Glossary of Food Terms.
A la meuniere – (ah la mun-yair, meaning “in the style of the miller”) Dredged, pan-fried, served with brown butter, lemon juice and chopped parsley.
A la mode – In America, pie or other dessert topped with a scoop of ice cream. In French cooking, braised meat smothered in sauce.
Al dente – (ahl den-tay) Firm to the bite, crisp-tender; an Italian term referring originally to pasta, now applied broadly, especially to vegetables.
Allemand -(alla-mahnd) German style.
Amandine – (ah-mahn-deen) Also Almondine. Made or garnished with almonds.
Ancho Chile Powder – Dark, reddish-brown chile powder made from dried Poblano chili peppers, a variety of Capsicum longum, a regional pepper grown in the Southwest. Intensity and flavor range from mild to very pungent. Should be used sparingly.
Anglaise – (ahn-glez) English style, usually boiled.
Antipasto – (ann-tee-pahs-toe, Italian for “before the pasta”) A small plate or tray of flavorful bite-size cold food such as smoked oysters, olives, marinated vegetables, spicy cold meats, fish, shellfish, cheese.
Arrowroot – A fine white powder or starch, extracted from a tropical rhizome or under-ground root, that is used to thicken sauces and soups. Because of its clarity, appearance and the absence of any taste of its own, it is considered superior to cornstarch as an all-purpose thickening agent.
Aspic – (ass-pik) (1) Powdered meat-flavored gelatin. (2) Plain or colored jellied aspic, often used in decorating cold foods. (3) A cold dish consisting of ingredients bound in jellied aspic.
Au gratin – (oh grat-un) Having a glazed or crusty top surface, especially a sauced food topped with bread crumbs or cheese and baked in a hot oven or glazed under the broiler.
Au jus – (oh zhue) Served with its natural juices, which are usually mixed with stock and enriched by simmering with a mirepoix.
Bacterial growth range – Temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees F (4-60 degrees C), known as the danger zone.
Bain-marie – (ban-ma-ree) Vat of hot water kept at 180 degrees F. (82 degrees C), or thereabouts. for holding hot liquids such as soups or sauces in readiness for service. French for a “steam table” or “hot water bath”.
Bake – A dry-heat process of cooking where a raw ingredient is surrounded by hot air in a closed oven. The air contains some moisture that has been released from the food being baked. The term usually applies to breads, pastries, vegetables and fish.
Baker’s percentages – A system for expressing ratios of ingredients in baking formulas: the weight of the flour is always 100%, and the weight of each other ingredient is expressed as a percentage of the weight of the flour.
Baking powder – A chemical leavener composed of baking soda and an acid; it releases carbon dioxide gas in the presence of moisture and heat.
Baking soda – (sodium bicarbonate) An alkaline chemical leavener; it releases carbon dioxide in the presence of moisture and acid.
Ballotine – A hot or cold dish, usually made with boneless poultry, meat or fish, that has been stuffed, rolled and trussed before cooking. Usually a ballotine is roasted, poached or braised.
Bard – To cover meat with a layer of fat for cooking.
Barquette – – (bar-ket) A small boat-shaped pastry shell used for hors d’oeuvre.
Base, sauce – A convenience product containing both flavoring and thickening for making a sauce.
Basic sauce – An unseasoned sauce used for making one or more finished sauces.
Baste – To pour drippings or liquid over a food before or during cooking.
Batonnet – Usually a discriptive term for a vegetable cut into small sticks or “batons” approximately 1/4-inch by 1/4-inch by 2 or 3 inches long.
Batter – A semi-liquid mixture of flour, liquid and eggs, used to make cakes, cookies and quick breads or as a coating for foods to be fried. To batter is to coat with batter for frying. A drop batter is one having a low ratio of flour to liquid that can be poured easily in a steady stream.
Bavarian cream – A dessert made of custard mixed with gelatin, whipped cream and flavor ingredients.
Beard – To cut the hairy fibers off un-shucked mussels.
Bearnaise – (bare-naze or bay-er-nez) A butter sauce made with an emulsion of egg yolks, clarified butter and a reduction containing tarragon and other finely minced herbs, unstrained.
Beat – To move a paddle, whip or spoon back and forth to blend foods together or to achieve a smooth texture.
Bechamel – (bay-sha-mel or besh-a-mel) A white sauce made by thickening milk with white roux. Basic
bechamel is one of the five mother sauces.
Beignet – (bin-yay) The French word for “fritter”.
Beurre manie – (burr-man-yay, literally, worked or kneaded butter) A thickening agent of butter and flour in a 1 to 1 ratio by weight, made by kneading ingredients together to form a paste.
Beurre noir – (burr nwahr, literally, black butter) Butter cooked until it is dark brown or just short of burned.
Beurre noisette – (burr nwah-zet) Brown butter or nut butter; butter cooked gently to a golden brown.
Bind – To cause a mixture of two or more ingredients to cohere as a homogeneous product, usually by
adding a binding agent such as a starch or gelatin.
Bisque – A thickened shellfish soup.
