A Culinary Dictionary 1

A Culinary Dictionary 1 AA CCUULLIINNAARRYY DDIICCTTIIOONNAARRYY Compiled by S. K. Dwivedi (February 02) All right reserved by S. K. Dwivedi A Culinary Dictionary 2 Al dente – An Italian cooking term, literally Deleted: ¶ ‘to the tooth’, which is used to describe food, particularly pasta, that is cooked until firm to the bite rather than soft. A Alfafa Sprouts – The fine, short sprouts of A alfafa seeds, with pale stalks and deep green Abalone – A large sea snail with a shallow, tips, used in salads and sandwiches. The earshaped shell. It lives close to the shoreline, sprouts have a nutty taste and a particular clinging to the underside of rocks, ledges with affinity for cheese. The alfafa (or lucerne) a broad fleshy foot. Found throughout the plant was first grown by Arabs as food for world, abalone at one time became so rare in their horses because its high protein and California that it was not allowed to be canned, calcium content helped develop strong dried or sent out of the state; the advent of animals. farm–raised abalone eased these restrictions. In the Channel Islands, when seasonal low tides Allemande, à l’ – A French term for food temporarily exposed the abalone’s rocky cooked in the German style: traditionally, haunts, the locals took part in a frenzied race to dishes containing smoked sausages or gather as many as possible before the waters garnished with sauerkraut and pork. It is also rolled back in, leading to a decline in abalone used to describe dishes served with allemande numbers. In Australia, divers harvest them in sauce, a white sauce made with veal or poultry southern waters. stock. The flesh is tough and must be tenderized by pounding before it can be eaten. Allspice – A spice made from the berries of a tropical tree, which grows throughout Central Abbacchio – The Italian term for meat from America and is especially abundant in Jamaica. an unweaned baby lamb. Dishes based on it Its aroma and flavour is similar to a blend of have been specialty of central and southern cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. The berries are Italy since the time of the ancient Romans with picked while green and dried in the sun until garlic and rosemary, it is traditional Easter dark red. Whole berries are used to flavour fare. stews, pot roasts, and chutney; the ground spice is added to apple dishes, milk puddings, Aberdeen Sausage – A beef sausage that is gingerbread, and tomato sauce. It is sometimes wrapped in a cloth, boiled, and then coated in called pimento or Jamaica pepper. dry breadcrumbs. Almond – The oval shaped seeds of a tree Acidulated Water – Water with a little closely related to the peach and apricot. lemon juice or vinegar added, sprinkled on cut Originally from the Middle East, the almond is raw fruits such as apples, bananas and pears to one of the most widely used and longest prevent browning. cultivated nuts in the world. It was eaten in ancient Babylon, is mentioned in Hittite Agar–Agar – A white, semi–translucent, writings and in the bible, and by Minoan times tasteless and odourless setting agent made had spread west as far as the island of Crete. from various Asian seaweeds. Agar-agar sets The ancient Greeks mixed the crushed nut with without refrigeration and is used in Asian honey to make marzipan and it was popular cookery to thicken soups and to make jellies. with the Romans, who called it “the Greek nut”. The prevalence of the almond in Aïoli – A garlic mayonnaise from Provence, medieval cooking is thought to be connected to which is sometimes, called the “butter of religious fast days when it replaced forbidden Provence”. In Marseilles it is said that aïoli meat and milk. There are two types of almond: should contain at least two cloves of garlic per the sweet almond, from a pink–flowering tree, person. Traditionally associated with poached the form widely used; and the strongly salt cod, aïoli is also served with other fish, flavoured bitter almond, from a white- meat and vegetables, and is also added to soup. flowering tree, a broader and shorter nut which contain prussic acid and is poisonous if consumed in more than minute amounts. In À la – French for ‘in the style of’, e.g. à la some styles of cooking the two are mixed, in niçoise, typical of the cooking style of the Nice proportions of about one bitter to fifty sweet region; à la vigneronne, prepared with grapes almonds. (in the manner of the wine grower). A Culinary Dictionary 3 California is the world’s largest producer of kitchens of the early European settlers, where almonds, followed by Italy and Spain, where the frying pan and cooking pot ruled (today the trees grow well on the poor soils of the most dishes are still either stewed