Simply Cookware
Cooking Glossary

Al Dente

     Meaning "to the tooth" in Italian, al dente describes the texture of pasta or other foods that are cooked just until they resist slightly when chewed.

Baste or Mop

     Moistening food with a liquid (melted fat, pan dripping, sauce, or other liquid) while cooking usually with a spoon, brush, bulb baster, or miniature mop. This keeps the meat, or other foods, from drying out and enhances color and flavor.

Braise

     Braising is a wet-heat method of cooking. Normally, meat or vegetables are first seared in hot fat. They are then simmered in liquid in a pan with the lid tightly in place.

Braising pan      Braising is slow cooking of large cuts of meat or vegetables in a liquid usually in the oven. An oval pan and a heavy lid are usual as is all-around heavy weight to hold heat. Steep sides are also appropriate, so that the heat completely surrounds and evenly heats the food.

Break or Separate

     Failure by two or more ingredients to hold together in one uniform state. For example, Hollandaise can break or separate from a smooth sauce into one that is oily and curdled-looking.

Brunoise

     Brunoise is an extremely fine and exact dice.

Butterfly

     To split food down the center, cutting almost through. The halves are fanned open and laid flat to cook. The fan resembles a butterfly.

Caramelization

     All meat and vegetables contain some sugar (in the form of carbohydrates). Under intense dry heat, as in roasting or sautéing, these sugars break down resulting in the brown color and rich flavor called caramelization.

Casserole

     Modern casseroles are deep and heavy with a tight fitting lid with sizes ranging from 2-1/2 to 12 quarts. Design for braising and pot roasting use with care over direct heat. Usually round or oval with steep sides and a lid; it is not necessarily heavy. Some casseroles are made of ceramic or earthenware, while others are of the same manufacture as a high quality saucepan.

Chiffonade

     Chiffonade means "made of rags" when translated literally from the French. In culinary terms it means finely cut strips or ribbons of leafy vegetables or herbs.

Chop

     To cut foods into pieces. This is a larger cut than dice or mince and generally does not need to be uniform.

Coddle

     To cook gently just below the boiling point. Most commonly refers to eggs, where the egg is cooked for 1 minute in the shell.

Congeal

     To turn liquid into solid by chilling.

Cream

     To beat an ingredient or ingredients with a spoon or beaters until light and fluffy. Most often used in reference to butter or shortening, with or without sugar, in baking recipes.

Cryovac

     A registered trademark for a process in which meat is sealed in plastic, and all the sir is removed by a vacuum pump.

Cube

     To cut food (such as meat or cheese) into uniform 1/2" cubes.

Cut-In

     To mix a solid fat (butter or shortening) into a dry ingredient using a pastry blender, two knives, a fork, or fingers until fat particles are the desired size.

Dash

     If a recipe calls for "a dash" of an ingredient, it is somewhat relative. However, the most accurate amount appears to be 1/16-teaspoon. Basically, you just add the ingredient "in a dash".

Deep Fry

     To fry foods rapidly in a deep pot of oil so that the food is totally submerged.

Deglaze

     The process of removing browned bits of food from the bottom of the pan.

Devein

     To remove the dark brownish-black vein that runs down the back of a shrimp. The vein is actually the intestinal tract of the shrimp. In smaller shrimp, the vein can be eaten, but in larger shrimp, the vein contains grit and should be removed.

Dice

     A dice is a cube, usually of a vegetable, that ranges form 1/4 inch to 3/4 inch square. A dice is smaller and generally more precise than a chop and is larger than a mince.

Dock

     To pierce pastry dough before baking to allow steam to escape and prevent blistering of the dough.

Dredge

     To lightly coat food with dry ingredients like flour, cornmeal, or bread crumbs. A usual preparation for frying to help brown the food. Sweet items are sometimes dredged with sugar and/or spices, such as cinnamon, after baking or frying.

Dust

     To sprinkle lightly before or after cooking with dry ingredients, such as flour, granulated or confectioner's sugar or spices.

