New to the F&B industry, help with vocabulary?

Question

I am a new Hostess in a southwestern restaurant and I am expected to also know the menu. I do not know Spanish so some of these items (I know not all of them are Spanish) are difficult not only for me to pronounce but I also don’t REALLY know what they are. Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

Cajeta

Charcuterie

Cotija Cheese

Frijoles

Fritata

Frites

Guajillo

Panini Bread

Quenelle

Tampiquena

Veracruz (Vera Cruz)

Answer 1

there are several great books to use.

la roussee gastronomique

The chef's compendium

here is what can help you with

Charcutierie - refers to porks and offal meats ( offal  kidneys /organs meat etc)

Fritata refers to cooking in a frying pan / skillet like an omelet that is served open face not flipped

Quenelle - refers to  a specific shape always formed by shaping the food using two tablespoons oval shapped

For recipes go to my web site and click on get recipe

Chef Robert

Author of Chef Robert Presents Romantic Dinners for Two

www.romanticdinnersfortwo.com

Answer 2

Go on amazon.com and pick up Barron's Food Lover's Companion. It's an encyclopedia of ingredients, techniques and all sorts of stuff. It's really indispensable! For now, see if you can Google the terms and start keeping a notebook with definitions.

Answer 3

Your employer should be introducing you to each menu item. If you are still out in left field about it the google these items.