Blanch – To plunge into boiling liquid and cook 10 to 20 percent of doneness.
Blend – To mix two or more ingredients so completely that they lose their separate idenities.
Blond sauce – A sauce made by thickening a light stock with blond roux; a veloute.
A basic veloute is one of the five mother sauces.
Body – That quality of a dish providing its substance and volume; physical
substance plus strength or richness of flavor.
Boil – To cook a product submerged in a boiling liquid. The body of a boiling
liquid is in turmoil; its surface is agitated and rolling. Its temperature is a constant
212 degrees F. (100 degrees C) at sea level.
Bone – To remove flesh from the bone or bones from flesh.
Botulism – (botch-a-lizm) A food-borne disease caused by a family of bacteria that produce deadly
toxins in non-acid foods in the absence of air; usually associated with improperly processed canned goods.
Bouillon – (bull-yon) Seasoned stock.
Bouquet garni – (boo-kay gar-nee – literally, garnished bouquet) (1) Classically,
sprigs of parsley, bay leaf, and thyme, tied together in a bundle with string, often
with a celery rib; used as a flavor builder in stocks, soups, and sauces. (2) Any aromatic vegetable – herb -spice combination so used.
Braise – (brayz) To cook food at low heat with a small to moderate amount of
liquid in a covered container.
Breading – A coating for a product to be fried, usually consisting of a coat of crumbs on top of a coat of egg wash on top of a coat of flour, a three-step process known as standard breading procedure.
Break down – (1) To divide, for example, to cut a meat carcass into smaller cuts.
(2) To disassemble, for example, to take apart a display platter after the buffet line has
closed and store or dispose of the remaining food.
Brigade de cuisine – (bree-gahd de kwee-zeen) Crew or team of chefs, station heads, cooks, and helpers in a classically organized kitchen.
Brine – Heavily salted solution for pickling or corning foods.
Brochette – (bro-shet) A small skewer. Foods en brochette are usually bite-size pieces of meat and vegetables cooked and served “on the spear”.
Broil – To cook by direct heat from above, a radiant heat process.
Broiler – A tender young bird of either sex. Chicken broilers are also called fryers.
Brown or Browned – To brown meat is to saute, usually small chunks of beef, until they turn brown on all sides. Do not let the individual chunks touch each other as that will hinder the browning process. Browning, then long, slow simmering with little water (braising), turns less tender cuts of beef into fork tender morsels.
Brown sauce – A sauce made by thickening a dark stock with brown roux or cornstarch.
Bruise – To partially crush, as a clove of garlic, to release flavor.
Brunoise – (broon-wahz) (1) A cube-shaped cut 1/8-inch (3mm) in size; fine dice.
Butter – A fat derived from the creamy part of milk. Brown butter is whole melted butter cooked gently until golden brown; beurre noisette. Clarified butter
is liquid butterfat separated from the water and solids in ordinary butter. A compound butter
is a blend of softened butter and one or more pureed or finely chopped ingredients.
Simple butter is heated butter with no added ingredients, used in the role of a sauce.
Sweet butter is unsalted butter.
Butter sauce – A sauce made by emulsifying egg yolks and butter.
Butterfly – Fillets from both sides of a fish connected by a strip of flesh.
Brule, Brulee – French for “burned”, used in cooking to describe foods glazed with carmelized sugar.
Butterfly – To split food down the center, almost but not quite all the way through, so that the two halves can be opened flat like butterfly wings.
Canape – (can-a-pay) A bite-size or two-bite-size finger food consisting of a base, as spread or topping, and a garnish.
Capon – (kay-pon) A desexed male chicken, noted for its tender flesh.
Caramelize – To heat sugar until it liquefies. For a caramel flavor you must heat it further until it turns brown.
Carbohydrates – Starches, sugars and cellulose or fiber, found mainly in plant foods, in milk, and in manufactured starch products. Starches and sugars supply energy to the body; fiber aids in digestion. The behavior of all three carbohydrate types in the presence of heat is very important in cooking.
Carotenes – Pigments in yellow vegetables.
Carry-over Cooking – The increase in the internal temperature of a food (usually a roast) after removal from the heat source.
Casserole – A food or mixture of foods bound by a sauce, baked or heated in the oven.
Cauldron – Large pot formerly used for cooking over an open fire.
Cellulose – The fiber found in fruits, grains and vegetables, which provides their texture. A form of carbohydrate.
Celsius – (cel-see-us) Scale (abbreviated C). The system of temperature measurement used in most countries also called the centigrade scale. It sets the freezing point of pure distilled water at 0 degrees and the boiling point at 100 degrees at standard atmospheric pressure. One Celsius degree equals 1.8 Fahrenheit degrees.
Cheese – A dairy product made from coagulated milk protein (curd); used as a flavorer, a meat substitute, a topping and appetizer, a cold buffet food, a sandwich filling, a salad ingredient, a dessert.
Chef – (1)A person in charge of a production station. (2) A person of recognized superiority in a specialized area of cooking – a pastry chef, for example.
Chef de cuisine – Head chef, working chef.
