Rare, medium, or well-done

[amishera]

Hello,

What do the following mean?

Waitress: How do you want the beef? Rare, medium, or well-done?

Thanks

 

[Skrej]

The question sounds a little contrived to me. Usually the server will just ask some variation on 'how do you want your steak', without listing the options.

I'm guessing this is from some language textbook or similar artificial dialogue.

I once had a waitress ask me how I wanted my fish. I didn't understand the question at first, because I'd never been offered such a choice for fish. To me, fish is like pork or chicken - it's cooked to a certain safe temperature, and hopefully not overcooked. You don't really play with degrees of preparation on them like we can with beef.

 

[GoesStation]

Tuna is often served seared on the outside and otherwise red - more or less raw with a cooked outer shell.