# Chef, Cuisine, Chef de Cuisine, Haute Cuisine -- What Does It All Mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 22, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518 "2004-04-22T21:58:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/1 "2004-04-22T21:58:11Z")
I assume that the French word _chef_ literally means “boss;” as do the Spanish _jéfe_ and the similar-sounding English synonym for “boss,” _chief_. _Cuisine_ has come to mean “fancy food” in colloquial English. But I was looking in a childrens’ French primer and saw the word _cuisine_ on a map of a house, leading me to believe that it literally means “kitchen.” Compare that to the word for “kitchen” in other Romance languages: _cocina_ in Spanish and _cucina_ in Italian. So, does that mean that _Chef de Cuisine_ literally means “boss of the kitchen”? (I can see where the word _cuisine_ could mean either “kitchen” or “cooking” (“cooking” here being a noun, as in “Let’s try Grandma’s cooking”).) And _haute cuisine_? Doesn’t _haute_ mean “baked,” as in _Terre Haute_ (Baked Earth), Indiana? Please help me sort all of this out, _sil vous plait_. ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/2 "2004-04-22T22:19:16Z")
_cuisine_ does mean kitchen. The usage _$adjective cuisine_ to mean “$adjective kind/style of cooking” seems to be formed by metonymy. _haute_ is the form of the adjective _haut_ (=high) applied to a feminine noun, i.e. _haute cuisine_ = high (in the sense of very good) cooking. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/3 "2004-04-22T22:31:32Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I assume that the French word _chef_ literally means “boss;” as do the Spanish _jéfe_ and the similar-sounding English synonym for “boss,” _chief_. Yes. It does mean that. From a latin word meaning “head”. > [@](#): > > _Cuisine_ has come to mean “fancy food” in colloquial English. But I was looking in a childrens’ French primer and saw the word _cuisine_ on a map of a house, leading me to believe that it literally means “kitchen.” Compare that to the word for “kitchen” in other Romance languages: _cocina_ in Spanish and _cucina_ in Italian. Cuisine means “kitchen”, indeed. But it also means “cuisine” and “cooking”. > [@](#): > > So, does that mean that _Chef de Cuisine_ literally means “boss of the kitchen”? (I can see where the word _cuisine_ could mean either “kitchen” or “cooking” (“cooking” here being a noun, as in “Let’s try Grandma’s cooking”).) Yes. A “chef” was originally (still is, actually) the boss of the kitchens, the main cook. > [@](#): > > And _haute cuisine_? Doesn’t _haute_ mean “baked,” as in _Terre Haute_ (Baked Earth), Indiana? “haute” never has a meaning even remotely similar to “baked”. It means “high”. “Terre Haute” would mean “High Land”. Hence, “haute cuisine” would refer to an highly skilled way of preparing food. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/4 "2004-04-22T22:34:41Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Hence, “haute cuisine” would refer to an highly skilled way of preparing food. Or a way to make Pot brownies. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/5 "2004-04-22T22:47:01Z")
Actually, “Chef” means “incredibly handsome and intelligent”. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/6 "2004-04-23T02:10:19Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > Or a way to make Pot brownies. Alas, _haut(e)_ does not have this connotation in French. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/7 "2004-04-23T02:19:38Z")
cuisine = there are no double cheeseburgers on the menu haute cuisine = there are DEFINITELY no double cheeseburgers on the menu chef de cuisine = do not ask this person for a double cheeseburger – you will not get one chef = this person will probably give you some Salisbury steak, provided that it is Thursday ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/8 "2004-04-23T03:22:07Z")
Also, if you’ve ever heard the phrase _haute couture_ (“high fashion”) you probably coulda figured out that “haute” means “high”, not “baked”. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/9 "2004-04-23T04:18:03Z")
> [@Rex Fenestrarum](#): > > Also, if you’ve ever heard the phrase _haute couture_ (“high fashion”) you probably coulda figured out that “haute” means “high”, not “baked”. Wait wait wait I thought high was a synonym for baked 😕 😃 ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/10 "2004-04-23T11:33:37Z")
> [@Rex Fenestrarum](#): > > Also, if you’ve ever heard the phrase _haute couture_ (“high fashion”) you probably coulda figured out that “haute” means “high”, not “baked”. I got the whole _Terre Haute_ = “Baked Earth” thing from an old games book; clearly my source material was inaccurate. Prior to this thread, I believed that _haute_ meant both “baked” OR “fancy,” depending on context, as I have heard the term “haute couture” before (thank you, Carson Kressley). So since _chef_ means “boss,” does that mean that a French employee refers to her superior at work as _mon chef_ (pardon my French, literally, if I’m getting these pronouns wrong)? How does a hotel manager refer to his employee who is in charge of the kitchen? If he said _mon chef_ would the hearer believe that he (the hotel manager) was referring to his own boss, or would it be understood based on context? What does _sous chef_ literally mean? I know that it means “subordinate cook,” but what’s a _sous_? ISTR it’s some kind of worthless coin from back The Day. Finally, what does _chez_ mean? I’ve seen it used to denote a restaurant, as in _Chez Pierre’s_. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/11 "2004-04-23T11:47:40Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > What does _sous chef_ literally mean? I know that it means “subordinate cook,” but what’s a _sous_? ISTR it’s some kind of worthless coin from back The Day. > > Finally, what does _chez_ mean? I’ve seen it used to denote a restaurant, as in _Chez Pierre’s_. _Sous_ means “under”. So a sous-chef is one who works under the chef. _Chez_ means “[at the] house of”… so “Chez Pierre” means “Pierre’s Place”, informally. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/12 "2004-04-23T11:52:30Z")
