Glossary-Cooking

                               Glossary-Cooking

à la carte	French for “off the card” – this refers to the opportunity to order food from the menu.
acidulate	Adding a slightly acidic liquid as a means of preventing discoloration, enhance the flavor or to preserve the product. Lemon or lime juice is often used, as is vinegar.
aerate	A process that involves the sifting of dry ingredients to allow air to mix in with the flour or similar ingredient to make it lighter and allow a fluffier batter.
al dente	An Italian term which literally means “to the tooth”. This term is used when you want to describe something that is just cooked until it still shows a slight resistance when you bite into it. The term is often used to describe how pasta should be cooked before serving.
baste	Brush or spoon food during the cooking process using melted fat or hot juices form the cooking dish. This is done to prevent the food from drying out during cooking, and is also used to add extra flavor and color.
beat	Rapidly mix the ingedient(s) together in such a way as to mix the ingedients as well as adding air pockets into the mix. Usually done with an electric appliance, but a whisk or spoon can also be used.
blanch	Cooking food very briefly in boiling water. This is often used with vegetables and fruit to loosen the skin or the peels. It is a good way to get the skin off tomatoes.
blending	Combining two or more ingredients together by mixing until they are quite evenly distributed. This can be done by hand or using an electric whisk or mixer.
blind bake	Pre-cooking a crust or pastry shell in the oven before ading the ingredients. This is often done using rice, dried beans or some other inert filling to hold the crust in shape during the cooking process.
boil	To cook (usually in water) while the liquid is boiling. This is usually at a temperature of 100ºC or 212ºF near sea level.
boning	Removing bones from a piece of meat, fish or poultry. This should be done suing a sharp boning knife, with the blade angled towards the bone. This helps to avoid any nicking of the flesh, and is also a safer way to do this task.
braising	Cooking food in a covered container for a long period of time over a low heat. This long and slow cooking process results in a much more tender result. You need to include a braising liquid to keep the meat and vegetables moist.
broil	A cooking method using heat from a source such as an electric element that is located directly above or below the cooking dish.
brown	The process of partially cooking meat in a pre-heated pan with a little oil to remove excessive fat, seal in the juices and provide an attractive color to the meat before continuing the cooking process.
brush	Using a soft brush like a pastry brush to apply a liquid of some sort to the food. This is often used to apply a glaze to the dish.
butterfly	Cutting a piece of meat almost all the way through down a center line. This forms two halves that are still joined together. When these halves are spread open, the effect is said to resemble the wings of a butterfly.
caramelize	Heating fruits or vegetables with natural sugars till the sugar begins to liquify and thicken, providing a sweetness and golden glaze.
chiffonade	The process of slicing your food into very thin slices. The French word “chiffoner” is translated as to crumble. This is often used to create a garnish for soups and salads.
chop	Cutting food into approximately equal sized pieces for cooking. Often the size is around 12mm or ½ inch cubes, but this does depend on the food and the dish that is planned.
clarify	The process of removing sediment from a cloudy liquid to obtaion a clearer and more pure liquid. Clarified butter is an example of this process.
cream	To beat and mix ingredients with a spatula, spoon or an electrical appliance until the ingredients are combined to a smooth creamy state.
deep-fry	To immerse food items into a bath of hot cooking fat or oil in order to seal in the flavor, provide a crisp brown skin around the items and to cook the food very quickly.
deglaze	Adding a liquid (usually wine or a stock) to the bottom of a pan after cooking in order to dissolve the remaining cooked food items and thus provide a base for preparing a gravy or sauce.
devein	Removing the dark vein that runs down the back of a shrimp or prawn. This can be done using a sharp knife.
dice	Finely chopping of ingredients prior to cooking. Diced items are generally cut to about 5mm or ¼ inch across. Dicing usually requires more uniformity in the sizes of the cut items to ensure that they all cook to the same level.
drain	Removing the liquid in which your food is cooked, usually through a sieve or colander. The liquid may be disposed of or kept depending on the recipe.
dredge	Coating of food pieces with breadcrumbs or flour before cooking. The term comes from the way in which a sea dredge drags along the seabed.
drizzle	To drip or slowly pour liquid over a dish that you are preparing.
emulsify	Mixing of two liquids that don't usually mix together easily. This is usually done by adding one liquid to the other very slowly. Examples include the mixing of egg yolks and water to form bearnaise sauce.
filleting	Carefully removing meat, fish or poultry from the adjacent bone. This process leave strips of flesh that are ready for cooking.
flambé	To impress the guests by pouring a warmed alcoholic spirit such as brandy or rum over a meal and then igniting it at the table.
folding	Careful mixing of a heavy batter or dough with a lighter material. The heavy material is repeatedly lifted from below and folded over the top. This process is less violent than beating, and results in a lighter mixture of the ingredients.
fry	To cook food in a shallow pan or on a hotplate with the addition of a little oil. Because oil is able to maintain a much higher temperature than water, the food cooks faster, and the flavors are sealed in.
glazing	Creating a glazed surface on the dish. This can be done using a baste on a hot dish, or with gelatin or aspic on a cold dish.
grate	To shred the food using a device known as a grater. A grater has sharp or rough projections against which the food is rubbed. The size of the shreds can be controlled by the cross section of the grater blade.
grill	To cook food by direct radiant heat from above or below (or both). The temperature can become very high, allowing the food to cook quickly. The direct application of flame is often used to blacken the surface of the food (char grilling).
grind	The pulverizing of dry ingredients, generally between two moving steel plates. Examples of the grinding process are for coffee beans and rice grains.
