Glossary
Hospo words: H
36 terms you'll hear on shift.
- HACCP
- Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points.
- Half
- Half a pint.
- Handheld
- A mobile device used by servers to take orders at the table.
- Handover
- Passing information between shifts.
- Handpull
- A beer engine with a long pump handle that draws cask ale from the cellar by suction, without gas.
- Hands
- A call for people to take food from the pass.
- Handwash basin
- A basin used only for handwashing, with hot water, soap and drying, required in food areas.
- Hanging
- A dish ready but waiting for the rest of the table's food.
- Happy hour
- Discount drinks period, subject to licensing restrictions on irresponsible promotions.
- Hard shake
- A choreographed vigorous shaking style from Japanese bartending, said to aerate and texture drinks.
- Hawthorne strainer
- The flat strainer with a spring coil that fits over a shaker tin to hold back ice.
- Head chef
- Leader of the kitchen.
- Headliner
- The main act on a club night, typically playing at peak time.
- Heads of terms
- A non-binding summary of the main terms of a lease or deal, agreed before solicitors draft the contract.
- Heard
- Acknowledgement that an instruction or call has been received.
- Heat lamp
- A lamp above the pass that keeps plated food warm until collected.
- High-risk food
- Foods that support bacterial growth, such as cooked meat, dairy, eggs and cooked rice.
- Highball
- A tall glass for spirit and mixer drinks, and the name for that style of drink.
- Holiday entitlement
- UK workers' statutory paid holiday of 5.6 weeks a year, pro rata for part-timers.
- Holiday let
- A property let to holidaymakers, often via platforms.
- Holiday park
- A site of caravans, lodges and facilities for holidays.
- Hollandaise
- A warm emulsion of egg yolks and clarified butter seasoned with lemon. One of the classic mother sauces and the heart of eggs Benedict.
- Honing steel
- A rod used to realign the edge of a knife between sharpenings. It straightens the edge rather than removing metal.
- Hospitality lounge
- A premium area at a stadium or event serving food and drink to ticket holders.
- Host
- Person who greets and seats guests.
- Hostile vehicle mitigation
- Barriers and bollards that stop vehicles being driven into crowds outside venues.
- Hot behind
- Warning that someone is carrying something hot behind you.
- Hot cupboard
- A heated cabinet for warming plates or holding cooked food.
- Hot holding
- Keeping cooked food hot for service, which in England must be at 63C or above.
- Hot plate
- A warning that a plate is very hot; also the heated pass itself.
- Hotel pan
- A rectangular metal container, often sized to gastronorm, used for prep, storage and holding.
- House count
- The number of guests in the hotel on a given night, used by housekeeping, breakfast and security.
- House pour
- The default spirit brand.
- Housekeeping
- Team cleaning rooms.
- Hygiene emergency prohibition notice
- An order from environmental health closing a food business immediately due to a serious health risk.
- Hygiene improvement notice
- A formal notice requiring a food business to fix hygiene breaches within a set time.
Hospodality