Gotowany

Gotowany is a Polish adjective and past passive participle derived from the verb gotować, meaning to cook or to boil. As a participle, gotowany describes food or other substances that have been subjected to cooking, most commonly by boiling or simmering, though it can refer to foods prepared by other heat methods that involve cooking.

In everyday language, gotowany is used to characterize prepared foods, for example potatoes that have been boiled (ziemniaki gotowane), boiled eggs (jajka gotowane), or vegetables that have been cooked until tender. It can appear in neutral labels and recipes, often in contrast with raw (surowy) or fried (smażony). The forms follow gender and number: masculine singular gotowany, feminine singular gotowana, neuter singular gotowane, and plural gotowane (e.g., ziemniaki gotowane, jaja gotowane).

The adjective is closely related to ugotowany, another common past participle meaning cooked to completion. Gotowany and ugotowany share similar senses, but ugotowany often conveys that the cooking process has been finished. In grammar, gotować is imperfective, while ugotować is perfective, a distinction that can influence how these forms are used in context.

Gotowany is widely used in culinary and labeling contexts, including phrases like "produkt gotowany," "zupa gotowana," or "ryż gotowany," and it can be combined with phrases like "gotowany na parze" (steamed) to describe specific preparation methods.