homogenize	Literally to mix ingredients into a homogeneous product. The term is mos commonly used when referring to milk. Homogenized milk has been processed to combine the fat (cream) globules with the skim milk liquid so that the resultant liquid is richer and creamier.
julienne	To cut vegetables into matchstick shaped sections as part of the presentation of your dish.
knead	Continual working of a thick dough in order to mix additional ingredients or to alter the consistency. Usually done with the hands on a flat surface, lifting one side and working it with the heels of your palms over the top of the dough on the other side.
line	Putting a layer of material such as baking paper or aluminium foil around the inside of a baking container before adding the food to be cooked. This ensures simple removal after baking.
macerate	The soaking of vegetables or fruit in a liquid to allow the flavor of the liquid to be absorbed. The liquid is often a wine or liquor, but may also be a syrup.
marinate	A term that refers to coating your food items in a liquid or dry rub that contains a range of flavors and often an acid to tenderize and add additional flavor to the food.
mash	Combining soft pulpy ingredients into a smoother consistency. A tool called a masher is often used to simplify this process. The best known example of this is mashed potatoes.
mince	Cutting or chopping food finely. Minced food is much more finely cut up than diced food. Meat products are often minced to use in a variety of recipes.
parboil	Partial cooking of ingredients in boiling water prior to other cooking techniques. This is often used to maintain the color or texture of ingredients that are then to be included with other ingredients.
pare	Removing of the outer skin of a food item using a knife. The term comes from the French parer, meaning to trim.
peel	Removing the outer rind or skin from food items, by hand such as with bananas and citrus fruit, or with a knife (see paring).
poach	To cook by very soft cooking in a pan of liquid that either partially or completely covers the food. Ideally the liquid should remain just below the boiling point. Water is often used, but other liquids such as milk and wine may be called for indifferent recipes..
pound	Reducing ingredients into a powder or paste by repeatedly beating them. The tool used for this task is the mortar and pestle.
purée	To obtain a smooth and creamy preparation by means of a food processor or sieve. Fruit and vegetables are often puréed for feeding to infants.
reconstitute	To bring a dehydrated product back towards a semblance of its original state by soaking it in a liquid. Dried mushrooms are often reconstituted to be used as a part of a recipe. Some fruit dishes suggest reconstituting in a fruit juice rather than water for added flavors.
reduce	The process of thickening a sauce or gravy by means of boiling or simmering to remove some of the water as a result of evaporation.
ricing	Forcing cooked food through a series of small holes in a milling tool to produce a result slightly coarser than mashing.
roasting	Cooking of meats, fish or poultry by exposing them to radiant heat in an oven or occasionally over a grill.
sauté	Cooking by quickly frying the food in a little butter or oil over a direct source of heat.
scald	To heat food to just below the boiling point, where tiny bubbles just begin to appear around the edge of the saucepan. This method is particularly used for milk.
scaling	To remove the scales from a fish with a knife or specialized scaling tool. This process yields more of the flesh than simply cutting off the skin with scales still attached.
searing	As distinct from browning, the term searing refers to applying a very high heat to meat products in as dry an environment as possible in order to form a thin cooked crust at the surface. Some say that this leads to a juicier piece of steak.
season	To add herbs, salt, pepper, or spice to food in order to adjust its taste or flavor.
seed	To remove the seeds, pips, etc from a fruit or vegetable as a part of the food preparation process.
shred	Using a knife or a kitchen grater to cut food into long, thin strands
sieve	To use a sieve (a bowl shaped appliance with a wire or plastic mesh as a way of separating liquid from food.
sift	Passing dry ingredients through a sieve with a fine mesh in order to remove or to break up large pieces of food. As well as making the product finer in consistency, sifting is also a method of aerating the product.
simmer	Using gentle heat to cook food slowly. Generally, simmering is done at just below the boiling point of the ingredients.
skewer	Attaching pieces of food along the length of a pointed bamboo or metal pointed stick, known as a skewer
skim	To remove the skin that settles on the top of a liquid once it has boiled. This may include the fats, cream or froth. Many dishes may be chilled after boiling to enable the fats to set, making this process simpler.
skin	To remove the skin from food either before of after cooking. This may be done for convenience, appearance or flavor.
smoke	A process that can be used to preserve, flavor or to cook a range of food products. Smoking is a form of cooking in which the food is exposed to smoke from burning or smoking wood. While meat and fish are the most common food items that are smoked, cheese and vegetables are sometimes prepared in this way as well.
steam	Cooking food by exposing it to steam at 100°C or 212°F. This results in a damp dish with no oil residue. Commonly used in Asian cuisines and for vegetables.
stir-fry	An Asian cooking technique in which food is cooked over a high heat with a little oil while being constantly stirred to prevent sticking and overcooking.
sweat	This is placing diced vegetables in a pan with a touch of oil and raising the heat slowly to encourage the natural moisture from the vegetables. The aim is to soften vegetables such as onions and bring out the sweetness before further cooking.
tenderize	Breaking down the fibers that make many meats tough. This can be done by marinating, pounding or braising.
truss	A technique of tying up a piece of meat before cooking to ensure that it doesn't fall apart during the cooking process. This helps in both appearance of the finished product and ensuring that the food is cooked through evenly.
whip	Rapid beating of liquid ingredients to add air and ensure that they become fluffy. The most common things that are whipped are egg whites and cream.
zest	Removing the outermost skin layers of a citrus fruit, usually a lemon, in order to add a unique and strong citrus flavor to the dish. This job can be done using a knife or grater, but ideally a kitchen tool called a zester can do the job quickly and effectively.