Chiffon – (1) A light, fluffy custard or pie filling containing egg white and gelatin.
(2) A light cake made by folding a meringue into a flour – egg yolk – oil batter.
Chiffonade – (shif-a-nod) Shredded lettuce, basil, meat or vegetable.
China cap – A cone-shaped strainer, also called a chinois (sheen-wah).
Chlorophyll – Pigment that makes vegetables green, which changes to olive green in an acid medium.
Choice Grade – The second-highest USDA quality grade for meat, indicating good brittle fat, good marbling and good-textured flesh.
Chop – (1) To cut into pieces of no specified shape. (2) A tender portion-size crosscut of meat from the rib, loin, or shoulder, usually including the bone.
Chou paste – (shoo) A paste of flour, butter, egg, and water or milk, used for cream puffs and certain potato dishes.
Chowder – A hearty soup made of fish or vegetables or both, with a large proportion of solid ingredients served in the liquid.
Clarify – To clear a liquid of all solid particles. To clarify butter is to heat it with low heat and remove the clear oil from the milky residue that settles at the bottom of the pan. To clarify stock is to remove particles by simmering it with a ground-meat-and-egg-white mixture.
Coagulation – (co-ag-u-lay-shun) A process in which proteins, when exposed to heat, become firm and gather together into a thickened mass, as egg proteins do when heated or gelatin does when it jells.
Coat – To dip in crumbs, flour or other dry ingredient; also to cover with sauce or aspic.
Coat a spoon – A doneness test for custards and other cooked egg-thickened mixtures; when the egg has thickened (cooked) sufficiently, it will leave a thin, custard-like film on the back of a metal spoon.
Cocktail – An appetizer typically consisting of several bite-size pieces of meat, fish, shellfish or fruit with a highly flavored sauce, usually served at table as the opener to a meal.
Collagen – (kol-a-jun) White connective tissue in meats, capable of tenderization by moist-heat cooking.
Complement – To add a second food or flavor that goes so well with the first that both are enhanced.
Concasser – (kon-kass-ay) To cut rough-shaped but even-size pieces. Concasse means having been so cut.
Condiment – A highly flavored bottled “sauce” that is added to a dish as flavoring, usually after cooking is complete.
Confit – Confit (pronounced cone-FEE) is a technique for preserving meats such as duck, goose or pork that involves cooking the meat in its own fat, and then storing the meat in this fat in a covered container. Confit is an effective method for preserving meats because the fat seals off the oxygen that bacteria need to reproduce.
Consomme – (kon-sum-may) A seassoned, clear soup that jells when chilled. It is made by reducing meat stock. Double-strength clarified stock.
Convection – In cooking, the spread of heat by a flow of hot air or steam or liquid.
Coquille – (co-kee) A sea shell such as a scallop or oyster shell, often used to serve seafood. En coquille – Served in a shell.
Correct seasoning – to taste as the recipe proceeds, to decide whether the taste is satisfactory or would be improved by the addition of, say, a little more salt, a smidgen of pepper or a squeeze of lemon juice.
Court bouillon – An acid and highly flavored poaching liquid used to cook fish.
Couscous – The couscous that is sold in most Western supermarkets has been pre-steamed and dried; the package directions usually instruct to add 1.5 measures of boiling water or stock and butter to each measure of couscous and to cover tightly for 5 minutes. The couscous swells and within a few minutes it is ready to fluff with a fork and serve. Pre-steamed couscous takes less time to prepare than regular couscous, most dried pasta, or dried grains such as rice.
Cream – To work a smooth paste or a fluffy texture in order to incorporate air as a leavener in doughs and batters. Fat and sugar are creamed for cakes, cookies and icings.
Creme Fraiche – (crem-fra-shay) French cream is matured cream with a butterfat content of at least 30 per cent. American heavy whipping cream may be used in any French recipe calling for creme fraiche if it is allowed to thicken with a little buttermilk. American sour cream cannot be substituted.
Crepe – A thin pancake used for both desserts and entrees.
Croquette – (kro-ket) A mixture of minced or pureed cooked food, bound, shaped, breaded and fried.
Cross-contamination – The spread of bacteria from one food to another via a dirty knife, towel, counter, sink, dish, cutting board or hands.
Croute – The French word for “crust” or “pastry”. Something prepared en croute is wrapped in or topped with a crust.
Crouton – (kroo-tahn) (1) A smalll cube of bread fried with herbs and spices, used as a garniture for soups and salads. (2) A buttered bread shape baked in the oven until brown and crisp, used as a canape base.
Crudites – (krue-dee-tays) Attractively cut raw vegetables often used as an accompaniment to a dip.
Crustaceans – Shellfish whose shells are like jointed suits of armor, such as shrimp, lobsters, crabs.
Cryovac aging – The aging, under refrigeration at controlled temperatures, of meats that are broken down into wholesale cuts and vacuum-packed in moisture-vapor-proof plastic.
Cure – To preserve meat, fish or cheese by salting, drying and/or smoking.
Custard – An egg-and-milkk mixture that is either stirred over heat or baked until the eggs coaguate.
