Glossary of Cooking Terms

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GLOSSARY OF COOKING TERMS

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L
M | O | P | R | S | T | W | XYZ

A La King:
Food heated in a rich white, cream or sherry-flavored sauce.

A La Mode:
Food which has been soaked or cooked in a marinade; also pie served with ice cream or any dessert having ice cream on top.

Al dente:
Commonly refers to pasta, which should be cooked just to the point that it is completely tender but still remains firm.

Antipasto:
Italian for 'before the meal', it usually consists of an assortment of cold meats, vegetables and seafood, etc. eaten as an appetizer.

Appetizer:
Food or beverage served before the first course of luncheon or dinner.

Aspic:
Almost any type of dish, except dessert, which has been thickened with gelatin, or covered with it. Formerly meant meat, chicken or fish stock, sometimes including bits of meat and vegetables, boiled down so that when cold it thickened with its own gelatin.

Au Gratin:
French cooking term, used for describing sauced dishes that are topped with bread crumbs, or 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.

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B

Bake Blind:
To bake an empty pastry case. To keep the base flat and the sides' upright, the pastry is usually lined with paper and filled with dried beans, rice or special lead weights.

Balsamic Vinegar:
Vinegar from Modena, Italy, which is aged in casks and made from the Trebbiano grape.

Barbecue:
To roast meat, poultry or fish over coals or on a spit, basting frequently with a highly seasoned sauce; to prepare such food in a sauce on the range or in the oven.

Baste:
To pour liquid by spoonfuls over a food while it is cooking to keep it from drying out and to add flavor; either liquid from the pan in which the food is cooking or other liquid is used.

Batter:
A semi-liquid mixture of flour, liquid and other ingredients, to which heat is to be applied.

Beat:
With a spoon, fork, whisk or wheel (rotary) beater to introduce air throughout any food mixture. Stirring in rapid regular, round-and-round or over, under and over strokes with a spoon or beater.

Bisque:
Rich cream soup. Also frozen whipped cream or cream desserts.

Blanch:
To immerse food in boiling water for a brief period of time then drain and rinse it in cold water immediately. Blanching removes bitterness, loosens skins for easy peeling, sets a brilliant color and firms etc.

Blend:
To stir, or beat ingredients to form a well-combined mixture.

Boil:
To cook in a liquid heated until it is bubbling. A full rolling boil is one that cannot be smoothed down by stirring with a spoon.

Botulism:
Poisoning by a bacillus, which may infect preserved food especially, canned meat and vegetables. Heating to 212 degrees F. for 5 minutes destroys this toxin. After cooling, the high temperature is repeated once or twice.

Bouillon:
A clear brown stock made either by boiling meat with water and seasonings, or from commercially prepared bouillon cubes. When served as soup it is called bouillon; combination stock (meat and poultry) is consommé; fish stock is called court bouillon. But there is no uniformity of practice in the use of these names.

Braise:
To cook in low moist heat with fat and water or fat and other liquid; usually used for meats. The method is to brown the food quickly in the fat, add the liquid and seasonings if used, cover the pan tightly and keep the heat low until the food is cooked.

Bread Crumbs:
Fine or dry bread crumbs are made from dry bread or toast rolled or ground to a course powder. Removing the crust from the bread and cutting or breaking the central section into small bits makes soft bread crumbs.

Bread:
To cover or coat food with bread crumbs; food which is breaded is usually dipped in liquid first to make the crumbs stick.

Brioche:
A soft roll or loaf made from yeast, dough, eggs and butter

Broil:
To cook food by direct exposure to radiant heat, rather than live coals, flame or electric heating unit. The term is also used for pan-cooked food when no fat is added to the pan.

Broth:
Thin soup; or liquid in which meat, poultry, fish or vegetables have been cooked.

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.

or

Brown:
To give the outer surface of a food a brown color by sautéing, frying, toasting, broiling or baking.

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C

Canapé:
An appetizer consisting of fried or toasted bread or crisp crackers topped with seasoned spread of fish, meat, cheese or salad combinations.

