Cooking with Phrasal Verbs

 

In a recent program, we told you about phrasal verbs related to food. The program centered on eating food: what, how much and when.

You will remember that a phrasal verb is a verb made of two or more words: a verb plus a preposition or adverb, or both.

Today, we'll discuss phrasal verbs we use to talk about cooking. If you watch television cooking programs in English, you have already heard some of these verbs. Many are used in recipes. Listen to a recipe for pasta sauce. There are seven phrasal verbs. Try to find them and think about their meanings:

Before you begin, thaw¹ out the chicken for several hours. OK, let’s get started. First, chop up the tomatoes, onions, garlic and mushrooms. Next, add these ingredients to a sauce pot with a little cooking oil and put it on medium heat for about one minute. Then, mix in the chicken, spices and a little salt. Let the mixture cook until the chicken is golden – about seven minutes. Next, add two large cans of crushed tomatoes. Cover the pot. Then, turn down the heat. Otherwise, the sauce may boil over. Let it cook for about 20 minutes on low heat. Then, let it cool down before serving it over pasta with a little parmesan. And finally: Warm up your garlic bread to complete the meal.

Did you find the seven phrasal verbs??

Thaw out (something)

Thaw (something) out

The first one was thaw out. To thaw out means "to unfreeze." Listen to how this verb is used in the recipe:

Before you begin, thaw out the chicken for several hours.

Thaw out is separable. That means the object may go after the two-word verb, or it may appear in the middle of it. The object is the chicken. Now listen to the sentence with the object in the middle:

Before you begin, thaw the chicken out for several hours.

Notice also that we used the imperative² form because this is a recipe, or a list of commands. In the imperative form, the subject you is not written or spoken. So instead of “you thaw out,” you hear “thaw out.” You’ll hear the imperative for the remaining six verbs also.

Chop up (something)

Chop (something) up

Our next verb is chop up, which is also separable. To chop up means "to cut something into small pieces." Today’s recipe involves chopping up vegetables. Listen:

First, chop up the tomatoes, onions, garlic and mushrooms.

You could also say it with up after the object.

First, chop the tomatoes, onions, garlic and mushrooms up.

But, it is easier to understand if you do not separate chop and up when the object is a list of things.

Mix (something) in

Mix in (something)

Mix in is another separable phrasal verb. To mix in means "to add one substance to others, especially in cooking." Here’s how the recipe uses the verb:

Then, mix in the chicken, spices and a little salt.

Again, we are less likely to separate the verb because the object is a list of things.

Turn down (something)

Turn (something) down

Now, let’s talk about turn down. In cooking, to turn down means "to lower the temperature of the heat used to cook food." Here's how the recipe uses the verb:

Then, turn down the heat.

Since the verb is separable, you can also say it this way:

Then, turn the heat down.

Boil over

Next, we have boil over – one of today’s easier verbs, as it does not take an object. To boil over means "to flow over the side of a container while boiling." Listen to how the recipe uses this verb and notice that it appears at the end of the sentence:

Otherwise, the sauce may boil over.

Hmm…has your cooking ever boiled over? Mine has.

Cool down

Ok, let’s talk about cool down. In relation to food, the verb means "to permit hot food to become cool enough to eat." In recipes, we often use cool down with the verb let. So, the sentence structure is a little different. Listen:

Then, let it cool down before serving it over pasta with a little parmesan.

The verb let is a causative verb. These verbs cause something to happen. After the causative verb let, we use the simple form of verbs rather than their infinitives³. Notice, in our recipe, that we said, "Let it cool down," not "Let it to cool down."

Warm up (something)

Warm (something) up

Our final phrasal verb for today is warm up, another separable verb. To warm up means "to reheat a food to a desired temperature." Here’s how the recipe uses this verb:

And finally: Warm up your garlic bread to complete the meal.

Now that you know how separable phrasal verbs work, try writing this last example with the object – your garlic bread – in the middle of the verb.

Helpful tip

Most of the phrasal verbs you learned today are easier than some others in English. That’s because the first words of these phrasal verbs tell us their meanings. And, in fact, often, we use them as regular, one-word verbs rather than phrasal verbs. That means you could say, “Let the sauce cool” or “Let the sauce cool down” and it would have the same meaning.

Do you have a recipe you’d like to share? Write to us in the comments section using at least three of the verbs you learned today.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

recipe – n. a set of instructions for making food

pasta – n. a food made from a mixture of flour, water, and sometimes eggs that is formed into different shapes and usually boiled

sauce – n. a fluid dressing⁴ or topping for food

tomato – n. the usually large, rounded, edible⁵, pulpy⁶ berry of an herb

onion – n. a round vegetable that is usually white, yellow, or red and has a strong smell and taste

garlic – n. a plant that has small sections which have a strong taste and smell and are used for flavoring foods

mushroom – n. a fungus⁷ that is shaped like an umbrella

ingredient – n. one of the things that are used to make a food or product

spice – n. a substance that is used in cooking to add flavor to food, comes from a dried plant, and is usually a powder or seed

parmesan – n. a hard Italian cheese

1 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

2 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

3 infinitives   

n.（动词）不定式( infinitive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her litmus test for good breeding is whether you split infinitives. 她测试别人是否具有良好教养的标准是看对方是否在不定式的动词前加修饰副词。 来自互联网
• Nouns, adjectives and infinitives can be used as objective complements. 名词，形容词及不定式可用作补语。 来自互联网

4 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

5 edible   

n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的

参考例句：

• Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
• This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得，那种吃不得。

6 pulpy   

果肉状的，多汁的，柔软的； 烂糊； 稀烂

参考例句：

• The bean like seeds of this plant, enclosed within a pulpy fruit. 被包在肉质果实内的这种植物的豆样种子。
• Her body felt bruised, her lips pulpy and tender. 她的身体感觉碰伤了，她的嘴唇柔软娇嫩。

7 fungus   

n.真菌，真菌类植物

参考例句：

• Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
• This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。