Tip Line: how to set out a menu question for the kitchen
This page shows how to set out a menu question, about a pizza or barbecue menu or a cook’s word for the food, so the kitchen or counter staff can answer it. This site takes no messages yet. Its notes explain common terms in general and never name a business. New to the vocabulary? Begin with the glossary on Start Here.
Who this page is for
Anyone who has read a menu and not known what a word meant can use this page. Readers who arrive here are often new to wood-fired cooking or barbecue. You do not need to know the food already, only to copy the line that confused you. No question is too basic to put to the staff.
What makes a question easy to answer
Copy the exact wording, with its capitals and punctuation, and note where you saw it. Name a business only if it is the reason you are asking. The notes stay general, because a menu line tells you what is offered, not how it tastes. They never describe a business’s food from its menu alone.
Bring the whole line, not just the word
A menu word often means more beside the other words on its line. When you copy a line, include the section heading or the price column if they are printed, because they show whether an item is a main, a side or a shared plate.
Where a menu word usually comes from
Most menu words come from one of four places: the fire, the cut of meat or the dough, the sauce or the rub, and the cooking time. Knowing which of the four a word belongs to shows whether it changes the choice you are making.
A word that names the fire, such as wood-fired or charcoal, usually tells you about the crust or the bark. A word that names the cut, such as brisket or shoulder, tells you about fat, texture and time. Cooking time hides in plain sight, because a menu seldom states it. Ask about it if tenderness or richness matters to your choice.
Three steps from question to answer
Copy the line exactly as it was written
Paste the menu line or the cook’s description word for word. Keep the capital letters and the punctuation, because they often show where one item ends and the next begins. A word like rub can mean a dry mix or a wet marinade, and only the surrounding words show which one the kitchen means. If the line is long, copy the part with the word and the words just before it.
Say which decision the answer should help with
Is it what to order, what to ask a server, or how two options differ on the plate? The same word leads to a different answer for each decision, so name the decision as well as the word. Say which matters more to you, taste, cost or how filling the dish is.
Take the question to the kitchen or counter staff
Ask the staff what the word means in their kitchen, whether it names a cut, a method or a sauce, and how long the food was cooked. For a business’s hours, prices or what is available today, ask the business at its counter, because this site does not know them. This page never names a business, so the staff are the people to ask about any particular dish.
Which questions the notes on this site cover
| Question | Include | What the notes do with it |
|---|---|---|
| A menu term you do not know | The word and the line it came from | Explained in plain words |
| A cooking method, such as wood-fired or smoked | The method as the menu names it | Explained, with what it changes in the food |
| Two options you are choosing between | The two options and what matters to you | Trade-offs set out, with the questions worth asking |
| A business’s hours, prices or what is available today | Nothing here: ask that business directly | Not covered on this site |
| Naming a business or ranking its food | Nothing here | Never covered on this site |
| Note: this site does not check any business’s current menu, prices or hours. The menu itself is the source for what is on offer today, and a term explained here may not match how a particular kitchen uses it. | ||