Capon:
Castrated male chicken.

Caramelize:
To melt sugar and heat it until it becomes a golden brown liquid; this caramel liquid is used to flavor soups, vegetables and other dishes; also used in cakes, icings, candy and sauces.

Chiffonade:
Originally the cutting of leaf green leaves into thin, ribbon like strips, and now commonly refers to the style of cut.

Chine:
The section of lower backbone which interlocks the ribs and membrane. It should be removed to facilitate boning or carving of meats such as a standing rib roast.

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. Also refers to a cut of meat.

Chowder:
A half-soup, half-stew of vegetables, fish or other foods.

Clarified Butter:
Butter is clarified to separate the fat from the water and milk solids so the remaining fat will not burn and impart a bitter taste.
Melt butter over a low heat. Do not stir. Skim off the foam that rises to the surface, and pour the clear, yellow melted butter off the milk solids at the bottom of the saucepan and into another container; discard the milk solids.

Clarify:
To make liquids such as coffee or soups completely transparent by the addition of egg white or other agent; after several minutes heating the egg white in the liquid, the white coagulates, collecting solids in it; this portion can be strained off, leaving a completely clear liquid.

Coat:
To dip food into egg, bread crumbs, or sauce until completely covered. Also used do describe covering baked goods with frosting or icing.

Cobbler:
Form of deep fruit pies; may have top crust only or top and bottom crust.

Cocktail:
Beverage, alcoholic or made of fruit or vegetable juices, served as appetizer before meal; also a cup of chopped fruit, or of seafood dressed in a tart sauce, served before a meal.

Compote:
Cooked sweetened fruit, usually two or more kinds mixed; served as dessert or with meat or poultry.

Condiments:
Seasonings such as salt, pepper, paprika, including spices and herbs; also used to refer to sauces such as Tobasco, Worcestershire, A-1, and similar bottled seasonings.

Confectioners' Sugar:
Finest form of cane or beet sugars; used for coarser and not so sweet.

Consommé:
Clear soup made of meat and chicken or as used today, any clear soup.

Cool:
To refrigerate or let food sit at room temperature until it is no longer warm to the touch.

Core:
The fruit's core is the stem running through it surrounded by seeds. To core an apple or pear is to remove its core; the cylindrical knife for this purpose is called a corer.

Cream:
To soften fat by beating it with a spoon or beater until it can be whipped almost like very thick cream; also means to blend fat and sugar smoothly together.

Creole:
The addition of tomatoes, green peppers, spicy seasonings and sometime chopped okra or corn to a sauce or dish; in the style of New Orleans cookery.

Croquettes:
Food, raw or cooked, hashed fine, held together by a thick sauce or egg, shaped into small forms (balls, cylinders, cones, cubes) and cooked in deep, hot fat.

Croutons:
Tiny cubes of bread fried in fat or toasted, and served as garnish on soups and other dishes.

Cube:
To cut meat, poultry or vegetables into pieces. Cubes are cut 1 inch in size.

Cut and Fold:
Usually applied to adding stiffly beaten egg whites to a liquid or other mixtures; the cutting is done by turning the spoon it over the top portion, and repeat till the two mixtures are combined.

Cut in:
To work fat or shortening into flour or corn meal with the fingers, or with two knives or a pastry blender until the mixture has the texture of very course meal.

Cutlet:
A piece of meat from the leg or rib; also croquet mixture shaped like a chop or meat cutlet.

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D

Deep Fry:
To fry in a large kettle nearly full of liquid fat, which has been heated so that the food floated in it browns quickly.

Deglaze:
To dissolve collected cooking sediment from the bottom of the pan by heating wine, stock or other liquid in the pan and scraping and stirring the bottom vigorously. This is an especially important step in the preparation of meat sauces and gravies.

Demitasse:
Half cup or the small cup of after dinner coffee.

Deviled:
Highly spiced food.

Dice:
To cut into small cubes or pieces.

Draw:
Used in reference to poultry, means to cut the foul open and remove (draw out) the entrails.