Dutch oven

     A heavy lidded pan for braising, stewing, pot roasting or baking. Can be used on a stovetop, in an oven or buried in a fire pit. The Dutch oven is a cross between a braising pan and a casserole.

Emulsify

     To emulsify means to combine two liquids that normally do not combine easily, such as oil and vinegar. The two liquids will soon separate unless a third ingredient is added--this is called a liaison or emulsifier, which stabilizes the mixture. Emulsifiers are contained in egg white, gelatin, skim milk and mustard.

Fillet

     To remove bones from a fish, so that only the flesh remains.

Flake

     To gently separate into small pieces, usually with a fork or your fingers. Most commonly refers to cooked fish which, because of its texture, flakes easily.

Fold

     To combine one mixture with another through repeated gentle turning-over motions -- not beating or stirring. A rubber spatula is generally used.

Fry(ing) pans or skillets

     The base of a skillet should be thick so that the heat spreads evenly and food cooks at the same speed without burning. Copper and cast iron fry pans are preferred because they conduct heat evenly. The traditional American skillet is made of heavy cast iron. The sides of a frying pan flare out to make it easy for spatula use, and for the tossing and flipping of ingredients. Shallow frying involves quick cooking to sear and brown something fast and then bring the heat down to cook slowly and through a food Frying pans can be oval or very flat, as in fajita or for crepes. Look for a long handle that does not heat up too much.

Garnish

     To enhance finished foods with flavor or visual appeal by using other edible products on the plate. The most common are herbs, but there are many other possibilities including, but not limited to, fruits, small vegetables and edible flowers.

Grate

     To rub foods, such as cheeses, vegetables, citrus skins, spices or chocolate, against a grater. Alternately, you can use a processor or mixer blade. Size of grate is dependent upon recipe and/or taste.

Gratin Dish

     This is a round or oval dish with a flat bottom and straight low sides and loop handles at either end. It can be made from enameled cast iron, glass earthenware or china. Mainly used for oven baked pasta dishes and puddings.

Grind

     To process foods finely in a grinder, processor or with 2 knives (in a drum roll fashion). Some examples are ground beef for hamburgers or ground pork for sausage.

Hydroponics

     A technique for growing vegetables in nutrient-enriched water instead of soil.

Infusion

     The extraction of flavor from a food in a hot liquid (below the boiling point). Usually refers to teas and coffees, but can also apply to cooking (like the pistachio cream or olive oils that are infused with herbs).

Julienne

     To julienne means to cut into narrow, fine sticks that can measure from 2 to 3 inches long and 1/8 inch square. A finer julienne measures 1/16 of an inch square.

Leaven

     To add an ingredient, such as yeast, baking powder or baking soda, that adds gas to a dough or batter, causing it to expand, or rise, and lighten the texture of the finished product.

     To soak foods (macerate usually applies to fruits) in liquid so the liquid's flavor infuses the food.

Marinate

     To add liquid or dry ingredients to food that enhance flavor and/or tenderize after it sets for a given amount of time. Usually used in reference to meats and vegetables. Liquid marinades often include an acid, such as vinegar, wine or citrus juice, mixed with herbs, spices and oil. Dry marinades are usually in the form of spice and herb rubs.

Milling

     The mechanical processing of grinding, cracking, and/or removing the hull, bran, or germ from whole grains.

Mince

     To cut food into very small pieces.

Mise En Place

     Pronounced MEEZ ahn plahs, it means is to have all your ingredients prepared and ready to go before you start cooking. Translated, “ to put in place”.

     All the meats, chicken, and fish are cut and deboned, the fresh herbs for seasoning sauces are washed, cut, and separated into small bowls, the vegetables are sliced, diced, or julienned to the correct size.

Mop or Baste

     Moistening food with a liquid (melted fat, pan dripping, sauce, or other liquid) while cooking usually with a spoon, brush, bulb baster, or miniature mop. This keeps the meat, or other foods, from drying out and enhances color and flavor.

Mount

     A technique where small pieces of cold, unsalted butter are whisked into a sauce just before serving. Mounting gives sauces texture and flavor as well as a glossy look.

