GLOSSARY

ACIDULATED WATER – Water made acid by addition of ascorbic acid powder, citrus juice or vinegar. Used as a solution to cover freshly peeled apples, peaches, bananas, etc. to prevent the flesh from turning brown.

À LA KING – Food served in rich cream sauce; often flavored with sherry.

ALMOND PASTE – A paste used in confections and baked goods. It is obtainable in "bakery products" sections of super markets. Being very expensive, one may want to make it at home.

To Make Almond Paste: this should be made three days before using to allow ingredients to marry (blend):

Finely grind 1 lb. blanched almonds. Set aside.

In double-boiler, over hot, not boiling, water, beat 3 eggs and one pound confectioner’s sugar until sugar is melted. Stir in 1 tsp. almond extract and 1 tbsp. lemon juice. Remove from heat and pour over ground almonds in a large mixing bowl. Mix well. Sprinkle confectioner’s sugar on a smooth surface; turn almond mixture onto it and knead until smooth, adding more confectioner’s sugar if paste is too soft.

ANCHOVY – A small, marine, herring-like fish. Obtainable canned.

ANTIPASTO – Italian word meaning "before the meal:" usually appetizers of fish, cold cuts, or vegetables.

ASPIC – A clear gelatin made from vegetables or meat broth.

AU GRATIN – Topped with crumbs and/or cheese and browned in the oven or broiler.

AU JUS – Natural juices as they flow from the meat.

BABA – A fruit studded, yeast leavened cake soaked in syrup.

BAKE – To cook, uncovered, in the oven by dry heat.

BARBECUE – To roast meat or other food, basting often with a highly seasoned sauce; quite often done on a rack over coals.

BASTE – To ladle liquid over food as it roasts to add flavor and prevent dryness.

BATTER – A flour-liquid mixture thin enough to pour.

BAVARIAN CREAM – Dessert made with a cooked custard, gelatin, and whipped cream as the base. ("Mousse,’ ‘Soufflé,’ and ‘Bavarian Cream’ are often used interchangeably by many recipe writers.)

BEAT – To stir vigorously with a spoon or to beat with an electric mixer.

BISQUE – A soup which has been pureed or is of puree consistency.

BLANCH - To scald quickly in boiling water; to remove skins from fruit and nuts, and to set color of vegetables.

BLEND – To mix ingredients together until smooth.

BOIL – To cook in boiling water.

BOMBE – A molded, dome-shaped frozen dessert of two or more flavors.

BRAISE – To brown, in fat, then to cook, covered, in a small amount of liquid.

TO BREAD – To coat with crumbs.

BRINE – A saline (salt) solution used for pickling.

BRIOCHE – A sweetened, rich yeast bread.

BROIL – To cook under or on a grill by direct heat.

BROTH – A clear meat, fish, fowl or vegetable stock.

BULGUR – A precooked, dried and cracked product (usually wheat).

BUTTERMILK – Originally the acidulous liquid remaining after butter has been separated from cream. Today, it’s made commercially by the addition of a culture to whole or skim milk.

CANAPE – A small, decorative open-face sandwich served as an appetizer.

CAPER – A flower bud of the caper shrub which grows wild in France, Italy, California and the Mediterranean. It is also cultivated in some areas. The picking by hand of the flower bud makes them expensive. The capers are pickled and used for seasoning.

CAPON – A male chicken castrated while young so that it grows plump and fat and tender.

CARDAMON – Tiny black seeds that grow in pods, usually ground and used to season curries, baked goods and puddings.

CARMELIZE – To heat sugar or a sugar-water mixture until it turns a clear amber color.

CATSUP (KETCHUP) – A spicy sauce usually made from tomatoes; used on meat and fish and sometimes on French fries.

CELLOPHANE NOODLES (sometimes called "bean threads") – Crisp transparent Chinese noodles made from ground mung beans.

CHARLOTTE – A dessert made by ling a mold with cake (often "lady fingers" which are made with a sponge batter) and filling it with custard, fruit, whipped cream or gelatin, such as a "Bavarian Cream."

CHILES – The word "chile" means the pod of any species of capsicum (family that the vegetable, pepper, belongs to). However, when "chiles" are spoken of, the reference is to hot peppers. The heat in hot peppers is contained in the veins and seeds of hot peppers. The flesh making up the walls is not hot. Dried chiles are obtainable whole, flaked, or made into a hot sauce sold in bottles; also obtainable canned in a brine. Usually, the smaller the chile, the hotter. Tabasco, jalapeño, and cayenne are some of the hottest.

