Lexicon of Cooking Terms

An alphabetic list follows. You can also browse by subject on the following pages:

 

Cooking Methods
Cutting Techniques
Mixing Terms
Other Preparation

 

Al dente -  means "to the tooth" and describes the perfect point of doneness for pasta; when biting into it you can feel a slight resistance against your tooth and the pasta is neither too firm nor too soft.

 

Bain marie -  a method of cooking where a pan containing the food is set into a larger pan filled with water either on top of the stove or in the oven. This is used when delicate food needs to be cooked gently, such as baking a pudding or melting chocolate.This is also called a water bath.

 

Bake - to cook in the oven. The heat source acts on the food you have prepared and placed in the oven, such as cookies, cake or bread.

 

Baste -  to coat with meat juices or some other liquid during the roasting process. For example, if you are roasting a chicken you will periodically brush the chicken with the juices that collect during cooking. The purpose of basting is to add flavor, keep the meat moist so it does not dry out, and also help the outside get brown and crispy. You can use a spoon to scoop up drippings, a brush, or a bulb baster which is a tube with a bulb that when squeezed draws up the juices so you can release them over the meat.

 

Beat - to stir vigorously in a circular pattern. You can use a fork, wire whisk, electric beater.

 

Blanch -  to immerse briefly in boiling water, followed by plunging the item in cold water to stop the cooking process. For example, you would blanch tomatoes to make them easy to peel, or blanch broccoli to bring out the color, or soften it prior to stir frying. This is also called parboiling.

 

Blend - to combine well two or more ingredients.

 

Boil - to cook a liquid at a high enough heat to make it bubble. At a full boil, also called a rolling boil, the bubbles rise from the bottom to the top and then break, producing steam which is evidence of the liquid evaporating. Water boils at 212° F. or 100° C. at sea level.

 

Bone - to remove the bones from meat, poultry or fish.

 

Braise - to cook by first browning the food in a little oil, then adding liquid, covering tightly, and cooking over a low heat either on the stove or in the oven for a lengthy time. This method of cooking with moist heat is used for tough cuts of meats that need time to break down and become tender, and also develops deep flavors.

 

Broil - to cook next to a heat source, under the broiler or over an outdoor fire on a grill.

 

Butterfly - to cut down the center, almost but not all the way through, and open out flat. Shrimp is often butterflied, and easy to picture cutting down through the middle and flattening the sides to resemble a butterfly shape. Pork chops, leg of lamb and chicken breasts can be butterflied after the bones are removed.

 

Caramelize - to heat sugar past its melting point where it becomes a syrup, or caramel.This is the dessert topping you expect it to be. Fruits and vegetables also contain sugar and can be caramelized. For example, when you brown onions and carrots as the base of a sauce it imparts a rich nutty flavor.

 

Chop - to cut into small pieces, not larger than bite-size. Chopping results in larger pieces than mincing.

 

Combine - to mix together two or more ingredients to create a unified one where the individual components are distributed evenly throughout the mixture.

 

Cream - to beat one or more ingredients until creamy. Usually you cream butter, to soften it and get it ready to add other ingredients, or you cream butter and sugar together to produce a homogenous, light and fluffy mixture.

 

Cube - to cut into squares usually 1/4 to 1/2 inch each side. Cubing results in larger pieces than dicing.

 

Cut in - to combine butter, margarine or other shortening with flour resulting in small, even sized, granular particles of bits of the fat surrounded by flour. This technique is used in making pastries, such as pie crust, so when the fat melts during baking it creates the flakiness in the crust. This can be done by using two knives, one in each hand, to slash and cut the fat into tiny pieces. You can also use your fingers, working quickly so the heat of your hands does not have time to melt the fat. There is also a tool called a pastry blender to do the job, and a food processor makes the task effortless.

 

Dice - to cut into very small squares, usually 1/4 inch or less. Dicing results in smaller pieces than cubing.

 

Dot - to drop bits of an ingredient, usually butter or cheese, randomly over the top of a surface.

 

Drain - to pour off the liquid; make sure you read through the instructions as they may direct you to save the liquid rather than discard it.

 

Flour  - to coat with flour. You would flour your hands in preparation of handling sticky dough. You would flour a pan that you have greased to prevent batter or dough sticking to it.

 

Fold - to combine gently; usually you use a rubber spatula, dragging it through a mixture, across the bottom, up and over the top until the mixture is blended.

 

Fry - to cook in hot oil. Deep frying requires submerging the food in the oil.

 

Grate - to shred a large piece of food into small shavings by drawing it with pressure across a grater, which is a serrated surface.

 

Grease - to coat the inside surfaces of a pan or bowl with butter or margarine. The next step might be to dust the greased surfaces with flour, in order to facilitate the removal of a baked product, such as a cake. In this case the instructions would be to "grease and flour", also sometimes specified as "butter and flour".