Oh and on the subject of “cuisine”, it is related to the verb _cuire_, which means “to cook”. Hence you can ask for your steak _bien cuit_, “well cooked”. In Spanish, _cocina_ is also used to refer to cooking (cuisine), for example _la cocina Andaluza_ means “Andalusian cuisine”. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/13 "2004-04-23T12:27:06Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > So since _chef_ means “boss,” does that mean that a French employee refers to her superior at work as _mon chef_ Yes. Absolutely and routinely. It can also be used in a job’s title, in this case meaning “manager” rather than “boss” : a “chef de service”, for instance, would be a department manager. The military rank above “sergent” is “sergent-chef”, and so on… > [@](#): > > (pardon my French, literally, if I’m getting these pronouns wrong)? How does a hotel manager refer to his employee who is in charge of the kitchen? If he said _mon chef_ would the hearer believe that he (the hotel manager) was referring to his own boss, or would it be understood based on context? Understood based on context, but I think that most people would understand “my boss”, since “chef” is way more often used with this meaning. The hotel manager would likely say “mon cuisinier” (my cook) instead of “mon chef”. “chef” with the meaning “skilled cook” is only used in things like articles about a restaurant, etc… > [@](#): > > What does _sous chef_ literally mean? I know that it means “subordinate cook,” but what’s a _sous_? ISTR it’s some kind of worthless coin from back The Day. “sous” means “under” . Or sub. Or deputy, when refering to a person. A “sous-directeur” would be a deputy director. The military ranks equivalent to first and second lieutnant are “lieutenant” and sous-lieutenant" . A “sous-marin” is a submarine. “sous” can also be the plural of “sou” which indeed refers to low value coin. But though the words happen to be written in the same way, they are actually totally unrelated. This one comes from the latin “solidus” (which wasn’t at all a worthless coin, but a gold coin, if I remember correctly). The english word “soldier” is related to the french word “sou”. A soldier is someone who is paid (receive “solidii” ) to fight. The plural “sous” can also be used occasionnally to mean “money”. “Elle a pas mal de sous” = she has quite a lot of money. > [@](#): > > Finally, what does _chez_ mean? I’ve seen it used to denote a restaurant, as in _Chez Pierre’s_. Chez = 's as in at my parent **’ s** = chez mes parents. Chez moi = at home. Hence “Chez Pierre” means at Pierre’s. It’s never a mere possessive. It always refers to someone’s house or shop or business. If you’re ill, you go “chez le docteur”. It comes from the latin “in casa” = in the house. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/14 "2004-04-23T12:58:44Z")
_Merci_, **clairobscur**. Are you a native French speaker with an excellent command of English, or are you a native English speaker with an excellent command of French? _Bon jour._ [sub]Apologies for the spelling.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/15 "2004-04-23T15:00:02Z")
> [@r\_k](#): > > _Sous_ means “under”. So a sous-chef is one who works under the chef. How did you find out my wife’s name? Are you a stalker? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/16 "2004-04-23T18:27:20Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > So since _chef_ means “boss,” does that mean that a French employee refers to her superior at work as _mon chef_…? Corroborating what **clairobscur** said, my company recently started issuing payroll from its American corporate headquarters for a subsidiary location in Montreal. Local rules require the paychecks to be printed in French (the Canadian version), which means we spent a lot of time converting titles like “Lead Software Engineer” to equivalents like “Chef d’équipe, Dév application.” We got some rather juvenile chuckles out of all the “chefs” we suddenly had working for us. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/17 "2004-04-23T18:56:30Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > _Merci_, **clairobscur**. Are you a native French speaker with an excellent command of English, or are you a native English speaker with an excellent command of French? > > _Bon jour._ [sub]Apologies for the spelling.[/sub] Thanks for the excellent command of english 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/18 "2004-04-23T19:12:38Z")
Well, this seems like a good place to ask a related question. I am reading a book on a french restaurant (trying to get three Michelin stars) and one of the characters is the “maitre d’hotel”. Is this the same as a “maitre d’” in English, and we just shorten it? I’m just not sure since there is actually a hotel attached to the restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/19 "2004-04-23T19:51:22Z")
> [@SmackFu](#): > > Well, this seems like a good place to ask a related question. I am reading a book on a french restaurant (trying to get three Michelin stars) and one of the characters is the “maitre d’hotel”. Is this the same as a “maitre d’” in English, . Yes. It’s the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518/20 "2004-04-23T20:49:58Z")
Another slight hijack – can you explain the distinctions? What should I expect when I walk into a place that’s called – Bistro Boulangerie Brasserie Café Hotel Patisserie Are there any other words for types of eateries? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chef-cuisine-chef-de-cuisine-haute-cuisine-what-does-it-all-mean/241518.md?page=2)