In the MangiaTV kitchen, like many other places, we have evolved our own set of vocabulary terms over the years. Some of them have been reconstituted from pit jargon, some of them come from our own family backgrounds, but all of them add to the energy and fun when the MangiaTV crew gets together. We encourage all you Mangia Maniacs out there to incorporate our lingo in your get togethers, and please share your go to phrases with us…. we are always looking for creative linguistics to convey a thought, or a process, or a flavor!
- Make it rain: This is the action of seasoning from altitude. The key here is to actually see the spice ‘raining’ down on the dish. This promotes a more evenly distribution of the spice, and it just fun. It is common in the MangiaTV kitchen to cheer someone on when they are spicing from altitude…”make it rain big guy…just like that…yea” response “ oh yea, rainin over here”
- Make a hole, make it wide: This is an old marine saying… I think… Anyway it means get the $@#* out of the way…IE this pot is 1000 degrees Kelvin and my hand is starting to burn…I don’t need your help; I need you to get your ass in gear and MOVE.
- Quisenberry: This is term Big D uses when adding most anything to a sauté. It means to come in side arm with the stock, or spice, or wine, or whatever. We like to use sports analogies in the kitchen.
- She gone: Another repurposed sports phrase from White Sox announcer Hawk Haralson who uses it to describe a smashed home run. In the MangiaTV kitchen and get togethers it has many versatile uses. Firstly if you get distracted and the food on the grill burns to a crisp, or the rice burns, or the rolls smoke out the house…’She Gone’ will be heard. If you slip and fall with or without a tray of food or a drink and you end up ass over teakettle…’She Gone’ will be heard. If the dog wags his tail and your just poured perfect martini ends up in a pile of broken glass on the floor…’She Gone’ will be heard…and if you are over served and pass out on the floor, couch, lawn Chair…’She Gone’ will be heard.
- Otis: This is an award given post MangiaTV get together to the person who most closely resembles Otis from the Andy Griffith show. Too many repeat wins will surely get you benched from future events.
- How’s your beer: Canadian for, “are you ready for another?”
- Nonna: In big D’s kitchen that is the Sunday gravy pot passed down from his grandma (Nonna in Italian). The key here is to name kitchen items and cooking tools. The MangiaTV award winning smoker is Mercury 1. The fire grill is Mr. Schwenker.
Check out this Cooking Vamp episode for more thorough descriptions and examples, and share some of your lingo with us in the comments, or on Twitter!
