Cooking Glossary
Last updated: 27/09/2006 - 16:47
Following recipes is all well and good, but to do so you have to understand the lingo. Don't know your fricassee from your marinade? Don't know the difference between broiling and braising? Wouldn't know what to do with a coddled egg if you fell over one? Even if you can't cook like an expert, you'll soon be able to talk like one, with the help of our handy glossary!
A
Al Dente
Italian, meaning 'to the teeth'. Al dente does not mean that the pasta should be as hard as teeth enamel, rather it should be 'to the taste', ie offering just enough resistance when bitten into. Traditionally, pasta has been cooked so that it is just a little tough in the centre. However, many people prefer a soft pasta.
When cooking pasta, keep in mind that it continues to cook after you turn off the stove. Therefore, when you are testing pasta for done- ness, remember to drain it a little bit before it is cooked the way you like it.
Au Gratin
French cooking term, used for describing sauced dishes that are topped with breadcrumbs, cheese or both and then broiled until slightly browned. It is often used to describe dishes that are covered or baked in a creamy cheese sauce.
B
Bake
To cook in an oven.
Barbecue
There are several different meanings for the word barbecue. The first is to roast or broil meat or vegetables on a rack over hot coals or heat source. The second would be to cook the food on a revolving spit close to a heat source. The latter usage of barbecue is to cook food in a barbecue sauce, normally a spicy tomato-based sauce with vinegar in it. All of these preparations include frequent basting to be considered true barbecues.
Baste
Moisten food with liquid at intervals during cooking.
Beat
Smooth mixture with a continuous whipping motion using a spoon, fork, wire whisk or electric mixer.
Blanching
The process of plunging food into very hot boiling water for a very short period of time and then quickly placing it in very cold water to halt the cooking process. There are many purposes to blanching fruit and vegetables:
Blend
Thoroughly combine all ingredients until mixture is uniform.
Boiling
Cooking food in a liquid that has been heated until it bubbles.
Braising
The first step in braising is to brown the item that you are cooking in a small amount of fat. Cover the food with a small amount of liquid or smother with a sauce and simmer until finished cooking. Braising can either be done on the stovetop or oven.
Broil
Cooking food by exposing it directly to extreme heat. Normally this is done with an oven broiler.
Browning
Meat is browned to produce a more appealing flavour and colour. Another important benefit to browning meat is that it seals the meat and locks in flavourful juices. The meat can be browned by itself or can be dredged in flour beforehand. To brown meat, use a very hot large skillet over medium-high heat.
Because the heat needed to brown most meats is relatively high, use an even mixture of oil and butter in the pan. The oil and butter should be very hot before you add the meat. Brown the meat in batches so as not to crowd the meat (packing the pan tightly or using low heat cooks the meat rather than browning it).
Normally meat is browned before being used in another slower cooking process such as stewing, baking or cooking in a soup. Many cooks also prefer to brown their meat before cooking it in a crock-pot or microwave. Other items such as onions are often browned.
Baste
To spoon or pour liquid over meat or poultry while cooking. Continuous basting adds flavour and prevents meat from drying out.
Blanch
To quickly cook a vegetable or fruit in boiling water, to make it just barely tender. This makes fruit easier to peel, and reduces strong flavours in some vegetables.
Blend
To stir, or beat ingredients to form a well combined mixture.
Brown
To cook food in butter, oil or fat over a high heat until it becomes browned according to cooking directions. Browning ranges from lightly browned to dark golden brown.
C
Candying
Boiling foods with sugar to conserve, preserve or flavour. Also, simply coating food with sugar.
Caramelise
Heating sugar until it melts and turns a light-brown colour. Also heating meats or vegetables until the natural sugars in them break down and turn light brown. Most commonly, onions are caramelised.
Coddling
Coddling is cooking an object to just below the boiling point. The most common usage of coddling is when cooking eggs - done by cooking them in a pot of water just below a boil, or by pouring boiling water over the eggs and letting them sit for 10 minutes.
