Some of the food or the terminology used to describe it may be unfamiliar to many viewers — after all, most of it is being served in a fine-dining restaurant whose staff has trained with the world’s most elite chefs. Not to mention, the Bear’s co-head chef, Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), has a penchant for ultraexpensive, specially sourced ingredients. And while you don’t have to know exactly what it is that the staff is drizzling, squirting and tweezering onto the plates (it’s plenty enjoyable just to watch it stream by and understand that this is Fancy Food for Fancy People), some viewers might like to be clued in.
Here’s a glossary of just some of the high-end food that Carmy and company are dishing up this season.
Mild spoilers follow for Season 3 of “The Bear.”
Soubise — Carmy’s kitchen traumas center on an abusive former boss, and his most stressful moments under the cruel chef’s tutelage involve a fennel-flavored version of this classic onion sauce. It is a spinoff of béchamel, which is considered one the “mother sauces” in French cuisine.
Mirepoix — One of the funnier scenes that illustrate the gap between Carmy’s ambitious menus and the understanding of the employees of the former greasy spoon involves this fine dice of vegetables, softened over low heat. It’s typically not the centerpiece of a dish but often forms the base for soups and sauces. In Carmy’s hands, the tiny cubes sit at the bottom of a small bowl, over which a clear broth is poured.
Jus — Another French term (translation: “juice”), this one for a thin gravy or broth made from meat. At the Bear, it’s infused with cherry. Back at the Beef (the original sandwich shop that Carmy inherited and later turned into a fine-dining spot), the meat for the best-selling Italian beef sandwich would have been cooked in a simpler but flavorful beef stock and served “au jus,” with those juices.
Princess cake — The Bear’s pastry chef, Marcus (Lionel Boyce), is known for his inventive pastries, so we have to imagine that he infused this famous Swedish dessert with a few unusual flavors. Typically dome-shaped, a princess cake (Prinsesstarta) often features layers of sponge cake and custard or pastry cream, topped with a green marzipan icing. (We’re also curious about what Marcus’s “caviar sundae” involves.)
Wagyu — No wonder Carmy’s Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt), who is bankrolling the restaurant, is getting nervous about all the expensive ingredients Carmy is ordering. This heavily marbled (a.k.a. super-flavorful) Japanese beef is some of the priciest meat on the planet.
Bottarga — This delicacy, a fish’s roe sac that is pressed and dried, is often used to garnish dishes, sometimes grated on top or sliced into paper-thin strips, like a truffle. It imparts a salty, umami note.
Bordelaise — More French sauce, this one is named after the Bordeaux region. Unsurprisingly, it’s based on reduced red wine, sautéed shallots and butter.
Béarnaise — It’s a French-sauce invasion! Béarnaise is a creamy concoction similar to a hollandaise — both are made with emulsified egg yolks — typically flavored with tarragon.
Orwellian butter — Uncle Jimmy is not pleased to see an $11,000 bill for butter from an entity called Old Major Farm, and he sarcastically wonders whether it had come from a rare Transylvanian goat. Carmy, though, insists that the product is “the best.” And while there are plenty of real-life cameos in “The Bear,” this seems like a thinly veiled fictional version of Animal Farm Creamery, whose ultra-luscious butter from Orwell, Vt., is prized by chefs and one of whose biggest customers is chef Thomas Keller, of the French Laundry, who has his own cameo. (Old Major is the name of the pig in George Orwell’s book “Animal Farm.”)
The pope’s nose — As Keller explains to a younger Carmy as he prepares chickens for the restaurant staff’s family meal, this term refers to the flap of flesh on the tail end of a chicken or turkey. Some chefs recommend removing it, believing it imparts a bitter taste. Keller’s story of its origins — that naming a chicken butt after the pope was meant as a 17th-century insult to Catholics — is often cited, although some people refer to the part as a “parson’s nose.”
Raviolo — The Bear seems to serve this dish, essentially a large ravioli, in a style sometimes called ravioli al uovo, in which an egg yolk is encased in a thin pasta sheet and boiled, its filling remaining slightly runny.
Cavatelli — A pasta shape that resembles a small shell.
Agnolotti — Another stuffed pasta shape, often with a fluted edge.
Hamachi — Somebody cover Uncle Jimmy’s eyes because this sushi-grade fish — which also goes by yellowtail and Japanese amberjack — is not cheap. It has a smooth, almost melting mouthfeel, and is often served raw in thin slices.
Rib cap — Sometimes referred to as rib-eye cap, this cut of beef is taken from the top part of a rib-eye. The muscles there are not used as often as other parts of the cow, giving it a tender texture — though unlike a tenderloin, it also boasts flavor-boosting marbling.
C-folds — This isn’t a culinary term, but it’s one you hear in restaurant kitchens. It’s the industry term for pre-folded paper towels, and since we know that the diners at the Bear get cloth napkins, these are probably just used in the kitchen.