CHOCOLATE – A preparation made from the seed, called cocoa beans, of the tropical cocoa tree. The seeds are roasted, then husked, which leaves the meat (called a nib) from which chocolate liquor is extracted. Then the liquor is solidified into blocks of unsweetened chocolate. Cocoa powder is produced when the fat, called cocoa butter, is removed from the liquor. (Cocoa can be substituted for chocolate in recipes by using 3 tbsp. cocoa and 1 tbsp. vegetable oil in the place of every 1 oz. of baking chocolate). Solid chocolate is available in varying degrees of sweetness, from unsweetened, semisweet, bittersweet, to sweet chocolate. Milk chocolate has had milk solids added. If a bloom (a gray look) coats the surface of chocolate, it merely means that it has been heated and then cooled, causing the fat to come to the surface. This does not affect the chocolate in any way, not even the flavor.

CHUTNEY- A spicy, sweet relish made from fruits and vegetables.

CITRON – A pale yellow fruit similar to a lemon, but larger. The exceptionally thick rind is candied and used in baking much the same as lemon or orange rind, and cherries and pineapple.

CLARIFY – To make liquid clear; accomplished by adding egg white or eggshell. Also to clear melted by removing the milk solids.

CONDENSED MILK – Whole milk concentrated by evaporating part of the water; then sweetened.

CONDIMENT – Something (usually a sauce) used to add a special flavor to food, such as catsup or mustard.

CORNSTARCH – A starch made from corn and used as a transparent thickener.

COURT BOUILLON – A broth used for poaching fish, usually with a fish-vegetable base.

CREAMING – Beating a fat, alone or with sugar added, until fluffy.

CRÊPE – A very thin French pancake.

CROQUETTE – A patty made of ground meat, breaded and deep-fried.

CROUTONS – Small fried cubes of bread.

ÉCLAIR – Cream puff baked in an oval shape and filled with custard or whipped cream.

ENTRÉE – Main course of the meal.

EVAPORATED MILK – Milk from which 60% of its water has been evaporated.

FATS – Liquid or solid greasy substances found in the tissues of animals and plants; not soluble in water.

FILLET – A thin boneless piece of meat or fish.

FLAMBÉ – A food, usually a dessert or meat dish, that has been flamed with a fire produced by igniting the fumes of a liquor. Besides dramatizing the food service, flambéing adds a good flavor to the food.

Procedure: using rum, brandy, bourbon, or whiskey of at least 80 proof (never use lemon extract as some recipes call for, because the flavor is not good), pour about 1/8 to ¼ cup over solid food and light with a long fireplace match. Another procedure, used especially on a more liquid food, is to heat the measured liquor in a shallow pan over low heat. (Never add liquor from the bottle to a heated pan or add more to a flame because the bottle of liquor could catch fire and be disastrous). Light it, swirl the pan which will fan the flames, and then pour the flaming spirits over the food. Sugar may be sprinkled on the flame to turn it violet.

FLOUR – Produced by milling grains. Many grains other than wheat can be milled into flour, but their use is not very popular. Buckwheat flour is sometimes used in pancake mixes. Rye flour is used in making rye bread. Wheat flour is the most commonly used.

All purpose flour – a blend of hard and soft wheat flour used in general cooking and baking.

Hard wheat flour – used for bread baking because of the high gluten content.

Soft wheat flour – packaged as cake flour, its gluten content is low; therefore, it makes a tender crumb in baked goods.

Graham flour – also known as "whole wheat flour." Because of the bran content, this flour is becoming very popular as an ingredient in, not only bread, but cookies, cakes, muffins, etc.

FOLDING – The gentle way to combine ingredients so that air cells are not broken down when added to a heavy mixture or ingredient. A rubber spatula is the best implement to use. The fluffy ingredient (either beaten egg whites or whipped cream) should be in the bottom of the bowl and either the dry ingredients or the heavy sauce is put on top and folded in by gently using a down, up, and over movement.

FRAPPÉ – A dessert made of fruit or fruit juices frozen to a mushy consistency.

FRICASSEE – To cook by stewing.

GELATIN - A tasteless glue-like substance of natural protein made by boiling in water the ligaments (tissues, connecting bones and organs) bones and skin of animals. The powdered gelatin that food stores carry must be dissolved in boiling hot water and is then chilled to solidify it. Uncooked pineapple, kiwi fruit, papayas and figs all have an enzyme that breaks down protein and will keep the gelatin from firming. However, this enzyme is destroyed when cooked.

GRENADINE – A syrup made from pomegranate juice.

HOISIN SAUCE – A Chinese sweet and spicy, reddish-brown sauce made form soybeans, garlic, hot pepper and spices.

