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Useful Glossary of Terms and Expressions Used in The Food World
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Acidulated Water
Water with added acid, such as lemon juice or vinegar, which prevents discolouration of ingredients, particularily fruit or vegetables. The proportion of acid to water is:
1 teaspoon per 300ml.
Al Dente
Italian cooking term for ingredients that are cooked until tender but still firm to the bite; usually applied to pasta.
Americaine
Method of serving seafood - usually lobster and monkfish- in a suace flavoured with olive oil, aromatic herbs, tomatoes, white wine, fish stock, brandy and tarragon.
Anglaise
Cooking style for simple cooked dishes such as boiled vegetables. Assiette anglaise is a plate of cold cooked meats.
Antipasto
Italian for "before the meal", it denotes an assortment of cold meats, vegetables and cheeses, often marinated, served as an hors d'oeuvre. A typical antipasto might include salami, prociutto, marinated artichoke hearts, anchovy fillets, olives, tuna and Provolone cheese.
Au Gratin
Food sprinkled with breadcrumbs, often covered with cheese sauce and browned until a crisp coating forms.
Bake Blind
To bake or partially bake a pastry case before adding a filling, usually done to prevent the filling making the pastry soggy.
Balsamic Vinegar
A mild, extremely fragrant wine-based vinegar made in Northern Italy. Traditionally, the vinegar is aged for at least seven years in a series of casks made of variuos woods.
Baste
To moisten food while it's cooking by spooning or brushing on liquid or fat.
Baine Marie
A saucepan standing in a large pan which is filled with boiling water to keep liquids at simmering point. A double boiler will do the same job.
Beat
To stir thoroughly and vigourously.
Beurre Manie
Equal quantities of butter and flour kneaded together and added a little at a time to thicken a stew or casserole.
Bird
See Paupiette.
Blanc
A cooking liquid made by adding flour and lemon juice to water in order to keep certain vegetables from discolouring as they cook.
Blanch
To plinge into boiling water and then in some cases, into cold water. Fruits and nuts are blanched to remove skin easily.
Blanquette
A white stew of lamb, veal or chicken, bound with egg yolks and creamand accompanied by onion and mushrooms.
Blend
To mix thoroughly.
Boil
To keep liquid at a tempreture producing bubbles that break the surface.
Bonne Femme
Dishes cooked in the traditional French 'housewife' style. Chicken bonne femme are garnished with bacon, potatoes and baby onions; fish bonne femme with mushrooms in a white wine sauce.
Bouquet Garni
A bunch of herbs usually consisting of sprigs of parsley, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, a bay leaf, peppercorns and cloves all tied up in muslin and used to flavour stews and casseroles.
Braise
To cook whole or large pieces of poultry, game, fish meat or vegetables in a small amount of wine, stock or other liquid in a closed pot. Often the main ingredient is first browned in fat and then cooked in a low oven or very slowly on top of the stove. Braising suits tough meats and old birds and produces a mellow rich sauce.
Broil
The American term for grilling food.
Brown
Cook in a small amount of fat until brown.
Burghul (also Bulgur)
A type of cracked wheat, where the kernels are steamed and dried before being crushed.
Buttercream
Soft creamy icing filling made by beating butter and icing sugar together with flavouring and or colouring.
Buttered
To spread with softened or melted butter.
Butterfly
To slit a piece of food in half horizontally, cutting it almost through so that when opened it resembles butterfly wings. Chops, large prawns and thick fish fillets are often butterflied so that they cook more quickly.
Buttermilk
A tangy, low-fat cultered milk product whose slight acidity makes it an ideal marinade base for poultry. Also used in baking cakes.
Calzone
A semicircular pocket of pizza dough, stuffed with meat or vegetables, sealed and baked.
Caramelise
To melt sugar until it is a golden brown syrup. Champignons: small mushrooms, usually canned.
Champignons
Small mushrooms, usually bought canned.
Chasseur
French cooking style in which meat and chicken dishes are cooked with mushrooms, shallots, white wine, and often tomato. See also Cacciatora.
Clarify
To melt buffer and drain the oil off the sediment.
Coat
To cover with a thin layer of flour, sugar, nuts,crumbs,poppy or sesame seeds, cinnamon sugar or a few of the ground spices.
Compote
Fresh or dried fruit, poached or stewed either whole or in pieces in a sugar syrup.
Concasser
To chop coarsely, usually tomatoes.
Confit
From the French verb confire, meaning to preserve. Food that is made into a preserve by cooking very slowly and thoroughly until tender. In the case of meat, such as duck or goose, it is cooked in its own fat, and covered with it so that it does not come into contact with the air. Vegetables such as onions are good inconfit.
Consomme
A clear soup usually made from beef.