Cut in – To mix shortening or other solid fat into dry ingredients until the texture is coarse and mealy.
Cutlet – A lean slice of meat, often pounded or tenderized.
Deglaze – To dissolve the glaze of drippings (fond) in the bottom of a pan by adding cold liquid to the hot pan and stirring.
Demiglace – (dem-ee-glass or dem-ee-glaze) A sauce made from equal parts espagnole and brown stock, reduced by half; often used as a base for other sauces.
Devein – To devein shrimp, remove the shells, cut a slit along the back of each shrimp and remove the fine black vein that runs along the length of the back. Rinse thoroughly with running water.
Dice – To cut into small uniform cubes. Brunoise is 1/8-inch (3mm). Small dice is 1/4-inch (6 mm). Medium dice is 1/2-inch (1 cm). Large dice is 3/4-inch (2 cm).
Dock – To cut a bread dough with a knife or perforate a pie dough with a fork to allow
steam to escape.
Double Broiler – A double boiler consists of a bowl placed on top of a pan of simmering water. The bowl does not touch the water, but creates a seal with the bottom pan to trap the steam produced by the simmering water. The trapped steam keeps the top bowl going at just about 212F (100C), the temperature at which water turns to steam and a far lower temperature than could be achieved by putting the bowl directly on that burner. Inside the top bowl, you can melt chocolate without worrying that it will stick and burn.
Dot – To distribute small bits (usually butter or other fat) over the surface of a food.
Dredge – To pass a product through a fine, dry or powdery substance such as flour, cornmeal, or ground almonds to coat it lightly.
Dry aging – The aging of meat by hanging the carcass for three to six weeks in a refrigerator with carefully controlled temperature, air flow, and humity.
Dry-heat method – Any cooking method in which heat is transferred to food without use of water or steam. Baking, roasting, barbecuing, broiling, grilling and frying are all dry-heat methods.
Dust – To sprinkle a fine substance such as sugar or flour gently on a surface.
Duxelles – (dook-sells) Stuffing made by sauteing in butter mushrooms, shallots and choped parsley, flavored with cayenne and wine.
Egg wash – A mixture of eggs and liquid used in breading a product for frying; also used in baking for coating doughs to produce good color and gloss.
Emulsified dressing -Any salad dressing based on an emulsion of egg and oil.
Emulsified french dressing – A thin emulsified salad dressing made by whipping oil and vinegar slowly into whipped egg yolks or whole eggs and thinning to a pourable consistency.
Emulsify – To form an emulsion.
Enzymes – Organic substances within foods that soften or break down tissues.
Espagnole – (ess-pan-yole) A brown sauce made from an enriched beef stock thickened with roux. Basic espagnole is a mother sauce for many small sauces.
Etuver – (ay-too-vay) To cook a food in its own juices in a covered pot without added moisture.
Executive chef – Manager of all aspects of food production in a large operation. An executive chef is typically a skilled cook who is also trained and experienced in production managment.
Farce – (pronjounced as spelled) A stuffing. Farci (far-see) Stuffed.
Fats and oils – Characteristic components of meats. poultry, some fish, many dairy products, nuts and a few vegetables; used as a cooking medium in frying and as ingredients in recipes, especially in baking.
Fermentation – In yeast doughs, the action by which yeast breaks down the sugars in flour, releasing cartbon dioxide, which leavens the dough.
Filet, fillet – (fil-lay) (1) Meat: A boneless cut from the tenderloin. (2) Fish: A full-length segment removed from the bones. A fillet of a round fish is an entire side; a flatfish fillet is half a side. To Fillet a fish is to remove the fillets from the bones.
Fine dice – A cube-shaped cut 1/8-inch (3 mm) in size; brunnoise.
Flake – When referring to fish, means flesh should come apart easily when touched with a fork. Sometimes means, in reference to other foods, to break lightly into small pieces.
Flaming or Blazing – Flaming or blazing with brandy is done by warming the brandy in a small saucepan and setting it alight with a match. Pour the flaming brandy, a little at a time, into the frying pan with one hand while you shake the frying pan gently back and forth with the other; shake it until the flame has burnt itself out.
Flatfish – A type of fish that is flat and compressed from side to side. It is pale on the underside and dark on the other upper side, with both eyes on the dark side. Its backbone runs down the middle of the body instead of along the top under the fins, as on a round fish. Halibut, sole and flounder are typical flatfish.
Flavor – (1) The way a food tastes, through a combination of sweet, sour, bitter and salt tastes perceived by the tongue and the aromas perceived by the nose. (2) To flavor is to add an ingredient whose distinctive taste complements the predominant flavor of a dish without masking that flavor or losing its own identity. Compare with Season.
Flavor builder – Ingredient added in cooking to enrich the flavor of the main ingredient.
Flkorentine – Served with or containing spinach.
Foie gras – (fwah grah – litterally, fat liver) Traditionally, the liver of specially fattened geese, usually used in the form of a meat paste, pate de foie gras.
Fold – To mix a whipped ingredient lightly with another ingedient or mixture by gently turning one over and over the other with a flat implement.