 

Grease and flour  - to coat a pan with butter or margarine, and then dust it with flour until the bottom and sides are well coated. The extra flour must be shaken out.

 

Julienne - to cut into matchstick sized pieces, usually 1/8 inch or so on two sides and a length of about an inch.

 

Knead - to work dough back and forth, folding back and pressing forward, as you turn it to fold and press from every angle. The end result should be smooth and elastic.

 

Marinate - to soak food in a seasoned liquid assembled to impart flavors and also tenderize the food.

 

Melt - to heat a solid or semi-solid until it becomes liquid.

 

Mince - to cut in tiny pieces. Mincing results in smaller pieces than chopping.

 

Mix - to combine together two or more ingredients.

 

Parboil - to immerse briefly in boiling water, followed by plunging the item in cold water to stop the cooking process. For example, you would blanch tomatoes to make them easy to peel, or blanch broccoli to bring out the color, or soften it prior to stir frying. This is also called blanching.

 

Peel - to remove the peel from fruit or vegetables.

 

Pit -  to remove the pit from fruit.

 

Poach - to cook very gently in liquid that is barely moving, just below the boiling point. Delicate foods such as fish, eggs and chicken breasts are often poached, and the liquid may also be seasoned to impart flavor to the food.

 

Pound - to flatten a piece of meat prior to cooking, which tenderizes it. You should place the meat between two pieces of wax paper and then pound it with a rolling pin, the bottom of a heavy pan, or a special tool designed for this called a meat pounder.

 

Proof - to mix yeast with warm liquid, and sometimes sugar, which is set aside for 5 or 10 minutes and then checked to ensure it is active. If the mixture is bubbly the yeast is live and will work to make dough rise. If there is no action in the mixture the yeast is dead and will not work. The liquid must be warm enough to activate the yeast but not too hot or it will kill it.The optimum temperature range for the liquid is 110° to 115° F.

 

Puree - to mash to an even, smooth consistency. This can be done by pressing through the holes of a strainer or in a blender or food processor.

 

Reduce - to boil a liquid so rapid evaporation takes place and reduces the volume, thickening the liquid and concentrating the flavor.

 

Roast - to cook in the oven. Roasting usually refers to cooking meats that you may add moisture to by basting during the cooking process. Really, baking and roasting take place in the same way, in the oven, but techinically baking does not include adding moisture. You bake a cake and roast a chicken.

 

Roll out - to use a rolling pin to spread a dough out thinly and evenly.

 

Roux - the combination of butter or fat with flour, cooked until it is anywhere from very light to dark brown, that is used as the thickener in making sauces and gravies.

 

Sauté - to cook on a stovetop in a pan with a little fat. This is similar to frying but the etymology is from the French sauter, which means to jump. The French cook shakes the pan to keep the food from sticking, causing it to jump around in the pan. There is also a technical difference between a sauté pan, which has straight sides and a flat bottom to maximize space and heat distribution as well as a long handle, and a frying pan which may have sloped sides.

 

Sear - to brown meat quickly using high heat in order to seal in the juices.

 

Separate - refers to eggs, when you separate the yolks from the whites. This is done by cracking the egg over a bowl and holding half the shell in each hand, allowing the whites to fall into the bowl while using the shell halves to contain the yolk, which can then be transferred to a second bowl.

 

Shell - to remove the shell. This could refer to seafood, boiled eggs, peas, nuts.

 

Shred - to cut or tear into very thin strips.

 

Sift - to put through a flour sifter or a fine mesh strainer. This is a baking technique that ensures dry ingredients such as flour or sugar are lump-free.

 

Simmer - to cook liquid over heat that is just about to boil; you will see small bubbles, but not the large, continuous bubbles of boiling.

 

Skim - to remove a substance, such as fat or impurities, from the surface of a liquid.

 

Slice - to cut a thin piece across the breadth of a larger piece; to cut a portion, usually triangular, from a circular whole.

 

Spoon - to use a spoon to scoop up an ingredient or a mixture.

 

Steam - to cook using steam as the source of heat. Usually water is boiled in a pot fitted with a rack to hold the food over it, not touching the water. A tightly fitting lid prevents steam from escaping.

 

Stir - to move an implement such as a spoon, fork or spatula through a mixture in a continuous, circular motion.

 

Strain - to separate liquid from solid by pouring through a strainer. As in draining, make sure you read through the instructions as they may direct you to save the liquid rather than discard it.

 

Toss - to mix lightly, scooping up the ingredients and letting them fall back.

 

Water bath - a method of cooking where a pan containing the food is set into a larger pan filled with water either on top of the stove or in the oven. This is used when delicate food needs to be cooked gently, such as baking a pudding or melting chocolate.This is also called a bain marie.

 

Whip - to incorporate air into ingredients, such as eggs or cream, by beating vigorously to make them light and fluffy.