Pancyprian TS Cooking Arts cheat sheet

Brigade de cuisine hierarchy: executive chef, sous-chef, chef de partie (station chef), commis, apprentice; each partie owns one station and reports upward through the sous-chef.

Classical stations: saucier (sauces and sauté), poissonnier (fish), rôtisseur (roasts and grills), entremetier (vegetables and starches), garde-manger (cold larder), pâtissier (pastry), tournant (relief).

Mise en place means all ingredients prepped, measured, and within arm's reach before service; a station is not 'set' until tools, containers, and labels are in place.

Standard recipe costing: portion cost = (AP price per unit ÷ yield %) × portion quantity; menu price = portion cost ÷ target food cost %.

Food cost % = (cost of goods sold ÷ food sales) × 100; a rise with stable prices usually signals over-portioning, waste, or theft.

Par stock = minimum reserve + expected usage between deliveries; reorder point = usage per day × delivery lead time + safety stock.

Communication rules: call orders ('fire', 'on the fly', '86') aloud, repeat back to confirm, and use ticket order as the only priority sequence.

Workflow design: raw-to-cooked flows one direction, clean-to-dirty flows the other; crossing paths create contamination and collisions.

HACCP seven principles: hazard analysis, identify CCPs, set critical limits, monitor, corrective action, verification, record-keeping.

Danger zone 5–63 °C; bacteria multiply fastest between 20 °C and 50 °C; keep high-risk food out of the zone except during brief prep.

Two-hour/four-hour rule: under 2 hours in the danger zone may be returned to refrigeration; 2–4 hours must be used immediately; over 4 hours discard.

Safe internal cores: poultry 74 °C, minced meat 71 °C, whole pork and fish 63 °C, reheated food 74 °C for at least 2 minutes.

Cooling rule: 63 °C to 21 °C within 2 hours, then 21 °C to 5 °C within a further 4 hours; total cooling not more than 6 hours.

Handwashing: hot running water, soap, 20 seconds, dry with disposable towel; required after toilet, raw meat/fish handling, waste, and before ready-to-eat work.

Cross-contamination controls: colour-coded boards, separate raw and RTE storage (raw below RTE), covered containers, sanitised surfaces at 82 °C rinse or approved chemical.

Pest and waste control: waste bins lidded and emptied before two-thirds full; screens on windows; gaps under doors under 6 mm.

Seasoning adds salt (and acid) to enhance inherent flavour; flavouring adds a new taste element such as herbs, spice, or citrus zest.

Taste balance: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami; a dish is balanced when no single taste dominates and fat/acid cut richness.

Maillard reaction begins around 140–165 °C on dry surfaces and needs low moisture; it produces browning and savoury aroma, not caramelisation.

Caramelisation is sugar pyrolysis, starting around 160–170 °C; it is a distinct process from Maillard browning.

Emulsion types: oil-in-water (mayonnaise, hollandaise, milk) and water-in-oil (butter, vinaigrette); a stabiliser such as lecithin or mustard prevents splitting.

Roux stages: white (cooked briefly), blond (2–3 minutes), brown (longer, darker); equal weights of flour and fat by weight, not volume.

Standard breading sequence: flour, egg wash, crumb; each layer must coat fully or the next layer will not adhere.

Seasoning timing: salt starchy water at the start, salt meat before searing, acid at the end; taste at every stage, not only at plating.

Classical cuts: brunoise 1–2 mm cube, julienne 1–2 mm × 40 mm, bâtonnet 6 × 6 × 40 mm, macedoine 6 mm cube, paysanne 1–2 mm thick slices.

Chiffonade is fine ribbon slicing of leafy herbs or greens; roll the leaf tightly and cut across the roll with a sharp knife.

Knife anatomy: blade, spine, edge, heel, tip, bolster, tang, handle, rivets; the heel is for heavy work, the tip for precision.

Honing realigns the edge; sharpening removes metal. Steel lightly before use, sharpen on a whetstone or grinder at roughly 15–20° per side.

Claw grip protects fingertips: fingertips tucked, knuckles guiding the blade, thumb and little finger behind the food.

