To read your Grandma’s old recipes or decipher a German recipe on the web, it might help to take a look at a list of commonly used kitchen terms translated into English. For help with the German pronunciation use this short guide.
Germans measure solids by weight (grams) and liquids with everyday utensils (coffee cup, spoon, etc. or with a liter measure). German measuring equivalents and cheat-sheet.
German/English Equipment
- Esslöffel, Eβlöffel – soup spoon or tablespoon
- Gabel – (f) fork
- Handtuch, Küchentuch – (m) kitchen towel
- Löffel – (m) spoon
- Messer – (n) knife
- Messerspitze – “tip of the knife”, a pinch
- Messerrücken, as in “Messerrücken dick” – Back edge of the knife (opposite cutting edge)
- Ofen, Backofen – (m) oven
- Prise – (f) a pinch
- Scheibe – (f) piece or slice
- Schüssel – (f) bowl
- Servierteller or Servierschüssel – serving platter or bowl
- Serviette – (f) napkin
- Suppenteller – (f) (soup)bowl
- Tasse – (coffee) cup, about 150 ml or 3/5 American cup
- Teelöffel – teaspoon
- Teller – (f) plate
German-English Cooking Verbs and Adverbs
- abtropfen – to drain
- abzupfen – to pick off (like thyme leaves from their stem)
- anbraten – to begin to brown
- anrichten – to plate (for serving)
- aufkochen – to bring to a boil
- biβfest – al dente
- backen – to bake
- daruntermischen – to mix into
- durchrühren, (gut) durchrühren – to stir (well) together
- erhitzen – to heat
- garen – cook until done (biβfest garen, to cook al dente)
- gereiben - grated
- glatt rühren – to stir until smooth
- grillen – to grill or BBQ
- grob schneiden – chop large (1/2 to 1 inch)
- heiβ werden lassen – to heat up
- hinzufügen – to add to
- in einer Schüssel geben – to place in (a) bowl
- klein schneiden – chop fine (1/4 – 1/2 inch)
- kochen – to cook
- kochend – boiling (kochendes Wasser – boiling water)
- langsam - slowly
- putzen – to clean
- umrühren – to stir
- waschen – to wash
- reiben – to grate
- schälen – to peel
- schnell – quickly
- sprüdeln(d) – boiling
- steif schlagen – to whip until hard peaks form
- unterheben – fold into, mix carefully, as in whipped egg whites
- zerreiben – to grate or rub into small pieces
- zusammen mischen – to mix together