Dredge:
To coat food such as meat by dipping it into and completely covering it with fine, powdery mixture of flour and seasonings or seasoned crumbs; or to sprinkle flour and other mixtures over a food; fruit is dredged in sugar or with sugar.

Dressed:
Referring to poultry, means that feathers, but not the head, feet or entrails, have been removed; meaning varies in different markets and communities.

Drippings:
Fats and juices which cook out of beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton or poultry while they roast or broil; fat left in frying pan where bacon or chops or other meat has cooked.

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E

Egg wash:
Beaten raw egg and salt used to glaze pastry to give it a shine when cooked.

Entree:
Today, the main dish of a simple meal; in more elaborate menus an interesting "made" dish served between soup and meat; or fish and meat or with the meat or main course.

Escallop:
More usual term is scallop, meaning to bake any food with a sauce and topping if crumbs or crumbs and cheese; sometimes baked in a scallop shell or shell-shaped dish, hence the name.

Eviscerate:
To remove entrails from fowl or game.

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F

Farce:
Stuffing, forcemeat.

Fat:
Butter, margarine, shortening, lards, oils and fat from fowl and meat.

Filet:
A piece of chicken, fish or meat from which bones have been removed, or which originally contained no bones.

Flake:
To break into small sections or pieces with a fork or spoon.

Flour, Browned:
Flour heated in an ungreased skillet over low heat until browned; stir to avoid burning.

Fondue:
Applied to baked cheese and crumb mixtures, or cheese and wine rarebits, Swiss-style.

Frappe:
A mixture of fruit or juices frozen to a mush, but not solid. Also a cordial or liqueur poured over cracked ice.

French:
Of lamb chops, to trim away the meat from the end of the bone. Of beef tenderloin, to flatten with a cleaver. Of green beans, to cut lengthwise into thin slivers. Of frying, to immerse food in deep hot fat until the surface is browned.

Fricassee:
To cook meat, poultry or game cut in small pieces, in liquid and fat. Food covered with batter, or mixed with batter, and fried in deep, hot fat, or in a pan.

Frost:
To spread icing or frosting over a cake, cookies or other foods.

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G

Garnish:
To add decorative color to a dish with parsley, fruit and other foods.

Giblets:
The heart, liver and gizzard of poultry.

Glaze:
The shiny coat given to foods: glazed ham has a sugar-and-fat glaze or one of aspic or gelatin; glazed carrots are coated with sugar and butter.

Grate:
To break or scrape foods into small pieces by rubbing them over a utensil known as a grater or on various small grating devices.

Gratinee:
A dish that is browned under a grill or in the oven, often topped with butter or bread crumbs. Also called au gratin.

Gravy:
Sauce made with the juices of meat, poultry or fish in the pan in which they cooked, with other added liquids and seasonings and possibly flour for thickening.

Grease:
To rub the inside surface of a dish with fat so that food put into the dish will not stick to the surface; to rub a baking pan or mold with oil or fat.

Grill:
To cook food on a wire or metal rack under or over heat.

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H

Hamhocks:
Hocks are located on the hind leg, just above the hoof of a hog. Most commonly used in adding flavor to dishes such as greens, beans, soups, and stews.

Half and Half:
Half cream, half milk. Commonly used in the United States, unheard of in Australia as we've found out. ;-)

Hard Ball Stage:
Test used to determine when a sugar syrup mixture has reached a certain temperature. A rigid ball will form when a drop of hot syrup is submerged in cold water.

Hard Crack Stage:
Test used to determine when a sugar syrup mixture has reached a certain temperature. When hot syrup is dropped into cold water, brittle threads will form.

Hash:
A potato dish commonly made from leftovers, usually with chopped potatoes, leftover meat, and often times other vegetables. Famous for its name is Corned Beef Hash.

Hibatchi:
A small, portable charcoal grill.

Homogenized:
With fat broken down into such small particles that it stays suspended in liquid, rather than rising to the top.

Hoisin Sauce:
Thick sauce made from soy beans and seasoning used in Chinese cooking.

