commis

[ kaw-mee; English kuh-mee ]

noun

, French.

, plural com·mis [kaw-, mee, k, uh, -, meez].

1. an assistant, especially to a chef.

commis

/ ˈkɒmɪ; ˈkɒmɪs /

noun

1. an agent or deputy

adjective

1. (of a waiter or chef) apprentice

Word History and Origins

Origin of commis¹

C16 (meaning: deputy): from French, from commettre to employ, commit

Example Sentences

The sale of each box of 12 includes a one-year membership in the Foundation at the commis level, which allows access to recipes and cooking videos with Mr. Pépin and other chefs.

From New York Times

Most high-end kitchens follow the brigade system, created by the 19th-century French chef Georges Auguste Escoffier, which lays out a formal path from commis, or junior chef, to line cook and eventually to executive chef, with cooks mastering skills at each new station before moving on.

From New York Times

After spending several years working in music, in public relations and band management, he discovered his true calling at the Australian chef Skye Gyngell’s London restaurant, Spring, where he began as a commis in 2015.

From New York Times

With her director of photography, Andrew Commis, Murphy creates a visually cohesive world filled with lambent images that almost but not quite feel as if they had been caught on the fly.

From New York Times

Later, Escoffier organised the restaurant kitchen into the strict hierarchy that still prevails today, from the commis chefs at the bottom, to the chefs de parties who oversee the different stations of meat or fish or cold starter, to the sous chef and the chef de cuisine.

From The Guardian