Cook and stir
Cook rapidly in small amount of fat, stirring frequently.
Cool
Take hot food or liquid off of heat to allow it to cool to room temperature.
Cut-in
Mix solid and dry ingredients together by cutting with pastry blender, using a rolling motion or cutting with two knives until particles are desired size.
Caramelise
To make a mixture of sugar and butter, heat over low heat until brown and coast vegetables or meat according to recipes instructions.
Chop
To cut food into small pieces. A knife is normally used, but a food processor can be helpful if you're chopping a large amount of food.
Clarified Butter
Melt butter over a low heat, do not stir. Skim fat from top and discard. Pour remaining butter into another dish and use according to recipe directions. Clarified butter should be quite thick and milky.
Coat
To dip food into egg, breadcrumbs or sauce until completely covered. Also used do describe covering baked goods with frosting or icing.
Cool
To refrigerate or let food sit at room temperature until it is no longer warm to the touch.
Cube
To cut meat, poultry or vegetables into pieces. Cubes are standard 1 inch in size.
Cream
To combine food until soft by beating with a spoon, whisk or a hand mixer.
D
Dash
Less than 1/8 teaspoon of an ingredient.
Deep-frying
Cooking food in large quantity of hot fat, normally enough to completely cover the food.
Deglazing
It is absolutely essential to deglaze a pan when making good gravy.
After something has been browned or cooked in a pan, little bits of browned food remain in the pan. This is the good stuff! Deglazing is removing all of these browned bits by boiling a little water, broth, wine or other liquid in the pot and scraping the pan surface with a wooden spoon or whisk.
If there is a large amount of fat in the pot, remove some of it before deglazing. Oftentimes cream, broth, wine or juice is then added to make a sauce.
Developing
When a recipe tells you to let a dish develop, it simply means to let the dish rest for a period of time. The purpose of this is to let the flavours blend or intensify.
Double Boil or Bain Marie
The most common applications of using a Bain Marie or double boiler is making custard dishes, delicate sauces, cheesecakes or slowly melting items.
A double boiler is a two-part pot. The bottom pot is filled with water and then heated. The top pot has the item that needs to be cooked or heated in it. The hot water cooks the item while buffering it from direct heat.
A Bain Marie works under a similar principle. The item that you are cooking should be placed in an appropriate dish. Place this dish in a pot or baking dish large enough to hold it. Pour very hot water in the larger pot, being careful not to get any water into the food dish. Cook as directed.
F
Fold
Gently combine ingredients by first cutting vertically through mixture with a rubber spatula and then sliding spatula across the bottom of the bowl and up the side, turning the mixture over. Carefully continue with this folding motion while rotating bowl; turn with each series of strokes.
Fricassee
Cooking small pieces of meat or poultry by braising.
Frying
Very basic term meaning to cook food in fat. Normally associated with shallow-frying which means cooking in a substantial amount of fat, but not enough to cover the amount of food that is being cooked. See deep-frying, sauté and stir-fry
G
Grill
To cook with direct intense heat on a grill or griddle.
L
Lukewarm
A mild, tepid temperature of approximately 95°F.
M
Marinate
Submerge food in a savoury, usually acidic mixture (marinade) in order to add flavour or to tenderise prior to cooking.
Melting
Turning a solid or semi-solid into a liquid by heating.
Mix
Combine all ingredients until evenly distributed.
P
Pan-broiling
Cooking food in an uncovered skillet, turning frequently and pouring the fat off during cooking.
Parboiling
To boil in water until partially cooked. This is usually a first step in recipes, particularly those with ingredients that take different times to cook.
Pat
As in pat of butter, portion of ingredient shaped into a small, flat, usually square shape. Approximately 1 tablespoon.
Pinch
As much as can be taken between the finger and the thumb.
