Monday, March 1, 2010

Glossary of terms

The culinary arts community has a very unique way of communicating some of the things that have to happen in a kitchen. They developed a large ammount of terms so that you could read a recipe or be told what to do and as long as you understand the terms you should have no problem doing that action. Unlike the example trucker glossary, they do not take every day terms like comic book and create their own meanings for them. Instead they created their own words to describe the actions at hand.

Blanch- briefly immersing food in water or fat.

Confit- Cooking meat such as duck in its own fat.

Deglaze- a technique used by adding a liquid such as a cooking wine to loosen the particles at the bottom of the pan, often used to create a sauce

Maillard reaction- the phenomena that occurs when heating proteins in meats to 310 degrees and causes them to turn brown

Mirepoix- A combination of onions carrots and celery used to add flavor to stocks or dishes.

Poach- Cooking something in a liquid between 140 and 180 like eggs.

Roux- a mixture of equal parts fat and flour used for thickening sauces

Simmer- cooking something in a liquid ranging from 180 to 205

Sweat- To cook vegetables or other food in a small amount of fat over a low heat usually covered.

Saute- took cook something briefly over a high amount of heat.

1 comment:

  1. I have to point out there was one common word with a less than common meaning on your list - Sweat (it would seem) has a very different meaning in a gourmet kitchen that it would in a cycling class. Additionally, I am curious what using such technical jargon does to the culture within the kitchen, is it a relaxed place to be or busy and stressful? It will be interesting to read your final paper.

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