Coulis
A thin puree, usually of fresh or cooked fruit or vegetables, which is soft enough to pour (couler means to run). A coulis may be rough-textured or very smooth.
Court Bouillon
The liquid in which fish, poultry or meat is cooked. It usually consists of water with bay leaf, onion, carrots and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Other additives can include wine, vinegar, stock, garlic or spring onions (scallions).
Couscous:
Cereal processed from semolina into pellets, traditionally steamed and served with meat and vegetables in the classic North African stew of the same name.
Cream
To make soft, smooth and creamy by rubbing with back of spoon or by beating with mixer. Usually applied to fat and sugar.
Cream Patissiere
A thick custard also called confectioner's custard, used as a filling in pastries, fruit tarts and some cakes.
Crimp
To compress the edges of pastry pies and tarts into decorative flutes.
Croutons
Small toasted or fried cubes of bread.
Cruciferous Vegetables
Certain members of the mustard, cabbage and turnip families with cross-shaped flowers and strong aromas and flavours.
Crudites
Raw vegetables, whether cut in slices or sticks to nibble plain or with a dipping sauce, or shredded and tossed as salad with a simple dressing.
Crystallise
To dip fruit or flowers into boiling water or lightly whisked egg white and then coat with sugar and dry.
Cube
To cut into small pieces with 6 equal sides.
Curdle
To cause milk or sauce to separate into solid and liquid. Example, overcooked egg mixtures.
Daikon Radish (also called mooli)
A long white Japanese radish.
Dark Sesame Oil (also called Oriental sesame oil)
Dark polyunsaturated oil with a low burning point, used for seasoning. Do not replace with lighter sesame oil.
Deglaze
To dissolve congealed cooking juices or glaze on the bottom of a pan by adding a liquid, then scraping and stirring vigorously whilst bringing the liquid to the boil. Juices may be used to make gravy or to add to sauce.
Degrease
To skim grease from the surface of liquid. If possible the liquid should be chilled so the fat solidifies. If not, skim off most of the fat with a large metal spoon, then trail strips of paper towel on the surface of the liquid to remove any remaining globules.
Devilled
A dish or sauce that is highly seasoned with a hot ingredient such as mustard, Worcestershire sauce or cayenne pepper.
Dice
To cut into small cubes, into uniform pieces about 5mm (1/4")
Dietary Fibre
A plant-cell material that is undigested oronly partially digested in the human body, butwhich promotes healthy digestion of other food matter.
Disslove
Mix a dry ingredient with liquid until absorbed.
Dredge
To coat with a dry ingredient, as flour or sugar.
Drizzle
To pour in a fine thread-like stream over a surface.
Dropping Consistency
The consistency reached when a mixture falls, only reluctantly, within 5 seconds from a spoon.
Dust
To sprinkle or coat lightly with flour or icing sugar.
Dutch Oven
A heavy casserole with a lid usually made from cast iron or pottery.
Emulsify
To combine two usually incompatible liquids until smooth by mixing rapidly while slowly adding one to the other so they are held in suspension.
Emulsion
A mixture of two liquids that are not mutually soluble - for example, oil and water.
Entree
In Europe, the “entry” or hors d’oeuvre; in North America entree means the main course.
Fillet
Special cut of beef, lamb, pork or veal; breast of poultry and game; fish cut of the bone lengthways.
Flake
To break into small pieces with a fork.
Flame
To ignite warmed alcohol over food.
Flute
To make a decorative indentation at regular intervals on the pastry rim of a pie, using forefingers and thumb, or using a knife on a flaked edge, to give a 'scallop' pattern.
Fold In
A gentle, careful combining of a light or delicate mixture with a heavier mixture using a metal spoon.
Food Mill
Tool for pureeing found in most french kitchens which strains as it purees.
Fricassee
A dish in which poultry, fish or vegetables are bound together with a white or veloute sauce. In Britain and the United States, the name applies to an old-fashioned dish of chicken in a creamy sauce.
Fruit Coulis
A sauce made from pureed raw or cooked fruit, served as an accompaniment to hot or cold desserts and cakes.
Galette
Sweet or savoury mixture shaped as a flat round.
Garnish
To decorate food, usually with something edible.
Gastrique
Caramelized sugar deglazed with vinegar and used in fruit-flavoured savoury sauces, in such dishes as duck with orange.
Gelatine
An odourless, colourless substance produced by boiling beef bones, used as a setting agent. Available powdered or in 'sheets' or 'leaves'
Glaze
A thin coating of beaten egg, syrup or aspic which is brushed over pastry, fruits or cooked meats.
Gluten
A protein in flourthat isdeveloped when dough is kneaded, making it elastic.
