Kitchen spanish

[mountainbrew]

I am wondering if anyone has used the book "Kitchen Spanish," or something like it to help with everyday phrases in spanish for those, myself included, who are looking to better communicate with the staff. I am ok at simple spanglish, but my sous chef doesn't know any spanish, so we are looking for something to help us give directions easier and teach the staff better. Any ideas?

[bohica]

I always kept an English to Spanish dictionary in the kitchen. Half the book was Sp to Eng while the other half was Eng to Span. If we had a communication problem we always went to the book. Even the Hispanic workers started using it as well.

A good place to start would be with the food and vegetable terms like Onion,(savoya) squash,(calabasa) potato (papas) carrots,(tzanaoria) etc... and then move on to kitchen equipment, like sheet pan, (charolla) or plate (plato).It does get easier. Best of luck.

[mark1]

Yeah, give them a book written in Spanish called "Kitchen English", right after you see their green card.

[fooddude]

I have always found good old simple communication works best. Ask the spanish speakers how to say "X" in spanish and then you tell them in english...a few words a day ....write em down ....amazing how fast you can learn, teach,boost moral and earn respect.

[lebelage]

Gotta say I'm with Shel on this one.

[Silverfox]

Job applications are in English.

Employee Handbook is in English.

Job Descriptions are in English.

Employment laws are posted in English.

The menu is in English.

The language of communication in the kitchen AND FOH is English.

Get the message?

[bohica]

Job applications are in English.

Employee Handbook is in English.

Job Descriptions are in English.

Employment laws are posted in English.

The menu is in English.

The language of communication in the kitchen AND FOH is English.

Get the message?

How right you are, but unfortunately the numbers of Spanish speaking employees makes it impossible to insure that everybody is on the English page. So until our country makes it a law that in order to work and live here you must speak English your words fall on deaf ears.

Oh and by the way....the Federal government has all their laminated and posted federal employment guidelines in Spanish as well as English.

[Goose]

Job applications are in English.

Employee Handbook is in English.

Job Descriptions are in English.

Employment laws are posted in English.

The menu is in English.

The language of communication in the kitchen AND FOH is English.

Get the message?

OK. I have a serious question surrounding this. I am a culinary student (career changer) and when discussing my career change with my wife, and talking about the salaries/wages of cooks in the Chicago area, she freaked a bit (I currently make 6 figures in my day job and will be making about $8.00 - $10.00 an hour as a cook, so it is a huge difference). Why is the pay scale so terrible as a cook? It is becuase of that is being discussed in this thread? Is it that there are people (read: illegal aliens) that have taken over the kitches and driven the wages down? Is it because the industry (for the most part) is non-union? I think, at least in the Chicago area, it is the former, but it could be a combination of things. What are your thoughts? What do you think can be done to correct the problem (it you see it as a problem, then is)?

[Silverfox]

Excellent question "Goose", and most answers would be very complex.

One large "factor" is the underlying philosophy that seems prevalent in the restaurant industry, IMHO. That of "cutting costs" to match revenues. With "labor" being such a significant portion of costs, it becomes an obvious target for "cost cutters".

As long as a majority of restaurants compete on "price", low wages will continue to prevail.

Immigration, legal and otherwise, plays a role but I seriously question whether it is a "causal factor" directly. As long as "cost cutting" remains as a major, acceptable practice, their will be incentives for "immigrant labor".

What is the solution? That's a far more complex question.

[garball]

Maybe this should be its own thread, but I have to add to the previous two posts. Many times we talk about cheep labor, revenue, competiton, high food costs, etc. Is it possible that we are competing ourselves into a world of mediocrity? Cut cost here, cut costs there, but everybody knows you have to spend money to make money and that you get what you pay for. What if somebody were to actually pay for good cooks, take the time to make as much as possible in house, and charge reasoably enough for it? Would they go out of business for being too expensive or would the patrons recognize the quality and not care about the highter prices?

[lebelage]

" Is it that there are people (read: illegal aliens) that have taken over the kitches and driven the wages down?"

Yes.

People here will argue with me but the fact is, yes.

[Dragonvet]

I am wondering if anyone has used the book "Kitchen Spanish," or something like it to help with everyday phrases in spanish for those, myself included, who are looking to better communicate with the staff. I am ok at simple spanglish, but my sous chef doesn't know any spanish, so we are looking for something to help us give directions easier and teach the staff better. Any ideas?

Rosetta Stone is an excellent product for learning languages. Despite the oppinion of some who feel we should not learn Spanish because everything in the country is in English, I believe it's 100% essential. Like it or not, these are the folks that serve America, right up to Les Halles. Learn Spanish!

[ChezLeRecherche]

Ah! Well then they have also taken over the fields, orchards, vinyards, and milking parlors and are keeping down the cost of food.

[bohica]

Ok let's take an example here......Why would an Applebies hire a certified culinarian at $12.00 to $15.00 an hour when they can have a college age or high school kid make the same food for only $8.50 an hour?

The industry does not recognize cooking as a noble profession. Realize that there are many people out there who have no formal education in culinary. Anyone can open a restaurant. And that's the rub!

Until we (collectively in the restaurant and foodservice) have within our ranks a professional demeanor and outlook that extends to all walks of the industry, and perhaps if Congress took a look at this, things would change.

[onocoffee]

Woah, I think we should think again before calling on Congress and the government to become more involved in our businesses.

It's all to easy to blind ourselves to the fact that many of our families came to America as "illegal immigrants" - those who merely boarded ships to sail across the Atlantic and arrive in America without a "visa" to begin a new and better life in the New World.

Like today's Hispanic, those new immigrants also lived in ethnic ghettoes and didn't speak "english" until the successive generations came forth.

We should bear in mind that many of these Hispanic workers who work for what we consider "a pittance" are making more than they would in their homeland. Yet they are able to survive, support families and save on this same "pittance." Perhaps they should be a model for us to consider.

Bottom line is that many of these Hispanic workers are worth much more than we're paying them. They bust their butts on the line and can cook better than most culinary school "graduates." I've worked with them and they keep grinding it out - hours past the point where privileged white kids would pass out from "exhaustion."

I got no problem with learning Spanish to communicate with the crew. Certainly better than proving the "dumb American" theory the rest of the world has about us because we can only speak "english."