COMMON TERMS USED IN THE LARDER
Aging: Holding meats in coolers under controlled conditions to allow natural tenderizing to take place.
AP required: As-purchased amount necessary to yield the desired EP weight. AP required is computed as EP required divided by yield percentage.
Antipasto: Italian Hors d’oeuvre
Beginning inventory: The dollar value of all products on hand at the beginning of the accounting period. This amount is determined by completing a physical inventory.
Bin card: An index card with both additions to and deletions from the inventory of a given product. To facilitate its use, the card is usually affixed to the shelf that holds the given item. Used in a perpetual inventory system.
Canapé: An hors d’oeuvre consisting of a small piece of bread or toast, often cut in decorative shape, garnished with savory spread or topping.
Carpaccio: Very thin slices of meat or fish, served raw.
Carryover: A menu item prepared for sale during a meal period but carried over for use in a different meal period.
Casing: A synthetic or natural membrane used to enclose sausage forcemeat.
Caul: A fatty membrane that covers the stomach of a pig; used for wrapping meats for cooking and for lining terrines.
Chitterlings: Pork intestines.
Coulis: A vegetable or fruit puree, used as a sauce.
Crepinette: A sausage patty wrapped in the caul.
Crudités: A raw vegetable served as a relish.
Daily inventory sheet: A form that lists the items in storage, the unit of purchase, and the par value. It also contains the following columns: on hand, special order, and order amount.
Edible portion (EP): This term refers to the weight or count of a product after it has been trimmed, cooked, and portioned.
Ending inventory: The dollar value of all products on hand at the end of the accounting period. This amount is determined by completing a physical inventory.
First-in, first-out (FIFO): Term used to describe a method of storage in which the operator intends to sell his or her oldest product before selling the most recently delivered product.
Forcemeat: A mixture of chopped or ground meat and other ingredients used for pates, sausages, and other preparations.
Garniture: Garnish; the act or process of garnishing.
Inventory turnover: The number of times the total value of inventory has been purchased and replaced in an accounting period.
Lard: The rendered fat of hogs; to insert strips of fat into meats low in marbling.
Last-in, first-out (LIFO): Term used to describe a method of storage in which the operator intends to sell his or her most recently delivered product before selling the older product.
Par level: A system of determining the purchase point by using management-established minimum and maximum allowable inventory levels for a given inventory item.
Requisition: When a food or beverage product is requested from storage by an employee for use in an operation.
Shelf life: The period of time an ingredient or menu item maintains its freshness, flavor, and quality.
Tripe: The muscular stomach lining of beef or other meat animals.
Waste percentage: This formula is defined as product loss divided by AP weight and refers to product loss in the preparation process.
Working stock: The number of goods from inventory reasonably expected to be used between deliveries.
Yield percentage: This formula is defined as 1 minus waste percentage and refers to the amount of product available for use by the operator after all preparation-related losses have been taken into account.
Yield test: A procedure used to determine actual EP ingredient costs. It is used to help establish actual costs on a product that will experience weight or volume loss in preparation.