Culinary Glossary A-Z

 There are some cookware terms that just evade a home cook. As a home cook, you're probably using these techniques or ingredients in your everyday cooking but you might not know the official term for them. Why does it make sense to learn these cooking terms? It makes it easier for you to explain and recreate recipes, understand what professional cooks are saying, and lastly, expand your knowledge! 

We've put together a bunch of good-to-know terms that you can learn about, use, and show off to your family and friends!

Al Dente

It’s a metric that measures the firmness or chewiness of pasta, rice, or veggies after cooking.

 

Adobo Sauce

A spicy red sauce from Mexico made using ground chiles, herbs, and vinegar.

 

Artificial Sweetener

An alternative for sugar with no nutritional value.

 

Arugula

A salad green that looks like a radish leaf with a slightly bitter taste.

 

Baking Dish

A dish that is made up of glass or ceramic

 

Baking Powder

A combination of dry acid, baking soda, and starch that releases carbon dioxide when the mixture is heated.

 

Balsamic Vinegar

A type of vinegar that is dark brown and made from the juice of white Trebbiano grapes.

 

Baste

Basting means moistening the food with seasoning liquids or fats so that it doesn’t get dry while cooking.

 

Bone

Boning a piece of meat refers to removing the bones from it.

 

Beating

Rapidly mixing the ingredients.

 

Bias

To cut the food from a specific angle.

 

Butterfly

Butterflying food means cutting the food through its center without entirely splitting it in half.

 

Blanch and Shock

Rapidly cook the food in boiling salted water.

 

Bouquet Garni

It is a small packet of ingredients that are used to add flavor during cooking.

 

Braise

Slow cooking in a liquid so that the food becomes tender.

 

Blacken

Cooking the food on high flames until it is charred.

 

Brine

A flavoring agent that is used for pickling or tenderizing the food.

 

Broil

Cooking the food under direct heat by placing it closer to the heat source.

 

Broth

The liquid in which vegetables and pieces of meat are cooked or simmered.

 

Brunoise

Dicing the food so that every diced portion measures 1/8th of its original size.

 

Candied Food

Food that is dipped or cooked in a sugary syrup.

 

Cartouche

A piece of baking paper is used to cover the saucepan as a lid.

 

Caramelize

Heating sugar to point that the crystals start melting so that it becomes a syrup.

 

Cheesecloth

A thin piece of cloth that can be used to strain sauces or roll proteins.

 

Chiffonade

Cutting down veggies or herbs into fine ribbons.

 

Creaming

The process of beating fat and sugar together to make them light.

 

Cut-In

It is a technique to add solid fat to the flour while preparing the crust for a pastry.

 

Crimp

Pressing the dough against the utensil.

 

Dash

A small measurement that is roughly equivalent to 1/8th of a teaspoon.

 

Deglazing

It is the process of adding a liquid like wine, vinegar, or water to the frying pan after cooking.

 

Dredge

Coat the food with ingredients like flour or crumbs before cooking it.

 

Emulsify

A process of forcefully combining two liquids that don’t naturally combine.

 

Fillet

A boneless piece of meat.

 

Fluff

A mixture of cooked rice, quinoa, and other grains.

 

Fold

It is a technique that is used to mix ingredients into a batter.

 

Grate

The process of turning big chunks of hard food into small pieces.

 

Greasing

It is the process of adding fat so that the food doesn’t stick.

 

Grill

It is the technique of cooking food by placing the food items on a rack that is directly above a heat source.

 

Hull

The outer-most covering of a fruit or a vegetable.

 

Icing

Adding a thin frosting.

 

Julienne Cut

It is a method of cutting vegetables down into thin and long pieces that look like matchsticks.

 

Knead

The process of rolling and folding the dough to make it more elastic.

 

Lard

A product that is made from pork fat.

 

Leavenings

A special ingredient that helps batter expand so that the baked products are light.

 

Marble

It is the process of swirling one food over another to get a rich texture.

 

Marinade

A seasoned liquid is used to soak the meat or veggies to infuse the flavors of the seasoning into the pieces of meat or veggies.

 

Marination

The process of soaking the food in a marinade in a sealed non-metallic container.

 

Mashing

The process of pressing the food so that it is free of lumps.

 

Mince

To chop food into fine pieces.

 

Mortar & Pestle

It is a combination of a bowl-shaped vessel and a small club to crush the ingredients to turn them into powder.

 

Muddle

The process of partially boiling the food.

 

Nappe

It is the process of coating the food with an even and thin layer.

 

Needling

It is the technique of injecting food with seasoning and flavoring agents.

 

Parchment Paper

A piece of paper that is resistant to heat and grease is used to wrap food.

 

Pare

To remove the outer covering of the fruit or the vegetable using a knife or peeler.

 

Poach

It is a technique of cooking food at low temperatures by putting it in a liquid.

 

Puree

Mashing the vegetables into a semi-solid.

 

Pounding

It is the process of striking the food with a heavy object to make it tender.

 

Pickle

The process of storing the food in a brine.

 

Reduce

It is the process of decreasing the quantity of liquid through evaporation.

 

Render

Cooking foods fatty proteins under low flames to collect the byproduct that drips out.

 

Rough Chop

Making large and quick pieces of the relatively same size.

 

Roux

It is a thickening agent made up of fat and flour.

 

Sauté

A technique of cooking food in fats or sauces over high flames in a pan.

 

Scald

It’s a technique of heating liquids just below the boiling temperature.

 

Scrape

Removing the battery or any other residue that’s stuck to cookware.

 

Sear

Heating the food on high flames to quickly give it a golden-brown texture.

 

Shredding

Cutting the food into uneven bits.

 

Simmer

To gently heat a liquid on low flames. Mostly in the range of 80℃ to 90℃.

 

Sieve

Separating the liquid part from the solid part of the food item.

 

Sift

Add more ingredients like flour to remove lumps.

 

Skim

The process of removing the fat, gunk, or cream from liquids.

 

Steam

Cooking using the vapor obtained by boiling liquids.

 

Steep

The process of infusing the flavor of food for an ingredient into a liquid by keeping it submerged in the liquid.

 

Skewer

A long narrow stick with a pointed end is used to pierce veggies or pieces of meat before grilling.

 

Toast

Heating the food until it's brown and crispy.

 

Whip/Whisk

It is a method of increasing the volume by incorporating air and blending the ingredients.

 

Zest

It is the shaving of the outer skin of citrus obtained by grating the skin with a peeler or a grater.