Gratin
A dish cooked in the oven or under the grill so that it develops a brown crust. Breadcrumbs or cheese may be sprinkled on top first. Shallow gratin dishes ensure a maximum area ot crust.
Grease
To rub or brush lightly with oil or fat.
Herbes De Provence
A mixture of aromatic dried herbs, which grow wild in provence, usually Thyme, Marjoram, Oregano and Summer Savory.
Hull
To remove the green calyx of a strawberry.
Icing
A mixture of icing sugar and water, occaisionally flavoured with fruit juice. Used to cover cakes, petit fours and pastries.
Infuse
To immerse herbs, spices or other flavourings in hot liquid to flavour it. Infusion takes from two to five minutes depending on the flavouring. The liquid should be very hot but not boiling.
Jardiniere
A garnish of garden vegetables, typically carrots, pickling onions, French beans and turnips.
Joint
To cut poultry, game or small animals into serving pieces by dividing at the joint.
Julienne
To cut food into match-like strips.
Knead
To work dough using heel of hand with a pressing motion, while stretching and folding the dough.
Knock Back
To punch down a risen yeast dough to even out the bubbles.
Lights
Lungs of an animal, used in various meat preparations such as pates.
Line
To cover the inside of a container with paper, to protect or aid in removing mixture.
Macerate
To soak food in liquid to soften.
Marinade
A seasoned liquid, usually an oil and acid mixture, in which meats or other foods are soaked to soften and give more flavour.
Marinara
Italian "sailor's style" cooking that does not apply to any particular combination of ingredients. Marinara tomato sauce for pasta is most familiar.
Marinate
To let food stand in a marinade to season and tenderize.
Macerate
Fruit, cake or biscuit is 'macerated' when it's soaked in some flavoured liquid such as wine or liqueur.
Mask
To cover cooked food with sauce.
Melt
To heat until liquified.
Meringue
A light confection made from stiffly whisked egg whites and sugar.
Mince
To grind into very small pieces.
Mix
To combine ingredients by stirring.
Monounsaturated fats
One of three types of fats found in foods. Are believed not to raise the level of cholesterol in the blood.
Nicoise
A garnish of tomatoes, garlic and black olives; a salad with anchovy, tuna and French beans is typical.
Non-Reactive Pan
A cooking pan whose surface does not chemically react with food. Materials used include stainless steel, enamel, glass and some alloys.
Noisette
Small "nut" of lamb cut from boned loin or rack that is rolled. tied and cut in neat slices. Noisette also means flavoured with hazelnuts, or butter cooked to a nut brown colour.
Normande
A cooking style for fish, with a garnish of shrimp, mussels and mushrooms in a white wine cream sauce: for poultry and meat, a sauce with cream, Calvados and apple.
Olive Oil
Various grades of oil extract from olives. Extra virgin olive oil has a full, fruity flavour and the lowest acidity. Virgin olive ellis slightly higher in acidity and lighter in flavour. Pure olive ellis a processed blend of olive oils and has the highest acidity and lightest taste.
Panade
A mixture for binding stuffings and dumplings, notably quenelfes, often of choux pastry orsimply breadcrumbs. A panade may also be made of frangipane, pureed potatoes or rice.
Papillote
To cook food in oiled or buttered greasepoof paper or aluminium foil, also a decorative frill to cover bone ends of chops and poultry drumsticks.
Par-boil
To boil or simmer until port cooked (i.e. cooked further than when blanching).
Pare
To cut away outside covering.
Pate
A paste of meat or seafood used as a spread for toast or crackers.
Paupiette
A thin slice of meat, poultry or fish spread with a savoury stuffing and rolled. In the United States this is also called "bird" and in Britain an "olive".
Peak
A way of measuring the stiffness of a mixture. Soft peak is when the mixture only just holds it's shape. Stiff peak is when the peaks stay pointed.
Peel
To strip away outside covering.
Petit Fours
Bite sized cakes and biscuits, sometimes served with after dinner coffee.
Pipe
To press a soft mixture through a pipe or nozzle to give a decorative effect. Used for icing, meringue and hwipped cream.
Plump
To soak in liquid or moisten thoroughly until full and round.
Poach
To simmer gently in enough hot liquid to cover, using care to retain shape of food.
Polyunsaturated Fat
One of the three types of fats found in food. These exist in large quantities in such vegetable oils as safflower, sunflower, corn and soya bean. These fats lower the level of cholesterol in the blood.
Prove
To leave a yeast dough in a warm place to react and rise a second time after shaping, before baking.
Puree
A smooth paste, usually of vegetables or fruits, made by puffing foods through a sieve, food mill or liquefying in a blender or food processor.
Ragout
Traditionally a well-seasoned, rich stew containing meat, vegetables and wine. Nowadays, a term applied to any stewed mixture.