Parboil

     Partial cooking of a food in boiling or simmering liquid. Similar to blanching, but the cooking time is longer.

Pare

     To remove skins and peels from fruits or vegetables with a small knife or peeler.

Pat

     To take the underside of the hand and gently press a food. The purpose might be to pat dry ingredients onto the surface so they will adhere during cooking, or to pat with a towel to remove excess moisture.

Pinch

     As much of an ingredient that can be held between the thumb and forefinger. A very small, approximate amount.

Pit

     To remove the seed from a piece of fruit by cutting around the sides of the fruit and pulling the seed away from the flesh.

Poach

     To cook food gently in hot liquid that's just below the boiling point. Liquids can vary from broths, to water, to syrups.

Preheat

     To heat the oven to the specified temperature before adding the foods. Most recipes require preheating of the oven. Usually it will tell you to place in a cool oven if it should not be preheated.

Proof

     To activate yeast, or other leavening agent, before using in a recipe. The yeast is normally added to a liquid, possibly mixed with sugar, and allowed to set a given amount of time until it bubbles. If it doesn't bubble, it is old and should be discarded.

Pulse

     An action used with processors and blenders. If a recipe tells you to pulse, turn the start button on and off rapidly several times or until the ingredients are appropriately processed.

Punch Down

     To deflate a risen dough. With your hand, press on the dough until the gas escapes.

Puree

     To process foods into a smooth substance of varying degrees of thickness as dictated by the recipe. Usually done with a blender, processor, sieve or food mill.

Reconstitute

     To restore condensed or concentrated foods to their original strength with the addition of liquid, usually water.

Reduce

     Applied to cooking, this means to boil a liquid until its volume is reduced by evaporation thereby thickening the liquid and intensifying the flavor.

Reduction

     A process used to increase and intensify the flavor of a liquid. This is done by rapidly boiling a liquid to decrease its volume through evaporation.

Refresh

     To submerge a cooked food, usually a vegetable, in cold water to cool it quickly and stop further cooking. It's also know as shocking.

Render

     The melting of animal fat over low heat so it separates from any connective tissue. This tissue turns crisp and brown (known as crackling) and the clarified (clear) fat is further processed by straining. To cook fatty meats, such as bacon or spare ribs, until the fat melts.

Resting

     Heat drives meat's juices from the surface when it cooks. Letting meat "rest" before slicing lets these juices seep back towards the surface (liquids always take the path of least resistance) resulting in a more flavorful piece of meat.

Ribbon

     Used in reference to beating a mixture, usually egg yolks and sugar, until it is thick enough to form a ribbon. Lift the beaters out of the bowl and let the excess mixture drip down into the bowl. When it forms a ribbon shape on top of the mixture in the bowl, it is ready.

Roasting pan

     Rectangular or oval with shallow sides that contain the juices but allow direct heat to, reach the joint. It should be heavy enough so that it does not scorch when making gravy on top of the stove. A good-quality trivet is useful to keep the meat from stewing in its juices. Stainless steel or aluminum is the best material.

Saucepans

     Saucepans are for heating liquids and cooking in liquids often with a lid on top. The very best saucepans are the classic lined copper pans. These help ensure that food does not scorch during prolonged cooking. Stainless steel is the next best choice though in some cases cast iron can be appropriate. Many sizes are available ranging from 1 to 5 quarts. In larger sizes, look for a small second handle on the side of the pan, to help balance weight for carrying. Saucepans usually have straight sides, though some designs favor sloping sides to enable whisking to reach every part of the pan. Mainly used for stewing and boiling.

Sauté

     Meaning "to jump" in French, sauté describes a method of cooking in which food is cooked quickly in a small amount of butter or oil. The food "jumps" as it is either rapidly stirred or shaken over heat.

Sauté pans

     Made from lined copper or stainless steel, this pan is used to shallow fry and often to finish in an oven. They have wide heavy bases and straight low sides. They are for browning meat and poultry, for sweating vegetables, for cooking rice, for making sauces, and for braising. They have lids and long handles.