Honey:
Sometimes sold in the comb, but usually as an extracted liquid and in solid and granular forms. Most recipes use liquid honey. Can be used in place of sugar for sweetening.

Hors d'oeuvre:
The French version of appetizers, served before a meal: olives, celery, pickled beets, pickled mushrooms, sardines and other foods.

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I

Ice:
A fruit juice mixture frozen until firm and smooth; to ice means to chill either in the refrigerator or on the ice; or the addition of ice to the food or drink itself. Also means to apply icing or frosting to a cake.

Infuse:
Steep, soak or heat gently to extract flavor

Infusion:
Tea, coffee, and herbs steeped by the addition of boiling water, which is poured off and served as a beverage.

Irradiate:
To add vitamin D to foods by exposure to ultraviolet rays.

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J

Jelly Test:
Dip a spoon into boiling jelly and let juice run off the edge of the spoon. If it runs into two separate streams, the jelly is not done. When the last few drops run off the spoon in a single sheet rather than in two or more separate streams the jelly is done.

Julienne:
To cut into long slender pieces; usually applied to vegetables, sometimes to meat or cheese.

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K

Knead:
To work dough, usually with the hands, until it is a smooth, pliable mass.

Knock Down/Knock Back:
To knead or punch the air from risen dough so that it reverts to its pre-risen volume.

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L

Lard:
To insert thin layers of fat between the fibers of thin meat; gashes may be cut in the meat and slender strips of salt pork or bacon introduced in the openings, then the meat is sewed or pressed together to cover the added fat. To enrich the food as it cooks with fat or lard.

Leaven:
To raise; some leavening agents are baking powder, soda, and eggs.

Lukewarm:
A temperature about 100 to 110 F.

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M

Macerate:
To soak in syrup or liquid for additional flavor.

Marinate:
To cover foods with any liquid to give it flavor. French dressing is often used to marinate vegetables and meat, as is vinegar and lemon juice-various seasonings may be added; fruit juices, wines, milk are used; the liquid in which a food is thus treated is called a marinade.

Melt:
To liquefy by heat; melting is usually done at low heat.

Meringue:
A mixture of stiffly beaten egg whites and sugar. May be cooked or uncooked.

Mince:
To chop in very fine pieces.

Mocha:
Coffee flavoring. Usually a mixture of coffee and chocolate.

Mousse:
Frozen mousse usually contains whipped cream and gelatin, is flavored with fruit, sweet sauces, wines or cordials and is frozen in a mold packed in ice; a cooked mousse, such as ham mousse or fish mousse also contains gelatin and cream and is baked or steamed.

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P

Pan Broil:
To cook uncovered in a frying pan without fat, or just enough fat to keep food from sticking.

Pan Fry:
To cook in a frying pan with little fat. Nearly the same as pan broil, although some fat is added for any pan-frying.

Parboil:
To cook to near tenderness in boiling water; cooking is then usually completed by some other method.

Parfait:
A smooth, rich ice cream containing eggs, frozen in small paper cups; or a tall dessert glass filled with syrup or fruit, ice cream and whipped cream.

Pasteurize:
To apply below-boiling heat for a given time to a food to kill bacteria; used commercially for milk; used in the home in the preservation of fruit juices and other foods.

Paté:
Paste usually of mashed, seasoned liver.

Peel:
To pare; also to remove the skins of oranges, tangerines, etc., with the finger; to skin tomatoes and other thin- skinned fruits and vegetables.

Petits Fours:
Small squares, rounds and fancy shapes of cake iced in colors.

Pipe:
To force through a pastry tube. Frostings, salad dressing or pureed vegetables are sometimes piped on other foods for decorative effect.

Poach:
To cook food gently in simmering liquid, usually water or stock.

Pot roast:
Low heat baking, usually of meat, which is firstly seared and then braised in its own juices, either in an enclosed pot in the oven, or on the stove top.

Punch:
Beverage composed of fruit juices, tea, carbonated drinks or any of these combined with liquor of alcoholic content.

Puree:
To force cooked food through a sieve, food mill, strainer or cheesecloth.

