What’s In a Word – 27 Culinary Terms to Know

I thought I would do something different with this post.  Here is a list of culinary terms from A to Z that you may or may not be familiar with. (letters U, W and X were tough to come up with!)  How knowledgeable are you? How many new cooking terms did you discovery? Let me know in a comment. Happy cooking and bon appetite!

Amuse-bouche:  the French term for mouth amuser or a small, one bite serving offered before a meal or between courses.

Bouquet garni: a bundle of fresh herbs used to infuse flavor into braises and sauces which is easily removable their flavor has dissipated.

Cream of Tarter:  a dry, powdery, acidic byproduct of fermenting grapes into wine. Its science name is potassium bitartrate, aka potassium hydrogen tartrate or tartaric acid. It is generally used as a stabilizer when baking like with eggs in a meringue.

Dredge: to coat wet or moist foods with a dry ingredient before cooking to provide an even coating.

En croute:  French for “in a crust”, and refers to foods wrapped in a crust and baked.

Flambe:  to add alcohol such as brandy, cognac, or rum to a hot pan to create a burst of flames.

Gastric:   a sweet and sour sauce usually made of equal parts of caramelized sugar or honey with vinegar, reduced to make a syrup.

Hors D’oeuves:  small portions of food or appetizer.

Infuse:  to steep something in a liquid to extract the flavours from it.

Jacarding:  poking holes into the muscle of meat in order to tenderize it, also known as needling.

Kosher salt:  a course edible salt usually without additives like iodine, typically used for cooking rather than as a table salt.

Lyonnaise:  prepared with onions.

Macerate:  the process of softening or breaking into pieces using liquid, often referring to fruit or vegetables, in order to absorb the flavor of the liquid.

Nappe:  the ability of a liquid to coat the back of a spoon or the act of coating a food.

Ossobuco:  a dish of veal shanks braised with vegetables, white wine, and seasoned stock.

Pesto:  a sauce of crushed basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil.

Quatre spices:  literally, “four spices”.   A French spice blend consisting of pepper (black, white or both), nutmeg, ginger and cloves used to season and flavor soups, stews and meats.

Rue/Roux:  a cooked mixture of equal parts flour and fat (usually butter) used to thicken liquids.

Sweat:  gently heating vegetables in a little oil, with frequent stirring and turning to ensure emitted liquid will evaporate; usually results in tender, or in some cases such as onions’, translucent pieces.

Truss:   to tie whole poultry with string or skewers so it will hold its shape during cooking.

Umami:  one of the five basic tastes, including sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Umami means savory.

Velote:   a sauce made from a white stock thickened with white roux.  

Wasabi:  Japanese horseradish

Xia:  Chinese for shrimp 

Yeast:  a living microscopic organism that coverts sugar or starch into alcohol and carbon dioxide through fermentation.

Zest:  to remove the outer layer of a citrus fruit using a zester or paring knife.