Poaching
Normally fish, meat or eggs are poached. It is a very straightforward process: the liquid, usually water, is warmed to just below a simmer and the food is slowly cooked in the warm water. The liquid should not be boiling at all.
Puree
Finely grind in blender or food processor until consistency of paste or thick liquid.
R
Reducing or Cooking Down
Boiling a liquid or sauce over high heat until some of the liquid evaporates, leaving a more intensely flavoured mixture. Usually liquids are reduced by half. Sauces are normally reduced to get the proper thickness as well as more intense flavour. When reducing sauces, make sure that they do not stick to the bottom of the pot.
Rendering
The purpose of rendering is to release the fat in meat. This is done by heating the meat until the fat from the connective tissues melts. The fat is then drained off.
Normally rendering is done as a preliminary cooking step and is used with fatty meats or for those trying to reduce the fat in their diets.
Roasting
Roasting is cooking food by using dry heat, normally in an oven.
Rolling Boil
Heat until vapour bubbles form rapidly and break on the surface of liquid.
S
Sauté
Sauté is derived from a French word meaning 'to jump'. When an item is sautéed it should be done in a very hot pan, with the smallest amount of fat that will just coat the food to be cooked. Do not stir, but rather shake the food, making it 'jump'. This enables more even cooking than stirring.
Scalding
This term is used most often in reference to milk. It basically means heating a liquid up to a point just before boiling.
Scalloping
Normally associated with potatoes, scalloping is baking food in layers with a cream sauce. Frequently the dish is topped with crumbs or cheese.
Searing
Quickly browning food with direct intense heat.
Shocking
Placing hot food in very cold water to halt the cooking process.
Sift
Pass dry ingredients through a sieve (sifter) to even out consistency, mix together and/or eliminate lumps.
Simmering
Cooking a liquid over low heat so that it heats to just below the boiling point.
Skim
Remove fat or foam from surface of liquid with a spoon.
Soften
Allow cold margarine or butter to remain at room temperature until soft and easily blended.
Smothering
Adding a small amount of liquid to a dish after sautéing, and slowly cooking in a covered pot or skillet.
Steaming
Cooking food with the steam of boiling water. Usually this is done in the microwave, with an electric steamer, in a double boiler, in a traditional bamboo steamer or on wire rack placed above the water level.
Steep
Soak in a liquid at a temperature just under the boiling point to soften or extract an essence.
Stewing
Slowly cooking vegetables, meat, poultry or fish together in a seasoned liquid using low heat for a long period of time.
Stir-fry
To cook rapidly over high heat (fire) with a little oil and stirring all the while; similar to sautéing. Using a wok makes this process easier, but it can also be done in a skillet.
The most important part of stir-frying is to use a very hot pan and a small amount of oil. Heat the pan and oil over medium high or high heat until hot. Quickly cook small pieces of food individually until perfectly cooked, stirring constantly. Remove from the pan, or place on the sides of the wok. Cook each item in this manner until everything is cooked. Mix everything together. If you are sure about the cooking times for each item, you can cook them all together.
Start with the item that takes the longest to cook and add the remaining ingredients in the descending order of cooking length.
Strain
Pour contents into large sieve-like bowl (strainer) to retain solid pieces and allow liquid to drain through.
Sweating
Cooking food by covering it with liquid and barely simmering in order to bring out a more intense flavour.
Sweet Butter
Sweet butter is commonly used to describe unsalted butter. In regular recipes, you may use salted butter if you like salt, but in baking it's important to use unsalted or sweet butter when the call for it.
T
Tear
Break into pieces, using your fingers.
Tenderise
Lay meat out on level surface and continuously pound with flat, spiked utensil.
Toast
Lightly brown food in oven or toaster.
Toss
Tumble ingredients lightly with two utensils using a lifting, fluffing motion.
More information available in In Your Kitchen, Recipe Ideas, To Your Door, DIY, Deserts, Main Courses, Starters, Supermarkets