HOMINY – Broken kernels of hulled corn from which the germ has been removed. Ground hominy is called "grits." Hominy must be cooked in a liquid to soften for eating. It is then eaten like a cooked cereal or fried and served with a sauce or baked in a cheese custard sauce.

JULIENNE – Food cut in uniformly long, thin slivers.

KETCHUP (catsup) – A spicy sauce usually made from tomatoes; used on meat and fish and sometimes on French fires.

LITCHI – A Chinese small oval red fruit with sweet white flesh and a large pit.

LEAVENING – An agent used to produce fermentation in dough or batter.

Yeast – produces carbon dioxide when it is given food (sugar and starch) and warmth. The gas tries to escape from the dough and causes it to rise. Kneading the dough develops gluten (protein in flour) which helps to hold the gas. Yeast growth is retarded by cold and killed by excessive heat. At baking time, the heat of the oven causes the yeast to produce a large amount of gas for the first few minutes, which causes the dough to rise rapidly. When the internal temperature of the dough becomes hot enough to kill the yeast, the dough will stop rising and bake. It occasionally can be purchased in cakes of fresh yeast, but lately it has given way to envelopes of dry yeast which does not require refrigeration and will keep for one year; expiration date is on the label. A "fast-rising" yeast can cut the rising time of dough in half.

Sourdough Starter – available in a dried form. The old fashioned way to make the sourdough starter was to combine flour and water and let it stand, uncovered, for a few days to trap the wild yeast cells in the air.

Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate) – an alkali, it speedily produces carbon dioxide when combined with an acid (sour milk, buttermilk, citrus juice, vinegar). Batter should be put into oven immediately before the gas escapes. Heat causes the gases to expand.

Baking Powder – a combination of alkali (baking soda) and acid. The acid in single-acting baking powder is cream of tartar. (Single-acting is seldom used today.) Acids other than cream of tartar are used in double-acting baking powder. It’s called double-acting because carbon dioxide is released at two points: when combined with liquids and in the presence of heat. Batter should be put into oven immediately to prevent gas from escaping. Baking powder loses potency after six months.

Cream of Tartar – an ingredient in baking powder but at times is used as the sole leavening agent.

Eggs – air bubbles that are formed in eggs when they are beaten expand when exposed to heat. This leavening power is greatest in beaten egg whites, less in the. Be careful when separating eggs, that not a speck of yolk is with the white or they will not whip to a great volume. One quarter teaspoon cream of tartar added to the whites will help to stabilize them. "Stiffly" beaten egg white (used in cakes) will stand up in a high rounded mound as the beater is lifted out and the mass of egg whites should slide in the bowl, if tipped. "Stiff and dry" beaten egg whites should stand up in a point when the beater is lifted out, but should not move in the bowl even when the bowl is tipped upside down. The beaten egg whites must be folded, not stirred, into batter so as not to break the air bubbles. Folding is best done with a rubber spatula, bringing the batter up over the beaten egg whites.

LYONNAISE – Seasoned with parsley and onions.

MACEDOINE – A mixture of vegetables or fruits.

MARINADE – The sauce or medium in which food is marinated.

MARINATE – Steeping in a piquant sauce prior to cooking to season or tenderize.

MARZIPAN – A confection made from almond paste, sugar and egg white. It is usually molded into fruit and vegetable shapes.

MERINGUE – A Stiffly beaten mixture of sugar and egg white.

MOCHA – Coffee-chocolate flavoring.

MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE – A white crystalline, water soluble powder used to intensify the flavor of foods.

MOUSSE – May be either an entrée or a dessert. Entrée mousse is an uncooked preparation stabilized with gelatin and containing meat, fish or vegetables. It is served chilled. Dessert mousse is a sweetened preparation with whipped cream as a base; often stabilized with gelatin and chilled in a mold. ‘Mousse,’ ‘Soufflé,’ and ‘Bavarian Cream’ are terms often used interchangeably by recipe writers.

MUSTARD – A pungent powder or paste prepared from the seed of the mustard plant; used as a condiment or as a seasoning.

NEWBURG – A rich cream and sherry sauce usually used with shellfish or chicken.

OLIVE OIL – Expensive, taking about 1500 olives to make one quart of oil; however, a little goes a long way. Olives are crushed and the pulp pressed on mats. The mats, stacked on top of each other, act as filters. The cloudy oil drips through and a centrifuge separates the oil from the matter that cause the cloudiness. Olive oil is made much like wine is made from grapes. It is made from the blending of several olive varieties. However, the taste and look may differ from year to year depending on the weather and soil. Like wine, olive oil has its "tastings." The U.S. determines the grade, not by acidity levels as it is done in other countries (the less acid content, the better the oil), but by the amount of refining it has undergone.

