A la Meuniere
This translates as "in the style
of the millers wife", and refers to fish that is floured, sautéed in
butter, and then served up with the butter, lemon juice and some parsley.
Allumette
The allumette measures
approximately ⅛ in/2 mm by ⅛ in/2 mm by 2½ in/6 cm inches. It's also the
starting point for the brunoise.
Bain-marie
A roasting pan or baking dish partially
filled with water to allow food to cook more slowly and be protected from
direct high heat. Used for custards and terrines.
Batonnet
Batonnet translates to "little
stick". The batonnet measures approximately ¼in/5 mm by ¼in/½ mm x 2½-3
inches or about 8cm. It is also the starting point for the small dice.
Bavarois
A creamy pudding made with cream and
eggs, then set using gelatin.
Béchamel
A classic french white sauce, made with
milk, flour and butter and then flavoured with bay leaves, and nutmeg. You can
read more about the
french mother sauces here.
Beignets
Small dollops of dough that are fried —
very much like fritters.
Beurre Manié
Butter and flour mixed together in
equal parts and used to thicken stews, soups, and casseroles.
Beurre Noisette
Browned butter.
Bisque
A smooth, creamy soup made from a base
of shellfish stock.
Blanch
To place fruit or vegetables in boiling
water so the skin can be removed more easily.
Blanquette
A stew made from meat that has not been
browned or fried. Usually refers to stews made of lamb, chicken or veal.
Bouchées
Small puff pastry cases with a savoury
filling, usually served as an Hors
d'Oeuvre.
Bouillon
A broth or stock, usually a meat, some
vegetables and a bouquet garni boiled in water.
Bouquet Garni
A mixture of fresh herbs tied together
with string and used to flavour stews, soups etc. It refers to a mix of
parsley, bay leaf, thyme (and sometimes celery stalk). The bouquet is removed
before serving.
Brule
To burn a food to caramelize the sugar
on a foods surface.
Brunoise
Vegetables cut into very small diced
pieces, based on a julienne cut, but just turned 90° and diced.
Canapé
An appetizer consisting of a small
bread or biscuit base covered with a flavoured topping such as Pâté.
Carafe
The carafe is a container without
handles used for serving wine and other drinks. Unlike a decanter, a
carafes does not have a stopper at the top either.
Cartouche
Cartouche is a French term which
basically means "scroll" or "packet." It's a paper lid that
is used to slow down the reduction of moisture in cooking. A lid only lets a
little moisture escape, whereas using no lid lets lots of moisture escape.
Charcuterie
Charcuterie refers to cooked meats or
patés.
Chapelux
Browned breadcrumbs.
Chaud-froid
A French term describing a dish that is
first cooked and then chilled for service.
Chauffoir
A chauffoir is warming pan or
stove.
Chiffonade
Rolling up herbs, or leafy greens like
spinach and cutting them into very fine shreds.
Chine
To remove the backbone from a rack of
ribs.
Choucroute garnie
Choucroute garnie is French for dressed
sauerkraut, and is finely cut cabbage that has fermented and is served with
sausages or fresh meats.
Choux
Choux Pastry, or Pâte à Choux, is a
light pastry dough made from butter, water, flour, and eggs. Instead of a
raising agent its high moisture content creates steam during cooking to puff
the pastry. Amongst others, choux pastry is used make profiteroles,
croquembouches, and éclairs.
Compote
A dessert consisting of fruit stewed in
a sugar syrup, originates from the 17th century.
Confit
The process of cooking a meat in its
own fats, and sometimes then storing that meat covered in those fats.
Concassé
A French term for rough chopping
ingredients — usually referring to tomatoes.
Consommé
A richly flavoured, clear soup. To
achieve this, egg whites are added and the soup is simmered to allow the
inpurities to be skimmed off.
Coulis
A thick sauce usually made from one
main ingredient, such as raspberry coulis.
Court Bouillon
Flavoured liquid used for cooking fish.
Crème brulée
A rich egg custard, which is them
topped with sugar, and then under heat (like a blowtorch or grill) to caramelise
the sugars into a crisp layer.
Crêpes
Very thin pancakes.
Croquettes
A mixture of potato with ground cooked
meat, fish or poultry formed into balls, patties or other shapes and coated
with a breading before frying.
Croustade
Bread piece dipped in butter and baked
until it is crisp.
Croûte
Crust. Sometimes refers to a pastry
crust, sometimes to toasted or fried bread.
Croûtons
Small cubes of fried, or recooked bread
used as a garnish in salads and soups.
Dariole
A small cylindrical mold used for the
creation of baked desserts.
Déglacer
To deglaze, or loosen the browned
juices and fats from the bottom of a frying pan or saucepan by adding liquid,
then bringing to a boil and stirring. The liquid is usually water, wine or
stock.
Dégorger
To extract juices from meat, fish or
vegetables, usually by salting them, then soaking or washing. It is usually
done to remove a strong taste.
Demi-glace
The process of reducing a stock down to
a very concentrated form.
Dépouiller
To skim off the skin that accumulates
at the top of a stock or sauce.
Duxelles
Finely chopped raw mushrooms, used as a
stuffing. Sometimes combined with chopped ham or scallops.
