I once read the little sentence: “The only thing worse than a person who can cook and doesn’t is a person who can’t cook and does.” Whether you cook because of pleasure or necessity and have been doing so for a long time, all these following words will be familiar to you. Perhaps you can share them with a young, inexperienced cook.
Sauté, fry, and deep fry: These are degrees of cooking food – usually meat, but also vegetables and fruits – in fat.
Sauté means to brown quickly in the tiniest bit of fat; fry or pan fry means to cook uncovered in hot fat usually about 1/2 inch deep in a pan, and deep fry means to cook the food in fat deep enough to cover the food.
To grill is similar, but no fat is used and the food is cooked either under direct heat of a broiler on the range – or over direct heat on an outdoor grill, cooking only one side at a time and turning, usually only once.
Sear: This means to place meat in a very hot skillet, etc., without oil so the meat surface cooks quickly to seal in the juices. It is then turned to sear the other side.
Stir, whisk, whip, cream, beat, fold: To stir means to move the food slowly around in the bowl or pot in a circular motion to keep the food moving while it is cooking or cooling.
To whisk, one beats the food quickly using a wire whisk, as for egg whites, etc. To whip is similar and means to beat quickly to add air to the mix and to increase the volume. When creaming – especially the butter and sugar in cake baking – use either a large spoon or electric mixer to thoroughly combine the two so the resulting mix is light and fluffy. Sometimes powdered sugar and cream cheese are also creamed.
To beat is to stir forcefully and vigorously in an up and over motion, especially for cakes, frostings, and candy.
To fold is to gently lift the food in a bowl up from the bottom with a spoon then turn the spoon upside down so that the lifted food falls on top of the food that is being mixed in this way. This is done with “folding in the flour,” “folding in the egg whites,” etc.
Glacé, glaze: The first word, glacé, should be written with an accent on the “e” so that the word is pronounce “glaw-say.” This means to cover (usually sweet rolls) with a sweet frosting or icing so that it looks like a glacier.
To glaze means to make a smooth, shiny surface such as pouring a sweet mixture over a pound cake. It also means to cover meat with a broth/sauce that will leave a shine and add flavor.
Fricassee, braise: Chicken, and other meats, are often cooked as a fricassee, meaning the meat is cooked and served in its own gravy.
To braise meat is to brown quickly in a small amount of fat, add water, cover, and cook slowly until tender.
Cube, dice, mince, julienne: These are ways of preparing food for cooking. To cube is to cut the food – whether meat, vegetable, or fruit – into cube-shaped, uniform sizes of about an inch or so.
To dice is about the same, but usually the dice is much smaller, about a half inch.
To mince means to chop the food in tiny pieces as one would do with herbs.
To julienne food, cut it into long, narrow strips, as is often done with carrots, zucchini, etc.
Roast, bake: Both mean to cook in the oven with dry heat. Roast usually refers to meats, and bake to cakes, breads, etc. I suppose one could “roast” a cake, but that doesn’t sound right to the ear.
Par-boil: This means to cook a food in boiling water until partly tender. The water is usually discarded, and the food goes on to a second step in preparation.
Scalloped, au gratin: A scalloped dish is one made with a sauce and bread crumbs to give the dish firmness or to sprinkle the dish with crumbs.
Au gratin is similar, but the topping is of cheese and crumbs, spread on top of the dish and baked to a lightly browned crust.
Blanch, scald: To blanch a food means to lower the food briefly (a few minutes or less) in boiling water, then remove and drain. This is done frequently before freezing fresh vegetables.
To scald means to bring a liquid (usually milk) to the boiling point. The surface will appear ruffled. Don’t allow it to bubble.
Next time we’ll talk about some other terms to help you with your … Sunday Dinner.