Grades:

"Extra-virgin" means that it has not been refined.

"Virgin" means that the oil has not been altered to reduce its acid content or been mixed with other oil.

"Pure" means that it has not been mixed with any other oils.

Olive oil does not break down, as other oils and shortenings do, under high temperatures; therefore it is ideal for frying. An inexpensive olive oil can be used for cooking, while if you wish the extra flavor of olive oil in uncooked dishes, use "Virgin" or "Extra Virgin."

PAPRIKA – A red, powdery condiment, made from dried ripe peppers. The ordinary variety, made from sweet peppers, is used for eye appeal, sprinkled on pasta and potato salads, also on coatings for fried chicken and fish and on baked casseroles. Hungarian paprika is deemed the most flavorful, available hot or sweet.

PASTEURIZE – To sterilize a liquid at 140 to 180ºF to destroy certain disease producing organisms and to arrest fermentation.

PECTIN – A compound occurring in fruits, especially apples and currants, and having the ability to thicken; used as a base for fruit jellies.

PEPPER – A spice made from dried berries, called peppercorns, of an Asian vine. Obtainable already ground or whole to be ground at usage time in a peppermill. Black pepper is the most commonly used. White pepper has the hull removed and is less pungent. Green peppercorns are underripe and not usually dried, but pickled.

PETITS FOURS – Little fancy iced cakes, made by cutting sheet cakes into shapes, such as diamonds, square, etc. Frosting is poured on and decorations added.

PHYLLO – A Greek word meaning "leaf." Phyllo pastry is tissue-paper thin sheets (usually 12" by 16") of rolled dough; found in the frozen food section of supermarkets. It is used in making the famous "Baklovah;" also for tart shells and wrappings of hors d’oeuvres.

POACH – To cook in simmering liquid.

PUREE – To reduce food to a smooth velvety medium by whirling in an electric blender or pressing through a sieve or food mill.

QUENELLES – Delicate fish or meat dumplings poached in hot liquid and served with a sauce.

RAGOUT – A stew.

RAMEKIN – A small individual-sized baking dish.

RAVIOLI – Small shapes of noodle dough filled with meat, cheese, or vegetables; cooked in liquid and served with a sauce.

RENNET – Material, from a pig’s or calf’s stomach, used to curdle milk.

RICE NOODLES – Noodles made from rice.

ROAST – To cook by dry heat.

ROE – The eggs of fish.

ROTISSERIE – A broiler with a motor-driven spit; used for barbecuing meats.

ROUX – A fat-flour mixture used in making sauces.

SALT (SODIUM CHLORIDE) – A mineral in the form of a rock and is also present in sea water. Table salt is obtainable plain or iodized. For cooking, it is wise to use the kind which contains the nutrient, iodine, which is necessary for the prevention of goiter. "Canning and Pickling Salt" is used instead of table salt because it contains no additives such as table salt contains. This additive is put into table salt to eliminate clumping, but it causes cloudiness in canning and pickling liquids and brines.

SAUTE – To cook food in a pan with a small amount of fat and to stir the food while it is cooking.

SAVORY – A description of food that is pleasant tasting.

SEAR – To brown the surface of food quickly with intense heat.

SHORTENING – A fat ingredient used in food preparation.

Butter – obtained by separating the fat from cow’s milk. Grocery stores offer regular butter and a slightly higher priced unsalted butter.

Lard – the rendered fat of hogs, preferred over other fats by some as an ingredient in pie crust; believed to make a richer, flakier crust.

Margarine – sometimes referred to as "oleomargarine;" resembles butter but is made from vegetable oils.

Vegetable Oils – made from plants: corn (unsaturated), nuts and coconut (highly saturated, becoming solid when cold; used extensively in commercial baking), legumes (peanut and soybean – may be heated to high temperatures, therefore used extensively for deep frying), seeds (safflower and sesame).

SIMMER – To cook in liquid just below the boiling point.

SKEWER – A long pin of wood or metal on which food is pierced before being grilled.

SOUFFLÉ – A soufflé may be either an entrée or a dessert. Entrée soufflé is a light baked dish made fluffy with beaten egg whites, combined with egg yolks, white sauce and cheese, fish, or other ingredients. Dessert soufflé is a light baked dish made with beaten egg whites combined with yolks, containing fruit, chocolate, vanilla, or the like. (‘Mousse,’ ‘Soufflé,’ and ‘Bavarian Cream’ are often used interchangeably by many recipe writers.)

SOY SAUCE – A salty, fermented sauce prepared from soybeans. Originated in the Orient. Chinese simmer meat in soy sauce which gives a red color to the meat, called "red coloring."