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R

Ragout:
French for brown stew.

Reduce:
To boil down a liquid, to thicken and intensify its flavor.

Refresh:
To run cold water over just cooked boiled green vegetables, or to immerse them quickly in cold water to arrest the cooking and set the color.

Render:
To melt solid meat fats slowly in the oven.

Rest (pastry):
Set aside to allow the gluten to contract and lessen the chance of shrinkage during the baking process.

Rice:
To force food through a ricer or course sieve. Usually applied to mashed potatoes and other foods.

Roast:
To cook by fry heat in an oven.

Roe:
Fish eggs used in caviar.

Roux:
A cooked mixture of equal parts butter and flour used as a base to thicken sauces.
To make a roux, melt butter over medium heat until it sizzles, sprinkle and equal amount of flour evenly over the pan and stir briskly with a wire whisk. The mixture should be smooth, and beige/yellow in color. Cook about 2 minutes. This mixture is generally used to thicken sauces and soups. It's also used in Cajun dishes, although the roux is often cooked much longer to create a stronger tasting roux.

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S

Sauté:
To cook small quantities of food in very hot fat, butter or oil, or combination, until brown or cooked through, it is one of the most important cooking techniques.

Scald:
To heat liquid to just below the boiling point; also to cover fruits, meat, etc. with boiling water for a few minutes.

Scallop:
See escallop. Also a shellfish.

Score:
To cut halfway through; for example the fatty covering of ham is scored before baking; the outer rind of a cucumber is scored with a fork.

Scrape:
To remove outer skin or flesh of a vegetable or fruit, holding the knife with blade at right angles against the food and moving it back and forth in a scraping, not a cutting, action.

Sear:
To brown the surface of food, usually meat, by exposing it to high heat for a comparatively short period of time.

Self-Raising Flour:
Made from plain flour with added baking powder. Adding two level teaspoons of baking powder to each cup of flour and sifting until well mixed can make it.

Semolina:
Cereals reduced to granules by course milling.

Sherbet:
See ice. White of egg or milk added to ice mixture classes .

Shortening:
Fat used for baking.

Simmer:
To cook just below the boiling point; only occasional bubble appears on the liquids surface when it simmers; temperature at sea level for simmering is below 200 F.

Skewer:
Long pin of metal or wood on which food is held while cooking; also smaller pins used to flatten pieces of meat or sections of poultry together while cooking.

Skim:
To remove fat or other materials that float on top of a liquid with a skimmer or spoon.

Skimmed Milk:
Milk from which cream has been removed.

Spatula:
Flexible, wide-blade knife with a rounded end, used to loosen cakes, etc. after baking.

Steam:
To cook above, and surround by, steam rising from boiling water. Steamers usually contain a rack on which the pan or mold of food rests while it cooks in the steam.

Steep:
To allow a solid substance to stand in liquid just below the boiling point, while color, flavor and other qualities are extracted from it; for example, tea leaves are steeped in boiled water in making tea; see infusion.

Stew:
To simmer gently in a liquid with a variety of vegetables and flavorings.

Stock:
Liquid in which foods have been cooked.

Suet:
The dry hard fat from around lamb and beef kidneys. It should always be finely chopped before adding to any recipe, otherwise it is indigestible. Beef suet is often use in steamed or baked puddings.

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.

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T

Toast:
To brown by direct or oven heat.

Toss:
To mix with light strokes, usually by lifting with a fork or spoon.

Truss:
To fasten in position with skewers or twine, as to truss the legs and wings of a fowl for roasting.

W

Whip:
To beat rapidly.

Whole Milk:
Milk from which the cream has not been removed.

XYZ

XXXX Sugar:
See confectioners' sugar.

Zest:
the thin outer layer of citrus fruits containing the aromatic citrus oil.

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kids-image Happy Halloween

Make some fun and festive treats this Halloween with your little goblins. But don't leave yourself out in the graveyard with nothing to munch. Here are some Halloween recipes that are not only for the kids. We've included some for hungry parents as well...so come join in some deliciously scary fun!

::Click here to start the fun!

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