Fond – (fawn) (1) Stock. In French, fond de cuisine (fawn da kwee-zeen – literally, base of cooking). Fond blanc (fawn blahnk) is veal stock. Fond brun (fawn brun) is brown beef stock. Fond de poisson (fawn da pwasone) is fish stock. Fond de volaille (fawn da vol-eye) is chicken stock. (2) Pan drippings and food bits clinging to the bottom of a pan in which food was cooked, which are incorporated during deglazing to enrich a sauce.
Forestiere – (forest-yair) Served with or containing mushrooms.
Formula – A recipe, especially one used in the bake shop.
Freezer burn – White spots having off flavors and pulpy texture, caused by dehydration through exposure to air at below-freezing temperature.
Fricassee – (frick-a-see) A braised dish of white meat or poultry served in a blond sauce.
Galantine – (gal-un-teen) A showy meat creation from classical cuisine, made of a special meat filling ground to a smooth paste, with special decorative garniture, wrapped in skin and poached in stock; served chilled and sliced.
Garnish – To add a colorful edible accent, such as a sprig of parsley, to a finished dish entirely for eye appeal. A garnish may be eaten but that is not its purpose.
Gelatin – A semisolid jellylike substance, or jel, used as a binding agent
in salads, desserts and cold entrees. (2) The dry powder or leaves that are dissolved to produce the gel. Powdered fruit-flavored gelatin has sugar added.
Gluten – The protein substance that provides structure in baked goods. Gluten, found mainly in wheat flour, is formed when the proteins gliadin and glutenin combine in the presence of moisture.
Gram – (abbreviated g) The basic metric unit of weight, equal to 0.035 ounce.
Gravy – An American term for a jus or sauce made from juices and pan drippings of the meat being served.
Gumbo – A soup thickened with brown roux and crowded with meat or fish and vegetables, usually served with rice.
Hollandaise – (hol-lun-daze) Butter sauce made with an emusion of egg yolks, clarified butter and a flavor reduction. One of the five mother sauces.
Holy Trinity – The holy trinity, Cajun holy trinity, or holy trinity of Cajun cooking is the Cajun and Louisiana Creole variant of mirepoix: onions, bell peppers, and celery in roughly equal quantities. This mirepoix is the base for much of the cooking in the regional cuisines of Louisiana.
Hors d’oeuvre – A small appetizer, usually having a major ingredient, that is served whole and eaten with a pick or cocktail fork; served from a buffet or passed on a tray. Hors d’oeuvre in Hawaii is known as “PuPus”
Herbs de Provence – Herbes de Provence is a mixture of dried herbs considered typical of the Provence region of southeast France. Herbes de Provence contain savory, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, and oregano. Lavender leaves are also included in products in the North American market. The herb mixture is typically used with grilled foods and stews.
Icing – A sweet mixture, made mostly of sugar, used for coating and filling pastries, cakes, cookies and breads.
Imu – Hawaiian oven. A hole dug about 3 ft. deep and 5 feet round, lined with rocks..a fire is built on the rocks until the rocks are hot. A pig dressed on a wire rack is placed in the hole, covered with banana leaves, canvas and dirt and allowed to cook for 8 to 12 hours
Island of Lanai – One of the smaller of the Hawaiian Islands located just west of the island of Maui and at one time called the “Pineapple Island” as that was it’s major crop.
Julienne – (1) A small, very thin cut 1/8×1/8×1 1/2-inches. (2) Food that is cut julienne.
Jus – (zhue) An unthickened accompaniment to a roast meat, consisting of the natural juices from the roast degreased, mixed with stock and enriched by simmering with a mirepoix. See also Au Jus.
Kilogram – (kill-o-gram, abbreviated kg) 1000 grams, or 2.2 pounds. Sometimes shortened to kilo (kee-loh).
Knead – To manipulate dough in order to develop gluten.
Kombu – Kombu, a kelp seaweed with a robust flavor, thrives off the coasts of China, Japan and Korea. It is different from other seaweed in that it produces Dashi (stock). No other seaweed has that gift. This exclusive characteristic of kombu kelp is extremely important and is indispensible to Japanese cuisine. Dashi is the base of several dishes and valued as a vital and rich ingredient.
Lanai – A balcony that wraps around a Hawaiian house where many cocktail parties take place.
Lard – To thread strips of fat (lardons) through meat with a larding needle, a long, large-eyed needle designed for the purpose.
Leven – Any agent that introduces air or gas into a batter or dough, causing it to rise.
Legume – (leg-yoom or lug-yoom) A vegetable that grows in pods, such as peas, beans, lentils.
Legume – (lay-guym) (1) French for vegetable. (2) On a classical menu, a vegetable course, usually served with the roti.
Liaison – (lee-ay-zon) A combination of egg yolks and cream (in a ratio of 1 to 2 by volumn) used to give a velvety texture to soups and sauces.
Lox – Smoked Nova Scotia salmon.
Lyonnaise – (lion-ez) Any dish with a garniture of onions.
