Your first day in the kitchen
Find your way round the stoves, the fridges and the pantry.
Key words
Read these before you listen: you will hear most of them.
la cucinathe kitchen / cooking
In cucina siamo in quattro: lo chef, due cuochi e il lavapiatti.
Feminine. The room, the stove (una cucina a gas) and a cuisine (la cucina italiana) share the word. You work in cucina, without the article.
il fornellothe burner / hob
Accendi il fornello piccolo e scalda il latte.
Masculine, usually plural: i fornelli, the hob. Stare ai fornelli means to be the one cooking.
il fornothe oven
Le lasagne vanno in forno a 180 gradi per mezz'ora.
Masculine. Food goes in forno, without the article; al forno describes the dish: patate al forno. Il forno a legna is a wood-fired oven.
la pentolathe pot / saucepan
Metti la pentola dell'acqua per la pasta sul fuoco.
Feminine, plural le pentole. The deep one with handles; a shallow pan with a long handle is una padella.
la padellathe frying pan
Scalda l'olio in padella e aggiungi l'aglio.
Feminine, plural le padelle. Cooking something in a pan is in padella: zucchine in padella.
il coltellothe knife
Questo coltello taglia benissimo: stai attento.
Masculine, plural i coltelli. Hand a knife over by the handle, il manico, and never leave it in the sink, il lavello.
il frigoriferothe fridge
Il latte va subito in frigorifero.
Masculine; everyone says il frigo, invariable: due frigo. Things go in frigo, without the article. A walk-in fridge is la cella frigorifera.
la dispensathe pantry / dry store
La farina e il riso sono in dispensa, sul secondo scaffale.
Feminine. Also a set of photocopied course notes at university — same word, different world.
Listen: Il primo giorno in cucina
On his first morning, a new kitchen porter is shown around by the kitchen assistant. 5 questions; finishing them completes this step.
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