Ramekins
Small oval or round individual baking dishes.
Reconstitute
To put moisture back into dehydrated foods bysoaking in liquid.
Red Cooked
In Chinese cookery, meat and poultry are often steeped in dark soy sauce to produce a deep red-glazed exterior.
Reduce
To cook over a very high heat, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced by evaporation.
Refresh
To cool hot food quickly, either under running water or by plunging it into iced water, to stop it cooking. Particularly for vegetables and occasionally for shellfish.
Rest
To leave pastry in the fridge so that the gluten, which stretches during rolling, will relax and contract. This makes pastry less likely to crakc during baking.
Rice Vinegar
Mild, fragrant vinegar that is less sweet than cider vinegar and not as harsh as distilled malt vinegar. Japanese rice vinegar is milder than the Chinese variety.
Roulade
A piece of meat, usually pork or veal, that is spread with stuffing, rolled and often braised or poached. A roulade may also be a sweet or savoury mixture that is baked in a Swiss roll tin or paper case, filled with a contrasting filling, and rolled.
Roux
A cooked mixture of fat and flour used to thicken liquids such as soups, stews and sauces.
Rub-In
A method of incorporating fat into flour, by use of fingertips only, Also incorporates air into mixture.
Safflower Oil
The vegetable oil that contains the highest proportion of polyunsaturated fats.
Salsa
A juice derived from the main ingredient being cooked or a sauce added to a dish to enhance its flavour. In Italy the term is often used for pasta sauces, in Mexico the name usually applies to uncooked sauces served as an accompaniment, especially to corn chips.
Saturated Fats
One of the three types of fats found in foods. These exist in large quantities in animal products, coconut and palm oils:
they raise the level of cholesterol in the blood.
Sauté
To cook or brown in small amount of hot fat.
Score
To mark food with cuts, notches of lines to prevent curling or to make food more off attractive.
Scald
To bring just to boiling point, usually for milk, Also to rinse with boiling water.
Sear
To brown surface quickly over high heat in hot dish.
Seasoned Flour
Flour with salt and pepper added.
Sieve
To pass food through a sieve to form a puree.
Sift
To shake a dry, powdered substance through a sieve or sifter to remove any lumps and give lightness.
Simmer
To cook food gently in liquid that bubbles steadily just below boiling point so that the food cooks in even heat without breaking up.
Singe
To quickly flame poultry to remove all traces of feathers after plucking.
Skim
To remove a surface layer (often of impurities and scum) from a liquid with a metal spoon or small ladle, slivered: sliced in long, thin pieces, usually refers to nuts, especially almonds.
Soften
Re gelatine - sprinkle over cold water and allow to gel (soften) then dissolve and liquefy.
Souse
To cover food, particularly fish, in wine vinegar and spices and cook slowly: the food is cooled in the same liquid. Sousing gives food a pickled flavour.
Steam
Moist heat cooking method by which vaporized liquid cooks food in a closed container.
Steep
To soak in warm or cold liquid in order to soften food and draw out strong flavours or impurities.
Stir-Fry
To cook thin slices of meat and vegetable over a high heat in a small amount of oil, stirring constantly to even cooking in a short time. Traditionally cooked in a wok, however a heavy based frying pan may be used.
Stock
A liquid containing flavours, extracts and nutrients of bones, meat, fish or vegetables.
Stud
To adorn with: for example, baked ham studded with whole cloves.
Sweat
To cook vegetables over heat until only juices run.
Sugo
An Italian sauce made from the liquid or juice extracted from fruit or meat during cooking.
Sweat
To cook sliced or chopped food, usually vegetables, in a little fat and no liquid oververy low heat. Foil is pressed on top so that the food steams in its own juices, usually before being added to other dishes.
Timbale
A creamy mixture of vegetables or meat bakea in a mould. French for "kettledrum": also denotes a drum-shaped baking dish.
Thicken
To make a thin, smooth paste by mixing together arrowroot, cornflour or flour with an equal amount of cold water, stir into hot liquid, cook, stirring until thickened.
Toss
To gently mix ingredients with two forks or fork spoon.
Total Fat
The individual daily intake of all three fats previously described in this glossary.
Vine Leaves
Tender, lightly flavoured leaves of the grapevine, used in ethnic cuisine as wrappers for savoury mixtures. As the leaves are usually packed in brine, they should be well rinsed before use.
Whip
To beat rapidly, incorporate air and produce expansion.
Whisk
To beat egg whites rapidly with a balloon whisk, rotary beater or electric beater to introduce air and increase the volume.
Zest
Thin outer layer of citrus fruits containing the aromatic citrus oil. It is usually thinly pared with a vegetable peeler, or grated with a zester or grater to separate it from the bitter white pith underneath.
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