to dish up.

or: Food won't be long - I'm about to serve up.

When it's actually time to eat, just before starting your meal,

some people might say 'bon appétit'.

As you might be able to tell from its pronunciation and spelling,

this originally comes from the French, but we do commonly use it in English too.

There are two common ways that this can be pronounced.

You can say 'bon appét-ee', with a long 'ee' sound at the end,

which is closer to the original French,

or you can pronounce it 'bon appét-eet' with a 't' sound at the end.

Both are fine - it's down to your personal preference.

Mm, yum-yum, that was delicious.

But what are some common ways to describe the foods we like?

Well, the classic, the one that most students know,

is, of course, 'delicious'.

Some other words that are specifically used for delicious food and drink

include 'scrumptious',

'tasty', and 'yummy'.

Now that we have had our delicious, tasty, scrumptious, yummy meal,

it is time to finish our lesson on kitchen and cooking vocabulary.

so be sure to practise them.

Write them down, make example sentences.

You can do this in your notebook or in the comments section.

The more you study them, the easier it will be to remember them.

Let us know your favourite vocabulary you have learned today

and any other words you think we've missed

and be sure to like, comment and subscribe here on YouTube

and, of course, you can check us out on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok,

or you can find lots and lots more grammar, pronunciation,

spelling, vocabulary and lots more

on our website at BBC Learning English dot com.

If you enjoy food and cooking, I'm sure you'd also love our lesson on eating out,

which you can find here.

And that's it for us.

Happy cooking, enjoy your week, bon appétit, bye!