Culinary Terms

1. Kedgeree: In the West, Kedgeree is a dish consisting of cooked, flaked fish, boiled rice, parsley, hard-boiled eggs, curry powder, butter or cream and occasionally sultanas.
2. Kromesky: a croquette of minced meat or fish rolled in bacon and fried.
3. Liaison:  A Liaison in cooking is a binding agent. The term "liaison" is used almost exclusively to refer to a mixture of cream and egg yolks use to thicken soups or sauces.
4. Larding: Larding is the cooking technique of inserting strips or pieces of fat into a piece of meat that doesn't have much fat of its own.
5. Macédoine: A term used to describe the process of dicing ingredients into 1/4 inch cubes or a term that is used to describe a preparation of fruits or vegetables that have been diced (cubes that are 1/4 inch square) to be served either cold (raw) or hot (cooked).
6. Maître d’hôtel butter: It is a type of compound butter of French origin, prepared with butter, parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper. It is a savory butter that is used on meats such as steak, fish, vegetables and other foods. It may be used in place of a sauce, and can significantly enhance a dish's flavor.
7. Marinade: A liquid mixture, usually of vinegar or wine and oil with various spices and herbs, in which meat, fowl, fish, or vegetables are soaked before cooking.
8. Mandoline: A utensil consisting of a base into which adjustable blades are set, used to slice or cut fruits and vegetables.
9. Masking: To disguise something by completely covering it with sauce or by adding a flavoring to hide its real taste.
10. Mirepoix: Mirepoix (pronounced "meer-pwah") is a combination of chopped carrots, celery and onions used to add flavor and aroma to stocks, sauces, soups and other foods.
11. Mise en place: Mise en place is a French culinary phrase which means "putting in place", as in set up. It is used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing and arranging the ingredients (e.g., cuts of meat, relishes, sauces, par-cooked items, spices, freshly chopped vegetables, and other components) that a chef will require for the menu items that are expected to be prepared during a shift.
12. Mousse: A mousse is a prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture. It can range from light and fluffy to creamy and thick, depending on preparation techniques. A mousse may be sweet or savory. Dessert mousses are typically made with whipped egg whites or whipped cream, flavored with chocolate, coffee, caramel, puréed fruits or various herbs and spices, such as mint or vanilla. Sweetened mousse is served as a dessert, or used as an airy cake filling. It is sometimes stabilized with gelatin. Savory mousse may be flavored with hard boiled egg, herbs, fish or liver.
13. Navarin: Navarin is a French ragoût (stew) of lamb or mutton. If made with lamb and vegetables available fresh in the spring, it is called navarin printanier (spring stew). While the name "navarin" has been suggested to honor the 1827 Battle of Navarino, more probably it refers to the stew's traditional inclusion of turnips – navet, in French
14. Panada: A Panada is a really thick béchamel sauce, used for binding such things as croquettes. Here we would use 1.5 to 2 oz butter and just under 1.5 to 2 oz flour to our 1/2 pint of milk.
15. En papillote: En papillote, or al cartoccio in Italian, is a method of cooking in which the food is put into a folded pouch or parcel and then baked. The parcel is typically made from folded parchment paper, but other material, such as a paper bag or aluminum foil, may be used. The parcel holds in moisture to steam the food. The pocket is created by overlapping circles of aluminum foil and parchment paper and then folding them tightly around the food to create a seal. A papillote should be opened at the table to allow people to smell the aroma when it opens.
16. Paysanne: Paysanne is a French cooking term used to describe a style of cutting vegetables. The word paysanne means "country style", indicating that this is a rougher, more informal cut that other more precise cuts that exist in French cooking.
17. Piquant: having a pleasantly sharp taste or appetizing flavour.
18. Quenelle: A quenelle (French pronunciation: ​[kə.nɛl]) is a small or moderate quantity of a mixture of creamed fish or meat, sometimes combined with breadcrumbs, with a light egg binding, usually formed into an egg-like shape, and then cooked.
19. Ragout: The term ragout refers to a main-dish stew. The basic method of preparation involves slow cooking over a low heat. The main ingredients are many; ragouts may be prepared with or without meat, a wide variety of vegetables may be incorporated, and they may be more or less heavily spiced and seasoned.
20. Ramekin: A ramekin is a small glazed ceramic or glass bowl used for cooking and serving various dishes.
21. Réchauffe: Réchauffe cooking or warm over food is reheating the food. Réchauffe cooking to kill the bacteria and make more delicious food. New dishes made from leftovers are quite common in world cuisine, and many were created in the days before refrigeration and reliable airtight containers existed. Besides capturing nutrition from otherwise inedible bones, stocks and broths make an excellent base for adding leftover morsels too small to be a meal themselves.
22. Soufflé: A soufflé is a baked egg-based dish which originated in early eighteenth century France. It is made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients and served as a savory main dish or sweetened as a dessert.
23. Rennet: Rennet is a complex of enzymes produced in the stomachs of ruminant mammals. Chymosin, its key component, is a protease enzyme that curdles the casein in milk. This helps young mammals digest their mothers' milk. Rennet can also be used to separate milk into solid curds for cheese making and liquid whey.
24. Punching: After your yeast or sourdough bread dough is finished with its first rise, recipe instructions will tell you to punch down the dough. Punching down deflates the dough, getting the air out of the dough so that you can knead it and form it into loaves.
25. Zest: Zest is a food ingredient that is prepared by scraping or cutting from the outer, colorful skin of unwaxed citrus fruits such as lemon, orange, citron, and lime. Zest is used to add flavor ("zest") to foods.
26. Proofing: In bread baking, the word proofing most commonly refers to the final rise, the dough undergoes, which takes place after being shaped into a loaf, and before it is baked. In practice, however, the words proof and fermentation are sometimes used interchangeably. What's important to realize here is that shaping dough affects its physical form, but doesn't impact its internal chemistry—the processes and chemical reactions at work during our bulk and final rises are the same.
27. Whey: Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a co-product of the manufacture of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is manufactured during the making of rennet types of hard cheese like cheddar or Swiss cheese. Acid whey (also known as "sour whey") is a co-product produced during the making of acid types of dairy products such as cottage cheese or strained yogurt.
28. Tripe: The stomach of a cow, pig, sheep or ox – ox having arguably the best flavour. Tripe is usually sold specially prepared or cleaned for cooking and is very much an acquired taste.
29. Whipping: The process of beating an ingredient vigorously to incorporate air which makes the ingredient frothy. For example, egg whites are whipped until they form stiff peaks and heavy cream is transformed into whipped cream.

