Chef
Name the tools, use the cooking verbs, and talk a recipe through — out loud.
Spanish recipes give instructions two ways, and both are correct: the infinitive (cortar, mezclar) or the informal tú imperative (corta, mezcla). Don't lean on cocinar for everything — precision comes from the specific verbs: freír (fry), hornear (bake), hervir (boil, not to be confused with servir, to serve). And spoken recipes rarely use grams: locals measure with una pizca, un chorrito, or the very Mexican tantito. In the Chef lessons there are no flashcards or fill-in-the-blanks — you learn the kitchen by talking your way through a dish, out loud.
Below: the tools, verbs, and measurements lesson by lesson, how home cooks actually phrase a recipe, the near-miss words that trip beginners up — and a way to rehearse it all out loud.
Say this
Regional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| cooking pot | la cazuela | la cacerola |
| stove | la estufa | la cocina |
| spicy | enchiloso | fuerte |
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Olivia
Your vocabulary teacher for this pack
No flashcards, no worksheet with blanks. In the Chef lessons you talk, and Olivia gets you cooking with words: explain your favourite dish step by step — cortar, mezclar, añadir, dejar reposar. She asks how much — you reach for una cucharada, una pizca, un chorrito. Then she asks how it turned out, and you tell her: picante, dulce, salado. Every verb gets said in a real exchange until the recipe flows without translating.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Chef is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
The core five: cortar (cut), mezclar (mix), hervir (boil), freír (fry), hornear (bake). In everyday Latin American speech you'll also hear picar for fine chopping and agregar instead of añadir for adding.
Both exist. La sartén (feminine) is the standard form, but in much of Mexico and Central America the frying pan is masculine: el sartén. Nobody will blink at either.
Both are normal: written recipes often use the infinitive (cortar, mezclar), spoken ones the tú imperative (corta, mezcla). Mexicans make it warmer still with échale and ponle — "throw in", "put in".
La pimienta is the pepper you grind — the seasoning. El pimiento is the bell pepper — the vegetable. One vowel, completely different shopping list.
Una pizca is a pinch, una cucharada a tablespoon, la taza a cup, un puñado a handful. For oil or vinegar, everyone says un chorrito — a little pour, measured by eye.