Maitre d’hotel butter – (met-ra doh-tel) A compound butter made with lemon juice and chopoped parsley or other herbs.
Margarine – A butterlike fat made from hardened vegetable oils.
Marinade – Any liquid made up for the purpose of marinating, usually containing oil, an acid, and flavor builders.
Marrow – (1) Tissue from the insides of bones. (2) A vegetable of the squash family.
Marzipan – (mar-za-pan) Amond paste made from finely ground almonds, confectioners’ sugar and egg white, often molded into decorative shapes.
Mask – To disguise by covering completely with sauce or by flavoring to hide true taste.
Macerate -To soak a food (usually fruit) in a liquid in order to infuse it with the liquid’s flavor. A spirit such as brandy, rum or a liquor is usually the macerating liquid.
Master chef – A master of all the culinary arts. The term applies to skill level, not job title.
Mayonnaise – A flavored, seasoned emulsion of egg yolks and oil. Mayonnaise can be a finished salad dressing, a basic dressing for other salad dressings or a mother sauce for other cold sauces.
Medallion – Classical term applied to food that is cut or shaped like a medallion – flat and round or oval.
Meringue – (ma-rang) Egg white whipped until stiff with sugar, used in making desserts.
Hard meringues use 2 parts sugar to 1 part white. Soft meringues are made with equal parts sugar and whites.
Mirepoix – (mee-ra-pwah) A standard flavor builder for stocks, soups and sauces made up of 50 percent onions (or onions and leeks), 25 percent celery and 25 percent carrots, usually cut concasser. A light mirepoix omits carrots; a dark mirepoix may add tomato.
Mise en place – (meez on plass) Everything in its proper pace; a good production setup with everything ready to go.
Moist heat method – Any cooking method in which heat is transferred to the product by a water-based liquid or steam. Boiling, simmering, poaching, braising and steaming are all moist-heat methods.
Mollusks – Shellfish that live inside a pair of shells, such as clams, oysters and scallops or under a single shell, such as abalone.
Monter au beurre – (mawn-tay oh burr) To swirl butter into a hot sauce just before serving.
Mother sauce – A basic sauce from which other sauces are made; also known as a leading sauce. The mother sauces are bechamel, veloute, espagnole, tomato sauce and hollandaise.
Mousse – A dish made with a pureed major flavor ingredient often mixed with gelatin and folded with whipped cream; often molded.
Mousseline – (moos-a-leen) sauce. Any sauce that has whipped cream folded into it.
Nouvelle cuisine – French, “new cuisine”, is an approach to cooking and food presentation in French cuisine. In contrast to cuisine classique, an older form of haute cuisine, nouvelle cuisine is characterized by lighter, more delicate dishes and an increased emphasis on presentation. It was popularized in the 1960s.
Oil – (1) A fat that is liquid at room temperature – usually a plant product. (2) To oil is to spread a light coat of oil on a pan or food surface.
Omelet – A beaten egg mixtue cooked rapidly over heat in a primed pan; often filled or flavored and usually folded.
Pan fry – To cook food to doneness in a small to moderate amount of fat in a pan over moderate heat.
Papillote – (pap-ee-yote) An envelope or bag in which a food is steamed in its own juices. Foods en papillote are cooked by this method.
Parboil – To simmer in liquid or fat until approximately 50 per cent done.
Pasta – A starchy product made from a paste of hard flour and water; macaroni, spaghetti and noodles are the most familiar varieties.
Pastry bag – A flexible canvas or plastic funnel used to force a soft mass of food into decorative shapes through a pastry tube or tip.
Pastry cream – (creme patissiere – krem pa-tees-yair) A stirred custard sauce thickened by eggs and starch.
Pate – (pah-tay) A mixture of finely ground meats, flavored, seasoned and baked.
Pate a chou – (pot a shoo) A paste of eggs, flour and liquid used for cream puffs, eclairs, and savory preparations; also called chou paste.
Paupiette – (pope-yet) A fish fillet or a thin slice of meat rolled into a cylinder shape around another bit of food and poached or braised.
Petits fours – (petty fours) (1) Tiny fancy iced cakes. (2) Small rich cookies in decorative shapes.
Piece de resistance – (pyess da ray-see-stahns) The main dish on a classical menu, consisting of a large, elaborately presented piece of poultry, meat, or game such as a roast suckling pig or a saddle of venison.
Pilaf – A method of cooking rice, covered, with sauteed onion and just enough stock to be completely absorbed.
Poach – To cook food submerged in liquid at temperatures of roughly 160-180 degrees F. (70-85C). A liquid at these temperatures has bubbles on the bottom of the pan but is undisturbed.
Poeler -(po-a-lay) To cook with fat in a covered pot, a moist-heat method that uses steam from the food’s natural juices.
Poisson – (pwah-sone) (1) Fish (French). (2) On a classical menu, a course consisting of a small portion of fish or shellfish.
Potage – (poh-tahzh – rhymes with garage) (1) A soup naturally thickened by a puree of its major ingredients. (2) In French, any of several different kinds of soup. (3) The soup course on a menu.
