Lexicon - Cooking Methods

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

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. You can roast vegetables along with the chicken, but you can also roast them on their own, in which case you would probably add some olive oil, but not when you bake a potato. No one ever said English is a perfect language. 

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.