or fried). It Mediterranean hills. Almonds are eaten raw, is characterized by numerous variations on a roasted, or grilled and salted; pounded or simple theme–the apple pie, for example, has ground, they are used in savoury stuffings and several distinct regional forms, each reflecting a variety of desserts, cakes, and confectionery. local ingredients as well as cultural backgrounds. Almond Paste – A mixture of finely ground Americans like iced water on the table and a almond, sugar and egg which is rolled out and salad (often with a choice of several dressings) used to cover rich fruit cakes with a smooth before the main course which following the and even surface before they are iced. It also British traditions, usually consist of a relatively helps to preserve the cake and to stop it from plain meat dish with two vegetables. Corn, discolouring the icing. It is used to make native to the continent, features prominently in marzipan confectionery and filling for Danish its cuisine, as does squash and rice. America pastries. gave the world the cocktail and is also the home of convenience foods and fast foods such Alum – An astringent mineral salt used in as popcorn, the hot dog, and fried chicken. It pickling to maintain the crispness of has the highest per capita consumption of cucumbers and onions and as a whitening hamburgers in the world. agent in flour. Anchovy – A small slender, herring-like Amaretti – A crisp almond macaroon from saltwater fish with a slightly oily flesh and a Italy, where it was originally made with bitter strong, sardine-like taste. Although anchovies almonds. The name comes from the Italian are eaten fresh in the regions in which they word amaro meaning bitter. occur, they are probably known to most in their preserved form. Traditionally the whole fish, packed in brine in kegs, was used for Ambrosia – A semi-soft cows milk cheese, flavouring and salting meat dishes. In originally from Sweden, with a slightly tart Renaissance Italy a dish of anchovy fillets taste and a number of small irregular holes in marinated in olive oil and vinegar was a the interior. popular first course, and for centuries-salted Ambrosia is also the name of a chilled dessert anchovy fillets have been an important made with layers of fruit, usually sliced ingredient in the cooking of Provence. Today it orange, banana, and fresh pineapple, and a is widely available as salted fillets marinated in mixture of desiccated (shredded) coconut and oil and sold in jars or cans. icing sugar. Sadly, pollution has largely banished the anchovy from its home in Mediterranean Americaine, à l’ – A French term for meat, waters, although it is still netted off the coast seafood, eggs or vegetables served with a of France and Spain in May. In the English spicy, tomato-based sauce and often garnished Channel on moonless nights the artificial lights with grilled bacon and tomatoes. The name lure large numbers. The anchovy is caught in was originally applied to a dish, created in the the Atlantic, and off the Pacific coasts of the 1860s in Paris by a chef who had worked in Americas, and a similar species occurs in the North America, in which a cut lobster cooked coastal waters of Australia. in a tomato and wine mixture was served with Preserved anchovy fillets are used in hors a sauce made from the stock. Some say the d’oeuvre, pizza toppings, in salads and as a term ‘americaine’ is a mistranslation of garnish; boned anchovies are pounded into a ‘amoricaine’, referring to Armorica, the paste which is the basis for many sauces. ancient name for Brittany, and that this style of cooking originated there. Angel cake – a white-coloured cake with an airy texture resulting from the high proportion American Food – The cuisine of North of beaten egg white in the mixture. The angel America marries the diversity and abundance cake originated in North America, where it has of the ingredients harvested from its vast lands been known since the late nineteenth century. (stretching from the tropics to the Arctic and along the coasts of two oceans) with the Angelica – An herb best known for its cooking styles and food habits of the many candied stalks, used to flavour and decorate cultures from which its people are drawn. The cakes and desserts. It was once eaten raw, like style which has emerged was born in the basic celery, and its fresh leaves can be used in A Culinary Dictionary 4 salads. In parts of Iceland of Norway the dried as hams and salamis and popular in northern root is ground into a form of bread. and central Italy; antipasto misto, an Angelica seeds are used in the preparation of assortment of dishes, often without meat, vermouth and chartreuse.

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