Equipment matching: convection oven for even browning and volume baking, combi oven for moisture control, blast chiller for rapid cooling through the danger zone.

Thermometers: probe for core temperature, infrared for surface only (not core), calibration in ice water at 0 °C and boiling water at 100 °C at sea level.

Knife safety: carry blade down and back, never leave in a sink, pass handle-first, clean immediately after raw protein use.

AP (as purchased) vs EP (edible portion): yield % = (EP weight ÷ AP weight) × 100; EP cost per kg = AP cost per kg ÷ yield %.

Example: 10 kg whole fish at €8/kg, yield 60%; EP cost = €80 ÷ 6 kg = €13.33/kg.

Perishable storage temperatures: fresh meat 0–2 °C, fish 0–2 °C on ice, dairy 2–4 °C, fresh produce 4–8 °C, dry store 10–20 °C at under 60% humidity.

Ethylene producers (apples, bananas, tomatoes) accelerate ripening and spoilage of sensitive items (leafy greens, cucumbers); store separately.

Selection cues: fish - clear eyes, red gills, firm flesh, sea smell; beef - cherry-red lean, firm fat, no slime; eggs - clean shell, no cracks.

FIFO and date labelling: new stock behind old, day dots on all opened containers, discard at use-by date regardless of appearance.

Costing terms: food cost, gross profit, contribution margin, waste, trim, shrinkage; shrinkage is weight lost to trimming, cooking, and cooling.

Purchasing specs state grade, size, cut, packaging, and delivery temperature; without a spec, price comparison is meaningless.

White stock: bones blanched, cold water start, gentle simmer 3–4 hours (beef 6–8 hours), skim regularly; never boil, or the stock turns cloudy.

Brown stock: bones roasted at 200 °C until deep brown, then simmered; tomato and mirepoix added for colour and depth.

Court-bouillon is an acidulated, aromatised poaching liquid for fish and shellfish, not a stock; it is used once.

Fumet is a quick fish stock (20–30 minutes); dashi is a Japanese stock of kombu and katsuobushi, steeped not boiled.

Five mother sauces: béchamel (milk + white roux), velouté (white stock + blond roux), espagnole (brown stock + brown roux + tomato), hollandaise (butter emulsion + egg yolk + acid), tomato (tomato + stock + roux or reduction).

Soup families: clear (consommé, broth), thick (cream, purée, velouté-based), special (bisque, chowder, gazpacho); consommé is clarified with a raft of egg white, minced meat, and mirepoix.

Sauce ratios: béchamel roughly 100 g roux per 1 L milk; hollandaise holds at 60–65 °C and splits above 70 °C.

Reduction concentrates flavour and salt; add salt only after reduction, and finish sauces off the heat with cold butter (monter au beurre).

Heat transfer modes: conduction (direct contact), convection (moving air or liquid), radiation (grill, broiler), induction (magnetic, pan only).

Moist methods: poach 70–85 °C, simmer 85–95 °C, boil 100 °C, steam 100 °C at atmospheric pressure; moist heat tenderises collagen.

Dry methods: roast, bake, grill, broil, sauté, pan-fry, deep-fry (160–190 °C); dry heat drives Maillard browning and crust formation.

Combination methods: braise (sear then liquid, covered, low heat), stew, pot-roast, fricassee; the sear is for flavour, the braise for tenderness.

Collagen converts to gelatin with long moist heat at 70–80 °C; this is why braised shank is tender while grilled shank is tough.

Deep-frying: oil 175–190 °C, food dry before frying, do not overload (temperature drop causes greasy food); discard oil when it smokes or foams.

Sous-vide is precise moist-heat cooking in a vacuum bag; pasteurisation depends on both temperature and time (e.g. 60 °C held longer than 65 °C).

Carryover cooking: large roasts rise 3–8 °C after removal; rest meat 10–20 minutes before carving.

Meat connective tissue: collagen (breaks down with moist heat) and elastin (does not break down; trim it away).

Cuts by locomotion: working muscles (shoulder, leg, shank) are tough and collagen-rich - braise; resting muscles (loin, rib) are tender - roast or grill.

