Restaurant Vocabulary

Carrot is a root vegetable with an elongated orange taproot, commonly eaten raw or cooked. In everyday speech, it refers to the vegetable, not the color itself. The word is a two-syllable noun used across cooking, nutrition, and gardening contexts, typically stressed on the first syllable.

Cashier (n.) a person employed to receive, count, and record money in a shop or bank, or to perform duties at a checkout. The term can also describe someone who handles payments professionally, as in a cashiering role. It denotes a job function centered on money handling and customer service in retail or financial settings.

Casserole is a noun for a baked dish consisting of mixed ingredients, typically including meat or vegetables, bound with a sauce and cooked slowly. It can refer to both the dish itself and the cooking vessel. In everyday use, it denotes comfort-food meals prepared for sharing, often versatile and hearty with layered flavors.

Celery is a crunchy, pale-green vegetable stalk with a mild, slightly peppery flavor. It is commonly used in salads, stocks, and as a snack, valued for its crisp texture and refreshing aroma. As a noun, it also denotes the plant that yields these stalks, often grown in cool weather and harvested for its fibrous, water-rich stems.

Cheddar is a hard, typically orange-yellow cheese named after the English village of Cheddaring, well known for its distinct sharp flavor. In everyday use it refers to a type of cheese widely consumed in slices, grated, or melted, and it’s common in British and American cuisine. The term also appears in informal phrases and brand names beyond the cheese itself.

Cheese is a dairy product made from curdled milk, often aged and processed for flavor and texture. As a noun, it encompasses a wide range of varieties, from soft to hard. The term also appears in phrases like “say cheese” to prompt smiling for photos. It’s a common item in meals, snacks, and recipes worldwide.

Chef is a noun referring to a professional cook, typically the head cook in a kitchen or restaurant. It denotes someone skilled in culinary arts and kitchen leadership. The term carries connotations of expertise, artistry, and authority in food preparation, often implying formal training and experience beyond generic cooks.

Chicken is a common noun referring to a domesticated bird kept for its meat or eggs, or to meat from that bird. It can also appear in informal phrases and idioms. In everyday speech it’s used broadly, often as a reference to food, livestock, or a timid person in slang. The term is widely understood across English dialects.

Cilantro is a noun referring to the fresh leaves of the coriander plant, used as an herb in cooking. In American English, the term commonly denotes the leaves, while in some places the herb is called coriander; the seeds are likewise sold separately. The word also appears in culinary contexts to describe dishes that feature this herb. The pronunciation can vary between dialects and is often a topic of debate in food circles.

Coriander is a two- to three-syllable noun referring to the aromatic plant whose seeds are used whole or ground as a spice, and whose fresh leaves are commonly called cilantro in North America. The term covers both the herb (cilantro) and the dried seeds (coriander seeds), with culinary uses ranging from garnish to spice. It’s widely used in cuisines around the world for its citrusy, warm flavor.

Corn is a noun meaning the large cultivated grain plant Zea mays or the edible kernels it bears on cobs. In North American English, it often refers specifically to maize, while in other varieties it can mean any cereal grain or, contextually, a hard seed from different grasses. It can also denote a staple food product made from these kernels. The term also appears in phrases like street corn or corn-on-the-cob.

A small, flaky, crescent-shaped pastry of French origin, traditionally made by laminating dough with butter to form many thin layers. It is typically baked golden and crisp on the outside with a soft, airy crumb inside. The term is commonly used to refer to the pastry in many cuisines, with regional variations in sweetness and size.

Cumin is a drying spice made from the seeds of the Cuminum cyminum plant, widely used to flavor dishes. It has a warm, earthy aroma and flavor with slightly citrusy notes. In cooking, cumin is often used whole or ground, and it appears in many spice blends and regional cuisines.

Customer is a noun referring to a person who purchases goods or services from a business. It denotes a buyer or client and can imply a relationship based on exchange or service. In everyday use, it often appears in contexts like support, marketing, and sales, with emphasis on the recipient of a product or service rather than a passive observer.