Click here to play!

Possible Answers to "How do like your steak done?"

Click here to play
1 2
   Share on Facebook  
Kathy456  #358932  Wed, 02 May 07 05:20 AM

Hi everybody,

I know that there're the following possible answers to the question from a waiter at a restaurant "How do you like your steak done?":-

1. rare (almost raw)

2. medium-rare

3. medium ("half" raw)

4. well-done (fully cooked)

My question is, if I'd like my steak done somewhere/halfway between "medium" & "well-done", can I say "medium-well-done"? I seem to have got this from some book but I'm not sure whether this sounds natural.

Could you help me with this?

Thanks.

Kathy

  
Not Ranked
Joined on Wed, Mar 1 2006
New Member (37)
Grammar Geek  #358933  Wed, 02 May 07 05:23 AM

In the U.S., you'd say "medium well."

(I don't agree that "medium" is "half raw." It's pink all the way through. Medium well is going to have only a pink center. Well won't have any pink at all.)

  
Top 10 Contributor
Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006
Pennsylvania, USA
Veteran Member (15,288)
ModeratorProficient Speaker
Barbara, who answers in American English.
julielai  #358935  Wed, 02 May 07 05:27 AM
The cooks down here tend to play it safe or something.  Anything medium or above is quite cooked.
  
Top 25 Contributor
Joined on Sun, Oct 24 2004
Planet earth
Senior Member (3,566)
ModeratorProficient Speaker
Just another blogger (http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/julie-lai)
Kathy456  #358937  Wed, 02 May 07 05:35 AM

Hi Grammar Geek/julielai,

Thanks for your quick replies.

By the way, I've got a follow-up question. You seem to suggest that "Well" is used in place of  "Well done" in that sense in the US. Am I right? Then, if I say "Well done" at a restaurant in the US, will I sound unnatural or even be misunderstood?

Thanks.

Kathy

  
Grammar Geek  #358943  Wed, 02 May 07 05:47 AM
No, not at all! Well done is just fine, but Well is okay too.
  
Goodman  #358953  Wed, 02 May 07 06:35 AM

Ok, I think I am most qualified to answer these questions for the fact that I was in the hotel and restaurant business for a few years when I was going to school. In the past, when you ordered a chopped sirloin medium rare, it would be brown on the outside and slightly pink on the inside. Today, any processed meat will be cooked thoroughly for fears of liability. However, steak and prime rib can still be cooked rare, medium- rare, medium and well-done in most restaurants. In reality, there is really no such category as medium-well, because medium well and well done are essentially the same. Personally, I love my prime rib medium area with horseradish, that is with the pink juice oozing out of the cut. BTW, a waiter or waitress will be more likely ask “how would you like it cooked”, instead of "done".

 

 

 

 

  
Top 50 Contributor
Joined on Mon, Nov 7 2005
Calif. USA
Senior Member (3,090)
The name says it all!
Maya2  #358956  Wed, 02 May 07 06:52 AM

Hi guys

I prefer my steak done to a turn

  
Top 500 Contributor
Joined on Wed, Feb 28 2007
Junior Member (81)
Goodman  #358959  Wed, 02 May 07 06:56 AM

I prefer my steak done to a turn ??

I never heard of that!

  
Yankee  #359025  Wed, 02 May 07 01:18 PM
People might possibly say "done to a T", but I don't think "done to a turn" is likely to be used in the US.

I would understand "done to a T" as "done just right/perfectly" -- however, that still doesn't tell the waiter/waitress what you consider "just right" to be. Smile [:)]
  
Top 25 Contributor
Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006
Connecticut, USA
Senior Member (4,102)
ModeratorTeachers
Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain
1 2
AddThis Feed Button RSS Feed: ESL General English Grammar Questions
© 2008 MediaCET Ltd.
Terms and Conditions