Pot Roast – A large cut of meat braised whole in a pot and sliced for service.
Prime grade – The highest USDA quality grade for meat, indicating thick, white, brittle fat cover, fine-textured flesh and abundant marbling.
Prime – To polish a cooking surface at high heat with salt and fat or oil to
overcome its porousness; to condition, to season.
Prime Rib – A seven-rib cut of meat from the forequarter.
Proof – To ferment a yeast dough a second time.
Provencale – (pro-von-sahl) In the style of Provence, usually with garlic and tomato.
Puff pastry – A rolled-in stiff dough leavened by steam from butter, which produces a light, flaky pastry when baked.
Punch down – To deflate a yeast dough after fermentation, to expel gas, redistribute the yeast, and equalize the temperature.
Puree – To mash a cooked product to a fine pulp, usually by forcing it through a sieve or putting it into a blender.
Quenelle – A light, delicate meat dumpling.
Quiche – (keesh) A pie with a savory custard filling.
Quick bread – An easily and quickly made bread leavened chemically or by steam; biscuits, muffins and pancakes are examples.
Ragout – (rah-goo) A flavorful stew made of meat, fish, or poultry, poached or braised, with or without vegetables.
Ramekin – (ram-a-kin) Small earthenware baking dish.
Reconstitute – To restore a product to its normal state, such as by adding liquid to a dried product, or reheating a sauce that has been frozen or refrigerated.
Red sauce – (1) Tomato sauce, one of the five mother sauces, thickened with tomato puree or roux. (2) A cold cocktail sauce served with shrimp and crab.
Reduce – To boil or simmer a liquid until it reaches a smaller volume through evaporation. A liquid so reduced has a greater concentration of flavor and a thicker texture.
Reduction – A product reduced in volume by boiling or simmering. In classical sauce-making, the term refers to a mixture of highly flavored ingredients that are reduced by 70-80 percent and added to a sauce to provide its major flavor.
Refresh – To rinse or immerse hot food (usually green vegetables) in very cold or ice water to stop further cooking and to set the color of the food.
Render – To heat pieces of animal fat to separate the fat from the connective tissue.
Risotto – A creamy rice dish originating in Italy, prepared with butter and stock.
Roast – To cook by heated air, usually in an enclosed space such as an oven or barbecue pit but also on a revolving spit before an open fire. Roasting nearly always refers to meats.
Roaster – A young bird tender enough to roast but less tender than a fryer. A roaster chicken is usually three to five months old; a roaster duckling or fryer-roaster turkey is usually under 16 weeks old.
Roulade – (roo-lahd) A thin slice of meat rolled around another food as ham around asparagus.
Roux – (roo) A thickening agent of fat and flour in a 1-1 ratio by weight, made by blending and cooking over low heat. A white roux is one that is cooked only until thick and foamy. A blond roux is one cooked until its color is blond. A brown roux is one cooked until it looks brown and tastes and smells nutty.
Sachet – Herbs and spices tied in a piece of cheese-cloth and added to the cooking pot or pan. A typical sachet contains parsley stems, cracked peppercorns, dried thyme and a bay leaf.
Saddleback – (lobster) To arrange the raw flesh on top of the chell before cooking.
Salamander – Small overhead broiler used for quick glazing or browning.
Salmonella – (sal-mun-ell-a) A family of disease-producing bacteria, the most common of the hazardous kitchen bacteria.
Sanitize – To rid surfaces and utensils of bacteria by washing with a germicide.
Saute – (1)To cook in a skillet with some fat without pouring off drippings.
(2) To flip quickly in a small amount of hot fat in a pan.
Savory – (1) A piquant, non-sweet flavor or dish. (2) A morsel served as a last course designed to cleanse and stimulate the palate before the port.
Scald – To heat a liquid, most frequently milk or cream, just short of the boiling point until bubbles begin to gather around the edge of the pan. Also, to plunge tomatoes or peaches, etc., into boiling water to loosen their skins; to blanch.
Scaling – Using a scale to weigh ingredients or doughs and batters to be evenly divided for baking.
Scallopine – Very thin slices of tender meat, often flattened by pounding; usually sauteed,
Scorch -To burn a surface of so as to change its color and texture. 2. a : to dry or shrivel with or as if with intense heat.
Score – To mark the surface of a product with grids, a hot poker, or shallow cuts from a knife blade.
Sear – To expose the surface of meat to extreme heat in a hot pan or oven to brown it before cooking at a lower temperature.
Season – (1) To heighten a food’s own flavor by adding seasonings; compare with Flavor.
(2) To prime a cooking surface; see Prime.
Seasonings – Substances that heighten the taste of a food without altering that taste or adding their own flavors – namely, salt, pepper and fresh lemon juice.
Shirr – To break eggs into a baking dish and cook them either in the oven or on top of the stove.
Shortening – A fat that is solid at room temperature; used for deep-frying and in baking as a creaming and tenderizing agent.
Shred – To cut in very fine strips or pieces
Sieve – To strain liquid through a sieve; also the strainer itself.