Scald

     To heat milk almost to the boiling point just until tiny bubbles begin to form around the inside edge of a pan.

Score

     To cut slits into foods before cooking for various purposes, including decoration, ease of cutting after cooking or tenderization. Also, the fat layer of a large cut of meat is often scored so that some of the fat melts out during roasting.

Sear

     To cook meats quickly on all sides over high heat to brown and seal in the juices. The meat should not be turned until it is well browned on each side or it will stick to the pan.

Season

     To coat a pan or other metal cooking surface (not non-stick) with oil and then heat it. This prevents sticking by sealing tiny pits in the metal. Soap and water can negate this effect.

Separate or Break

     Failure by two or more ingredients to hold together in one uniform state. For example, Hollandaise can break or separate from a smooth sauce into one that is oily and curdled-looking.

Shred

     To cut, slice or tear into thin strips. Also, to pull apart very tender cooked meats, usually with a fork.

Sift

     To pass a dry ingredient through a sifter, or fine mesh screen, to loosen the particles, incorporate air, and lighten the resulting product. Also, used to combine several ingredients that are passed through at the same time.

Simmer

     To cook gently just below the boiling point. If the food starts boiling, the heat is too high and should be reduced.

Skim

     To remove an undesirable substance that forms on the top surface of a liquid, usually fat, foam or scum.

Steep

     To soak a food in liquid for a given amount of time. Sometimes, the liquid is hot, as in tea. Other times, as with macerated fruit, the liquid is cold or room temperature.

Stir

     To move foods around with a spoon in a circular motion. Stirring is done to move foods when cooking. It is also used to cool foods after cooking. Most importantly, if a recipes calls for stirring to combine foods, such as a batter, before cooking, it usually means to gently mix just until well combined, as opposed to beating, which takes more strokes.

Stockpot

     This should be taller than it is wide with sturdy handles. Capacities range from 6 to 20 quarts. The high sides slow down evaporation. Good for cooking pasta as well as for making stocks or making large quantities of fruit jam, chutney or sauce.

Strain

     To pass a liquid or moist mixture through a colander, sieve or cheese cloth to remove solid particles.

Sweat

     When foods, usually vegetables, are cooked over low heat in a small amount of fat (usually butter), drawing out juices to remove rawness and develop flavor.

Temper

     Technically, to moderate. In cooking, tempering most often refers to slightly warming beaten eggs, by rapidly stirring a little of the hot ingredients into them, before adding them to the hot mixture so that they will combine, stirring rapidly again, without solidifying. It also refers to the softening of a heavy mixture before folding in a whipped mixture, so that incorporation occurs without deflation.

Toast

     Most commonly, to brown using a dry heat source such as an oven or toaster. However, many recipes call for toasting seeds, nuts, grains or spices before mixing with other ingredients to add flavor. They may be toasted in an oven or in a skillet, with or without oil, using a low heat, stirring or tossing often, until nicely browned, being very careful not to burn.

Toss

     To combine ingredients by gently turning over until blended. Most commonly refers to a salad, but is used for many other preparations. The easiest and most efficient way to toss is with a good pair of tongs. Alternately, two spoons, forks or one of each may be used.

Truss

     To shape food into a desired form and secure with butcher's twine or skewers. Most commonly used with poultry or meats. In the case of poultry, it is questionable whether or not it should be trussed because, although it gives a nice look to the bird after cooking, the breast tends to cook faster than the legs, thighs and wings.

Water Bath

     Water Baths are used for custards, cheesecakes, and other recipe because it helps them bake much more evenly and prevents cracking.

Whip

     To beat briskly with a wire whisk or electric mixer to incorporate air, which in turn adds volume. Usually used in reference to cream or egg whites. To whip cream, which has fat, always chill the bowl, beaters and cream first. Egg whites, which are mostly water, should be whipped at room temperature.

Whisk

     To mix to the specified state with a wire beater, also called a whisk. Whisking can refer to blending, beating, emulsifying, or whipping, depending on the recipe.