Glossary
Hospo words: P
79 terms you'll hear on shift.
- P&L
- Profit and loss statement, showing revenue, costs and profit over a period.
- Package Travel Regulations
- UK rules protecting consumers who buy package holidays, including financial protection.
- Pacojet
- A machine that micro-purées frozen preparations into ultra-smooth ice creams, sorbets and mousses to order.
- Pairing
- Matching drinks to dishes.
- Pané
- The three-step breading process of flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs, used for schnitzel and Kiev.
- Par level
- The amount of stock to hold.
- Pass-through dishwasher
- A hood-type commercial dishwasher that racks slide through, cleaning in a couple of minutes.
- PAT test
- Testing portable electrical equipment.
- Pâté
- A spreadable paste of liver or meat, fish or vegetables.
- Pâte à bombe
- Egg yolks whisked with hot sugar syrup, the base of mousses and parfaits.
- Pâte à choux
- Choux pastry, a paste cooked on the stove then baked so trapped steam puffs it hollow. The basis of éclairs, profiteroles and gougères.
- Pâte brisée
- A plain, flaky shortcrust used for quiches and savoury tarts.
- Pâte sablée
- A sandy, crumbly sweet pastry with a high butter and sugar ratio, used for biscuits and delicate tart bases.
- Pâte sucrée
- A sweet, rich shortcrust pastry made with butter, sugar and egg, used for fruit tarts and tart cases.
- Pâtissier
- Pastry chef.
- Pavement licence
- Permission from the council to place tables and chairs on the public highway outside a premises.
- Pay at table
- Bringing a card terminal to the table so the guest pays without the card leaving their sight; standard in the UK.
- Payback period
- How long it takes for a new site's profits to repay the investment in it.
- Payroll
- The process and software for paying staff, including tax, national insurance and tips.
- Paysanne
- Vegetables cut into thin, flat pieces of similar size, often squares or rounds, for rustic soups.
- PCI DSS
- The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard governing how card data must be protected.
- Peat
- Partly decomposed vegetation burned to dry malted barley, giving smoky, medicinal flavours, notably in Islay whisky.
- PECR
- The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, governing marketing emails and texts in the UK.
- Perry
- A drink made from fermented pear juice, traditional in Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.
- Personal guarantee
- Promise by an individual to cover business debts.
- Personal licence
- Licence allowing a person to authorise alcohol sales.
- Pest control
- Prevention and treatment of pests such as rodents and cockroaches, usually under a contract with logs.
- Petit fours
- Small sweets served with coffee.
- Pick up
- The call that dishes are ready at the pass to be collected.
- Pie and mash
- A London dish of minced beef pie with mashed potato and parsley liquor.
- Pilgrimage travel
- Trips to religious sites, a specialist segment needing specific hospitality.
- Pin bones
- The small bones running along the centre of a fillet of salmon and similar fish, pulled out with tweezers or pliers.
- Pint
- The standard UK beer measure.
- Pivot point
- The fixed seat from which a table's seat numbers start, often the seat nearest the door or with its back to the kitchen.
- Pizza oven
- A high-temperature oven, wood or gas fired, for baking pizza in a minute or two.
- Plancha
- A flat, very hot griddle plate for searing seafood, meat and vegetables quickly.
- Planetary mixer
- A stand mixer whose attachment orbits the bowl, used for doughs, batters and creams.
- Planning use class
- The category of permitted use for a property, which affects whether it can be used as a restaurant, bar or takeaway.
- Plant-based
- Dishes made without animal products, overlapping with vegan.
- Plate up
- Putting food on plates.
- Plated service (events)
- Each guest served the same course at once, as opposed to buffet or family style.
- Plonge
- French term for the dish area, used in some kitchens.
- Ploughman's
- A cold pub lunch of cheese, bread, pickle and salad.
- PLU
- Price look-up code, the reference for an item on a POS system.
- PMS
- Property management system, the software that runs a hotel.
- Poach
- Cooking gently in liquid held below a simmer, roughly 70 to 85C, for eggs, fish and fruit.
- Poolish
- A wet pre-ferment of flour, water and a little yeast, made hours ahead to add flavour and extensibility to bread.
- Pop-up
- A temporary venue or event.
- Portafilter
- The handled basket that holds ground coffee and locks into the espresso machine group head.
- Porter
- A dark beer brewed with roasted malts, ancestor of stout, with chocolate and coffee notes.
- POS
- Point of sale.
- Pot still
- A batch still that produces fuller, more flavoursome spirit, used for single malt Scotch, Irish pot still whiskey and many rums and Cognacs.
- Pour over
- Filter coffee brewed by hand, pouring water over grounds in a cone such as a V60 or Kalita.
- PPDS
- Prepacked for direct sale, the food covered by Natasha's Law.
- PPL PRS
- The UK licence needed to play recorded music in public, covering both recordings and songwriting rights.
- Pre-bussing
- Removing empty glasses and finished plates while guests are still seated, keeping the table tidy without rushing them.
- Pre-dessert
- A small sweet course served before dessert in tasting menus.
- Pre-shift
- Briefing before service.
- Pre-theatre
- Early menu for theatregoers.
- Premises licence
- Licence authorising licensable activities at a venue.
- Primal cut
- The large sections a carcass is first divided into, such as the loin, rib or shoulder, before being broken down further.
- Prime cost
- Food, drink and labour costs combined.
- Printer routing
- Sending order items to the right kitchen or bar printer or screen.
- Prix fixe
- A set price menu.
- Probe
- Thermometer for checking food temperatures.
- Promoter
- A person or company that runs nights at a venue and brings in crowds, often paid by door share or headcount.
- Proof
- An older measure of alcoholic strength. In the US, proof is double the ABV.
- Proving
- The final rise of shaped yeast dough before baking. Over-proved dough collapses; under-proved dough bursts and is dense.
- Proxy purchase
- Buying alcohol on behalf of someone under 18, an offence in the UK.
- Pubco
- A pub company owning many pubs.
- Pubwatch
- A local partnership of licensed premises that shares information and agrees joint bans on troublemakers.
- Puff pastry
- A laminated dough of hundreds of alternating layers of dough and butter that rise as steam forms in the oven.
- Pump clip
- The badge on a handpull or font that shows which beer it serves.
- Purple Flag
- An accreditation for town and city centres that offer a safe, varied night-time economy.
- Purser
- The officer in charge of passenger services on a ship or senior cabin crew on an aircraft.
- Push
- A busy period.
- Python
- The insulated bundle of beer lines and coolant pipes running from cellar to bar.
Hospodality