Simmer – To cook food submerged in liquid just below a boil or to cook the liquid itself, at temperatures of 180 degrees F. (85 degrees C.) to just below the boiling point. A simmering liquid has bubbles floating up slowly from the bottom and the surface is fairly quiet.
Simple syrup – A solution of sugar in water, used to thin fondant, flavored to become a dessert syrup or cooked through various stages from thread (230 degrees F./110 degrees C.) to caramel (320 degrees F/160 degrees – 170 degrees C.) for syrups and candy.
Skim – To remove foam, scum or fat from the surface of a stock, soup or sauce.
Slice – A crosscut 1/8 to 3/8-inch (3-8mm) thick. To slice is to cut into even slices, usually across the grain.
Slurry – A flour-water mixture (equal parts by volume) used as an emergency
thickener for sauces; sometimes called a whitewash.
Smoke point – The temperature at which a fat smokes, indicating that its chemical structure is breaking down and it is no longer suitable for cooking,
Sorbet – Sherbert; used on a classical menu as a light course separating two heavier courses.
Soubise – (soo-beez) With onion puree.
Souffle – (soo-flay) A light and fluffy sweet or savory dish, made with heavy bechamel, egg yolks and a major flavor ingredient, folded with whipped egg whites, baked; served immediately.
Sous chef – (soo-shef – literally, under-chef) A productiion supervisor reporting to an executive chef. A sous-chef is typically a skilled cook and will do some cooking as well as supervising.
Steak – (1) Fish: A crosscut section of the body of a large pan-dressed fish.
(2) Meat; A tender cut from the rib, loin, sirloin, tenderloin, round or chuck.
Steam – To cook with steam, usually in a cabinet type cooker under pressure.
Steam-cooking under pressure is hotter and faster than cooking in liquid.
Steep – To leave immersed in a liquid over a period of time in order to convey flavor to the liquid, as tea leaves are steeped in boiling water to make tea.
Stew – A dish composed of meat, poultry or fish simmered or braised together with other ingredients at low temperatures and served with the cooking liquid, which is usually thickened to make a sauce.
Stir-fry – To cook bite-size ingredients over high heat in a small amount of oil, tossing them with utensils, until crisp-tender.
Stock – A flavored liquid used in making soups, sauces and sauce-based entrees. A light stock is made from bones of veal (or beef), chicken, or fish. A dark stock, or brown stock, is made from the browned bones of beef or veal or both.
Strain – To remove lumps or particles from a liquid by passing it through a fine mesh of cloth or metal or both.
Cut in shortening – To cut fat or shortening into flour with a pastry blenderor two knives until mixture resembles corn meal.
Sweat – To cook slowly in fat over low or moderate heat without browning, sometimes with a cover on the pan.
Tapicoa – A starch made from the cassava plant, used as a thickener.
Temper – To add a hot liquid little by little to a cold liquid to raise its temperature slowly.
Terrine – A pate, usually encased in fat and baked in a special earthern ware dish.
Thickening agent – A substance that increases the viscosity of a liquid, that is, makes it more difficult to pour. Commonly used thickening agents are starches and gelatin.
Timbale – (tim-bul) A small mold. (2) A dish cooked, served or molded in a timbale.
Tournedos – (toor-na-doe) A small slice of filet of beef, 2 to 3 ounces.
Trichinosis – (trick-a-noh-sis) A food-borne disease caused by the parasite trichina (trick-eye-na), sometimes found in uncooked or under-cooked fresh pork that has not been government inspected.
Truss – To tie meat or poultry into a compact shape, such as tying the legs
and wings of a bird close to the body for even cooking.
Variable – Something that is not constant or precise at all times in all places. In
this text the symbol * is used in recipes to signal a variable.
Variety meats – Animal organs such as liver, heart, kidneys, tongue, sweetbreads; meat mixtures such as sausage; and other processed meats such as corned beef, peppered beef, and pastrami.
Veloute – (ve-loo-tay) A sauce made from a light stock and blond roux. Chicken veloute is made from chicken stock, veal veloute from veal stock and fish veloute from fish stock or fumet. The veloutes are mother sauces for many small sauces.
Vichy – (vee-shee) (1) Cooked in vichy water. (2) Boiled and served with butter and parsley, usually applied to carrots.
Vinaigrette – (vin-a-gret) A salad dressing of vinegar and oil.
Vol-au-vent – (vo-lo-von) A large pastry shell used for serving entrees.
Whey – (whay) The watery liquid remaining after milk protein (curd) has coagulated.
Whip – To beat with a rapid lifting motion, usually with a whip, to incorporate air into a product.
Whisk – To beat until stiff, usually with a whisk, rotary or electric beater.
White sauce – A sauce made by thickening milk with a white roux.
Yellow sauce – Butter sauce, made by emulsifying clarified butter and egg yolks.
Yield – (1) The quantity of finished product a given recipe will produce, often expressed in number of servings of a specified size. (2) Edible portion of a raw product, usually expressed as a percentage.
Zest – Colored outer portion of a citrus fruit, containing flavorful oils.