30. Terrine:

A terrine most commonly refers to a French forcemeat loaf similar to a pâté, made with more coarsely of chopped ingredients. Terrines are usually served cold or at room temperature. Most terrines contain a large amount of fat as well as pork, although it is often not the main ingredient: Many terrines are made with typical French game meat, like deer and boar (which are generally not eaten any other way in France).

A terrine is a glazed earthenware (terracotta, French terre cuite) cooking dish with vertical sides and a tightly fitting lid, generally rectangular or oval. Modern versions are also made of enameled cast-iron.

31. Supreme: The term supreme used in cooking and culinary arts refers to the best part of the food, and it has different meanings depending upon the food type.

In Chicken, the term supreme (or suprême) is used to describe a breast of chicken with the wing bone attached.

To supreme a citrus fruit is to remove the skin, pith, membranes, and seeds, and to separate its segments.

Suprême sauce is a rich white sauce made of chicken stock and cream.

32. Spit: A long solid rod used to hold food while it is being cooked over a fire in a fireplace or over a campfire, or roasted in an oven. This method is generally used for cooking large joints of meat or entire animals, such as pigs or turkeys. The rotation cooks the meat evenly in its own juices and allows easy access for continuous self-basting.
33. Skewer: A skewer is a thin metal or wood stick used to hold pieces of food together. They are used while grilling or roasting meats, and in other culinary applications.

Metal skewers are typically stainless steel rods with a pointed tip on one end and a grip of some kind on the other end for ease of removing the food. Non-metallic skewers are often made from bamboo; however, any suitable wood may be used. Prior to grilling, wooden skewers must be soaked in water to avoid burning.

34. Searing: The process of quickly browning the surface of food by exposing it to extremely high heat. Food is most often seared in a small quantity of oil and is then cooked to the appropriate doneness using another cooking method such as roasting, grilling, or braising. Searing can be done in a frying pan, broiler, oven, or on a grill. Meat is a food that is often seared to provide a flavorful brown crust on the surface. Contrast in taste and texture between the crust and the interior makes the food more interesting to the palate.
35. Sausage: A sausage is a food usually made from ground meat, often pork, beef or veal, along with salt, spices and breadcrumbs, with a skin around it. Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made from intestine, but sometimes synthetic. Sausages that are sold uncooked are cooked in many ways, including pan-frying, broiling and barbecuing. Some sausages are cooked during processing and the casing may then be removed.
36. Salami: Salami is a type of cured sausage consisting of fermented and air-dried meat, typically beef or pork. Historically, salami was popular among southern and central European peasants because it stores at room temperature for up to 40 days once cut, supplementing a potentially meager or inconsistent supply of fresh meat. Countries and regions across Europe make their own traditional varieties.

Salami is differentiated by the fineness of the ground meat and each variety has a different type of meat consistency as well as a different spice mix. However all salami is made with pork, which has been blended with a particular ratio of high quality pork fat. Favorite spices and flavorings include salt, pepper, garlic, wine, mace, fennel and sometimes cinnamon. Some preservatives are used, but only in amounts allowed by food purity laws and some salami is also colored. Once these meat and spice combinations are blended and packed in natural or synthetic (for cooked salami) casings, the sausage is aged in dark cool cellars.

37. Sabayon: Ribbon Stage is a cooking term used to measure how well egg yolk and sugar are beaten together. It is also called "sabayon consistency."

The purpose of reaching this stage in beating is both to ensure that enough air has been incorporated into the mixture, and to ensure that the sugar is thoroughly dissolved in the egg yolk so that the egg mixture, when heated, won't become granular.

To reach this stage requires beating the egg yolk for 3 to 4 minutes with a whisk -- less time with an electric beater.

38. Reduce: In cooking, reduction is the process of thickening and intensifying the flavor of a liquid mixture such as a soup, sauce, wine, or juice by simmering or boiling. While reduction does concentrate the flavors left in the pan, reducing too much will drive away all liquid in the sauce, leaving a "sticky, burnt coating" on the pan.
39. Royale: Type of custard cut into different shapes, used to garnish consommés.
40. Rasping: To scrape or rub (something) roughly, especially with a rasp; abrade