COOKING TERMS

Ever wonder what some of those cooking terms really mean? 

Baste:  Moistening of food to prevent drying out while cooking.

Blanch:  Briefly cooking in boiling water to seal flavors and color.  Mostly used for vegetables or fruit for freezing or to remove the skin.

Braise:  Browning first, then simmering gently in a small amount of liquid over low heat with a covered pan until tender.

Brown:  Cook over high heat, on stove, to brown food.

Carmelize:  Sugar is heated until liquified and becomes a syrup. 

Deglaze:  Add liquid to loosen browned bits from a pan, then heat while stirring and scraping the pan.

Dredge:  Coat food, usually with a flour mixture.

Flute:  Decorative grooves made to pastry, usually made with fingers.

Julienne:  Cut into long, thin strips.

Parboil:  To partially cook by boiling.  To prepare food for another method of cooking.

Poach: Cook gently over very low heat in just simmering liquid just to cover.

Render:  Cooking of fatty meat or poultry, such as bacon or duck, over low heat to obtain drippings.

Steep:  Soak in liquid just under the boiling point to extract the essence, e.g. tea

Zest:  The outer, colored part of the peel of citrus.