Kitchen Terms
A La King:
Food heated in a rich white sauce, cream sauce or sherry-flavored
sauce.
A La Mode:
Literally, in the fashion, or manner of; this phrase is loosely
used in American cookery; can mean food which has been soaked,
and sometimes cooked in a marinade; also pie served with a
heaping mound of ice cream on it; or any dessert having ice cream
on top.
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:
Food in a sauce, the top covered with bread crumbs and butter; or
cheese; or both crumbs and cheese, baked or broiled until browned
crust is formed on top.
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:
A rich cream soup: formerly only shellfish cream soups were
called besques. 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.
Boil: To
cook in a liquid heated until it is bubbling. A full rolling boil
is one which cannot be smoothed down by stirring with a spoon.
Botulism: Poisoning
by a bacillus which may infect preserved food especially canned
meat and vegetables. This toxin is destroyed by heating 212
degrees F., for 5 minutes. 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 consume'; 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:
To cover or coat food with bread crumbs; food which is breaded is
usually dipped in liquid first to make the crumbs stick.
Bread Crumbs:
Fine or dry bread crumbs are made from dry bread or toast rolled
or ground to a course powder. Soft bread crumbs are made by
removing the crust from the bread, then cutting or breaking the
central section into small bits.
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 give the outer surface of a food brown color by sautéing,
frying, toasting, broiling or baking.
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; large, tender meat.
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.
Chop: To
cut in small pieces with a knife or chopper; a cut of meat.
Chowder:
A half-soup, half-stew of vegetables, fish or other foods.
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.
Cobbler:
Form of deep fruit pie; 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.
Confectioners' Sugar:
Finest form of cane or beet sugar; used for frostings and
confections. Do not confuse with powered sugar which is coarser
and not so sweet.
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.
Consommé': Clear
soup made of meat and chicken, or as used today, any clear soup.
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.
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.
Cut & Fold: Usually
applied to adding stiffly beaten egg whites to a liquid or other
mixtures; the cutting is done by turning the spoon sideways as it
goes into the mixture from bottom of the bowl, then fold it over
the top portion, and repeat till the two mixtures are combined.
Cutlet: A
piece of meat from the leg or rib; also croquet mixture shaped
like a chop or meat cutlet.
Deep fat Frying:
To fry in a large kettle nearly full of liquid fat, which has
been heated so that the food floated in it browns quickly.
Demitasse:
Literally half cup; 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.
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.
Espagnole:
Spanish-style; similar to Creole in cookery since it often means
the addition of tomatoes or tomato paste, onion and spicy
seasonings.
Eviscerate:
To remove entrails from fowl or game.
Fat:
Butter, margarine, shortening, lard, oils, fat from fowl and
meat.
Filet Mignon: 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;
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.
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.
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.
Hors d'oeuvre:
The French version of appetizers, served before a meal: olives,
celery, pickled beets, pickled mushrooms, sardines and other
foods.
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.
Infusion:
Tea, coffee, 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.
a' l'italienne: In
the Italian style; garnished with Parmesan cheese or Italian
tomato paste; or cooked in olive oil or all three.
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.
Knead:
To work dough, usually with the hands, until it is a smooth,
pliable mass.
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, eggs.
Legumes:
Vegetables of the pea or pod family, including beans, lentils and
peanuts.
Liquor:
The liquid in which food is packed, as oyster liquor, or the
liquor from canned fruits; pot liquor is the liquid in which
vegetables have been boiled, either alone or with meat. Term used
for all alcoholic beverages.
Lukewarm:
A temperature about 100 to 110 F.
Marinate:
To cover food 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; maybe cooked or
uncooked.
Mince:
To chop in very fine pieces.
Mocha:
Coffee flavor; 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.
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.
Pate':
Paste usually of mashed, seasoned liver; pate' de foie gras is
imported goose liver paste containing chopped truffles.
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 a simmering liquid so the food retains its
shape.
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.
Ragout:
French for brown stew.
Ramekin: Individual
baking dish or casserole; formerly only of porcelain.
Render:
To heat any solid animal fat to melting point; also called
"to try out."
Rice: To
force food through a ricer or course sieve; applied to mashed
potatoes and other foods.
Roast: To
cook by fry heat in an oven.
Roe: The
paste which is the basis of all cream sauces, white sauces and
gravies; it is made by blending melted fat and flour; in brown
roux, the flour is first browned in a hot pan.
Sauté':
To cook food in a pan containing a small amount of fat.
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.
Sherbet:
See ice. White of egg or milk added to an ice mixture classes the
ice as a sherbet.
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.
Stock:
Liquid in which foods have been cooked.
Toast: To
brown by direct or oven heat; toasted bread.
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.
Whip: To
beat rapidly.
Whole Milk:
Milk from which the cream has not been removed.
XXXX Sugar:
See confectioners' sugar.
Our thanks to Seymor Kottikfor these terms. His website "Sy Kottik's Institution" was built primarily to help folks who like to cook, and to help students from pre-Kindergarten thru college with their research the thru my Kidz Linkz section.
