Meaning & use
prep chef
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Meanings
nouncountableinformal
A cook whose main job is to prepare ingredients before the dishes are cooked and plated.
Grammar: Countable: say 'a prep chef' or 'three prep chefs'.
Patterns
- work as a prep chef
- a prep chef in a restaurant
He started as a prep chef, chopping onions and washing lettuce all morning.
The prep chef had everything ready before the dinner rush began.
She hired a prep chef so the line cooks could focus on cooking.
nouncountableinformal
A senior kitchen worker who organizes the preparation work of other kitchen staff.
Grammar: Countable and used with job titles: 'the prep chef' often means one specific person.
Patterns
- the prep chef supervises someone
- promote someone to prep chef
As prep chef, Maria decides what gets chopped first each morning.
The head chef promoted him to prep chef after two years on the line.
Word forms
| plural | prep chefs |
|---|
Common combinations
- work as a prep chef
- She works as a prep chef at a hotel downtown.
- hire a prep chef
- The owner hired a prep chef to speed up service.
- prep chef duties
- His prep chef duties include making stocks and sauces.
- train as a prep chef
- He trained as a prep chef before moving to pastry.
Synonyms and how they differ
- prep cook
- Almost the same job, but 'prep cook' is the more usual term on written job listings.
- kitchen assistant
- Broader and less skilled; a kitchen assistant may also wash dishes and clean, while a prep chef mainly prepares food.
Word family
- prep verb
- To prepare food or ingredients before cooking.
- prep work noun
- The chopping, measuring and organizing done before cooking starts.
Commonly confused: prep chef or sous-chef?
prep chef vs sous-chef
A sous-chef is the second in command in a kitchen, a much more senior role than a prep chef.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'prep chef' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'A prep chef' is a countable job noun, so it needs an article and can follow 'is'. Option 2 drops the preposition 'at', option 3 turns the noun into a verb, and option 4 invents a verb form that does not exist.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “prep chef”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.