SPIT – A long rod used to pierce through meat for the purpose of roasting over coals or other heat.

SPONGE – A batter containing yeast.

STEAM – To cook, covered, over a small amount of boiling water so that the steam circulates freely around the food.

STIR – To mix with a spoon using a round-and-round motion.

STOCK – Liquid in which meat, poultry, fish, or vegetables have been cooked.

SWEETENERS – Something that sweetens food.

White Granulated Sugar is the most common sweetener in the home kitchen. Sugar made from sugar cane is the most popular. Some sugar is made from beets but is not often found in grocery stores, its use being more commercial.

Confectioner’s Sugar is granulated sugar ground to a powder.

Brown Sugar is a mixture of granulated sugar and molasses; the darker brown having a higher proportion of molasses. It is higher in moisture than white sugar. A water evaporates, it becomes hard and lumpy; can be softened by heating in a very low oven.

Simple Syrup is a mixture of sugar and water, ratio depending on desired thickness – usually two parts sugar to one part water. Mixture is heated only until it comes to a boil. Syrup can be artificially or naturally flavored.

Corn Syrup is made from the grain of corn; widely used in candy making as it prevents other sugars from crystallizing.

Maple Syrup is derived by condensing the sap of sugar maple trees.

Honey is the nectar of flowers. A sticky fluid produced by bees from cells in hives which they store in self-formed hexagonal wax for food for themselves. Honey may be purchased in the wax comb although most is strained. Light colored honey is derived from clover, orange and other flowers. Very dark honey is derived from buckwheat blossoms.

TAMALE – A highly seasoned dish of ground meat, seasonings, cooked corn meal, beans, and fat, rolled in oiled cornhusks and cooked.

TAMARI – A rich, smooth tasting soy sauce made from naturally fermented wheat and soybeans.

TAPIOCA – An edible product prepared from the tuberous root of the tropical cassava plant; usually found in food store pudding sections in granular or pellet form. Flour form is obtainable as starch used for thickening in some ethnic markets.

TERRINE – A baked pâté, also the name of the container the pâté is baked in.

TIMBALE – A baked, unsweetened custard containing pieces of meat, fish or vegetables.

TOFU – Made by coagulating soy bean milk (liquid extracted after cooking ground soybeans with water). Curds and whey are separated and curds pressed to form "tofu" cakes. A soft Japanese type is coagulated with calcium sulfate and is used in puddings and fillings for sandwiches. The firm Chinese type is coagulated with nigari and is used in stir fries, meat replacement in spaghetti sauce, soups and even barbecuing.

TORTE – A rich cake, usually made from eggs and nuts or crumbs (very little, if any, flour). Also a hard meringue baked as a shell and then filled with a sweetened mixture.

TRIFLE – A chilled dessert consisting of layers of sponge or pound cake soaked in sherry wine or liquor, and custard and jam or fruit.

TRUSS – To tie fowl or meat so that it will hold its shape while being roasted.

TURNOVER – A folded pastry made by cutting a circle, or other shape, adding a bit of filling, folding pastry in half and sealing the edges. May be baked or deep fried.

VANILLA – An extract produced from the pod of a certain species of tropical orchid plant.

VERONIQUE – A dish including, or garnished with, grapes.

VINAGRETTE – Dressed with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and herbs.

VINEGAR – Word "vinegar" means "sour wine" and can be made from anything that ferments. Not only is it used as a condiment but also as a preservative, a meat tenderizer, and even as a cleaning agent.

Distilled White Vinegar – made from grain; is strong, has no flavor and is used mostly for pickling.

Malt Vinegar – made from malt barley and potatoes. Used extensively as a condiment (especially on fish and chips).

Cider Vinegar – made from apples and very versatile, being used in all kinds of cooking.

Wine Vinegar – made from either red or white wine. Raspberry wine vinegar is very special. Wine vinegars are used mainly as an ingredient in vinaigrette salad dressing. Herbs are often steeped in the vinegar to add flavoring. It is also used in marinades and sauces for meat.

VOL-AI-VENT – Puff pastry shells filled with creamed chicken, seafood or mushrooms.

WHIP – To beat rapidly to produce expansion through the incorporation of air, as in egg whites, and heavy cream.

WOK – A round-bottomed, bowl-shaped skillet used to do stir-frying; introduced by Chinese cooks.

WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE – A sharp sauce made with soy, vinegar and spices; originally made in Worcester, England.

YOGURT – A custard-like food made from milk curdled by culturing artificially.

ZESTE – The word "zest" means a piquant flavor added to some food. "Zeste" is the outermost oily, grated peel of citrus fruits.