En croute
Wrapped in pastry and then baked in an
oven.
Entrecôte
Entrée
The term used to refer to something
served before the main course but is used now to refer to the actual main course.
Entremet
A dessert or sweet – but does not
include pastries.
Escalope
A thin, boneless slice of meat.
Farce
Stuffing.
Flamber or Flambé
To set an alcohol — usually brandy — on
fire.
Fond
The french word for a stock.
Frappé
Something that is iced, or set on or in
a bed of ice.
Fricassé
A stew made from poultry, meat or
rabbit that has a white sauce.
Glace de Viande
Reduced brown stock used to add color
and flavour to sauces.
Gratiner or Au Gratin
To sprinkle the surface of a cooked
food with breadcrumbs and butter, and sometimes cheese and left brown under
heat. The finished food is referred to as au gratin as in au gratin potatoes.
Hors d'Oeuvre
The first course or appetiser.
Jardiniere
Vegetables cut into batons — similar to
julienne but thicker.
Julienne
A standard Julienne cut is 4mm x 4mm x
5cm, or ⅛ x ⅛ x 2 inches. ⅛th of an inch is approx. 3mm, but these sizes do
vary.
Jus or Jus de Viande
A French word loosely translated into
“juice”, but has a more specific meaning than the translation. In French
cookery it is primarily a sauce made by diluting the pan juices of a
roast with liquid then boiling it in the roasting pan until all of the sediment
has absorbed into the stock. Also used to describe thickened or clear brown
stock, especially veal. The juices squeezed from raw vegetables or fruits are
also referred to as “jus.”
Jus Lié
Thickened gravy.
Liaison
Ingredients used for thickening sauces,
soups or other liquids.
Macédoine
A salad of small pieces of mixed
vegetables or fruit.
Marmite
French word for a covered earthenware
container for soup. The soup is both cooked and served in it. Not to be
confused with the product Marmite!
Mesclum
A mix of lettuce leaves and herbs.
Mirepoix
A mixture of braising vegetables,
usually celery, carrots and onions.
Mise en place
Mise en place is translates as
"putting in place", as in getting all your preparation in place –
tasks like washing mussels, peeling and preparing vegetables or weighing out
some of the ingredients in advance.
Moulè-â-manqué
A cake tin that is wider at the base
than at the top and only about 2cm or 1inch in depth.
Napper
To coat, mask or cover with something.
Noisette
The word literally means "
hazelnuts ", but can also refer to something being nut brown in colour.
For example, beurre noisette is butter browned over heat until it becomes a nut
brown color. It can also refer to boneless rack of lamb that is rolled, tied
and cut into rounds.
Nouvelle Cuisine
A term that refers to the style of
cooking that features lighter dishes with lighter sauces and very fresh
ingredients.
Panade
A very thick mixture usually made from
a combination of flour, butter, and milk that is used as a base for dishes such
as soufflés and fish cakes.
Papillote
Papillote is a wrapping of parchment paper
around fish or meat used for cooking. The paper is used to retain moisture.
Parisienne
Refers to potatoes molded into balls
with a melon scoop, and fried or roasted.
Pâte
A basic mixture or paste – often refers
to uncooked dough, or pastry.
Pâté
A paste made of liver, pork or game.
Paysanne
Vegetables cut into thin slices.
Pâtisserie
A sweet or pastry, it also refers to a
cake shop.
Persillade
A mixture of chopped garlic, shallots,
parsley – sometimes breadcrumbs are added too.
Piquer
To insert fat, such as bacon into meat
or poultry.
Portefeuille
A French term describing dishes in
which the food is stuffed, folded, or placed in layers. Common preparations of
this type are omelets, gratins, or stuffed chicken breast.
Poussin
A young chicken.
Quadrillage
To sear the crosshatched grill
lines onto food.
Quenelle
Quenelle is a minced fish or meat
mixture that is formed into small shapes and then poached. It also refers to
the shape that the minced mixture is made into.
Ragoût
A stew
Réchauffée
Reheated food.
Repere
Flour mixed with water or egg white and
used to seal pans when cooking food slowly. Often used when cooking a ragoût.
Revenir
To quickly fry meats or vegetables in
hot fat to warm them through.
Rocher
A rocher, or one-handed quenelle, is a
way to give a beautiful oval shape to a homogenous mass of food — like ice
cream, sorbet or even beef tartare. The shape is formed by scooping with one
spoon and smoothing it with the other (usually the spoons are warm if its a
cold mass).
Roux
Melted butter to which flour has been
added - used as a thickener for sauces or soups.
Rouille
A garlic and oil emulsion used as
flavouring.
Sauté
To cook a food quickly in a hot fat.
Sautoir
A deep frying pan with a lid – used for
recipes that require fast frying then slow cooking.
Terrine
A Pâté or similar mixture of minced
ingredients is baked or steamed in a loaf shaped container.
Timbale
A dish cooked in a mold that is higher
than it is wide and has sloping sides. You can read a recipe
for an asparagus and ham timbale.
Velouté
A type of sauce made from butter,
flour, cream and stock. Click here to read
more about sauces on
Kitchen Geekery.
Vol-au-vent
A large pastry case made of puff pastry
that is usually used as a container for creamed dishes, such as creamed
chicken.