Poultry safe core 74 °C; stuffing must reach 74 °C or be cooked separately; never stuff a bird the day before.

Fish cooking: flesh is done when it flakes and turns opaque; 60–63 °C core, or roughly 10 minutes per 2.5 cm thickness at 180 °C.

Flat fish (sole, plaice, turbot) vs round fish (salmon, cod, sea bass); round fish yield two fillets, flat fish yield four.

Shellfish: molluscs (mussels, clams, oysters) close when alive; discard open ones before cooking and unopened ones after.

Crustaceans (lobster, crab, shrimp) turn red when cooked as astaxanthin releases from protein; overcooking makes them rubbery.

Resting and carving: rest meat to redistribute juices; carve across the grain to shorten muscle fibres.

Vegetable pigments: chlorophyll (green, destroyed by acid and long heat), carotenoids (yellow-orange, fat-soluble), anthocyanins (red-purple, sensitive to pH), betalains (beetroot).

Blanching and shocking sets green colour; add a pinch of bicarbonate only briefly, as it destroys texture and vitamins.

Legumes: soak dried beans 8–12 hours, discard soaking water, simmer gently; salt early is acceptable in modern practice and improves texture.

Legume cooking times from dry: lentils 20–30 minutes, split peas 30–45 minutes, chickpeas 60–90 minutes, kidney beans 60–90 minutes after a hard boil of at least 10 minutes.

Pasta: 1 L water per 100 g pasta, salt about 10 g per litre; cook to al dente, reserve starchy water to emulsify sauce.

Rice: long-grain absorbs roughly 1.5–2 parts water to 1 part rice; risotto uses short-grain rice and gradual stock addition for starch release.

Egg coagulation: yolk 65–70 °C, white 60–65 °C; overcooking causes green-grey ferrous sulphide ring in boiled eggs.

Egg functions: binder, leavener (whipped white), emulsifier (lecithin in yolk), glaze, clarifier, thickener.

Gluten forms from glutenin and gliadin plus water and work; low-protein flour for pastry, high-protein for bread.

Baker's percentage: flour = 100%, all other ingredients expressed as % of flour weight; hydration = water weight ÷ flour weight × 100.

Yeast fermentation produces CO2 and ethanol; dough proof at 25–28 °C until doubled; salt controls yeast and strengthens gluten.

Laminated doughs: croissant and puff pastry rely on alternating butter and dough layers; keep butter and dough at similar cool temperature (around 15–18 °C).

Sugar stages: soft ball 116–118 °C, hard ball 122–125 °C, soft crack 132–143 °C, hard crack 149–154 °C, caramel 160–170 °C.

Custard and crème anglaise set at 82–85 °C; above 85 °C egg proteins curdle - strain immediately if it starts to grain.

Chocolate tempering: melt to 45–50 °C, cool to 27–28 °C, reheat to 31–32 °C (dark) or 29–30 °C (milk/white) for snap and shine.

Scaling accuracy: weigh, do not volume-measure, in pastry; a 1% error in flour is acceptable, a 10% error changes structure.

Portion control: weigh key proteins and starches; standard portion size is the basis of food cost and consistency across covers.

Plate composition: protein, starch, vegetable, sauce, garnish; aim for roughly one-third protein, one-third starch, one-third vegetable on the plate.

Balance on the plate: vary colour, texture, temperature, height, and negative space; avoid crowding the rim.

Sauce placement: under the protein for a pool, alongside for a streak, over for a glaze; never flood the plate.

Menu engineering matrix: stars (high popularity, high margin), plough horses (high popularity, low margin), puzzles (low popularity, high margin), dogs (low popularity, low margin).

Menu pricing methods: food cost percentage, contribution margin, and psychological pricing; check each dish's margin, not just its cost.

Menu design rules: describe honestly, list allergens, order courses logically, balance cooking methods and equipment load across the menu.

Portion tools: scoops by number (No. 8 ≈ 120 ml, No. 16 ≈ 60 ml, No. 30 ≈ 30 ml), ladles by ounce, scales for proteins.