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(This Page Last Updated ) Feb, 1997

COOKING TERMS RECIPES AND FOODS


COOKING TERMS

bake. To cook in an oven, usually with dry heat.
barbecue. To cook slowly, rotating food on a spit over coals and basting with seasoned sauce.
beat. To mix thoroughly, using a quick circular movement to make a mixture smooth and/or light.
blanch. To preheat in boiling water or steam. Used to inactivate enzymes and shrink vegetables or fruits
for canning, freezing, or drying.
blend. To combine thoroughly two or more ingredients by mixing.
boil. To cook in a liquid that has bubbles forming on the bottom and sides of utensil and rising continuously
to the surface.
braise. To cook slowly in moist heat, usually in a covered utensil. Food may be browned first.
bread. To coat with bread crumbs, sometimes after moistening with beaten egg or evaporated milk.
broil. To cook by direct heat of an open flame, charcoal, or heating unit.
chop. To cut into small pieces.
cream. To mix two ingredients, usually sugar and shortening (butter or margarine), until fluffy.
cut in. To distribute solid fat in dry ingredients by chopping with knives or a pastry blender.
dice. To cut into cubes.
fold. To cut gently down through a mixture, such as beaten egg whites, then across the bottom of the bowl,
and finally lift to the surface so as to blend without collapsing the air bubbles.
freeze. (See Food Processing.)
fry. To cook in fat. Sauteing, or panfrying, uses a little fat. Deep-frying employs enough fat to cover the
food.
grate. To shred food by rubbing against the sharp-edged holes of a grater.
marinate. To let food stand in a marinade usually a seasoned oil-acid mixture, such as French dressing.
mince. To make very small pieces by cutting or chopping.
mix. To combine one or more ingredients so that they are equally distributed.
pare. To remove the outside covering by cutting (\to pare an apple\).
roast (usually meat). To bake in an uncovered utensil in an oven or sometimes in hot coals.
scald. To heat liquid, such as milk, to just under the boiling point. Also, to dip a vegetable quickly in boiling
water to soften the skin for easy removal.
sear. To use high heat briefly to brown (and seal) the surface of meat before braising or roasting.
simmer. To cook in a liquid in which bubbles do not break the surface, as they do in boiling, at a
temperature of less than 212 F.
stew. To cook in liquid below the boiling point.
stir. To move ingredients in a circular motion to mix and blend.
toast. To use dry heat to brown food.
whip. To incorporate air and produce expansion by beating rapidly.
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