culinary dictionary

acidic 1. A sharp, sour or tart flavour. 2. A wine tasting term for a sharp, sour flavour caused by an abnormally high acid content.

body 1. a tasting term used to describe the feel or weight of food on the palate or the food to the touch; it can be described as firm, spongy, supple grainy etc.

2. A tasting term used to describe the feel or weight of a beverage on the palate; it can range from a full body to a light body (watery).

3. The consistency of something, specifically food.

4. The physical structure of an animal. 5. The torso or trunk of an animal.

clairet 1. An old French term for a rather light red wine of Bordeaux. 2. A light red wine made in France’s Bordeaux region; the wine; has little tannin and a deep rose colour, resembles a full bodied rosé and is usually served chilled.

deglaze To stir a liquid (usually stock or alcohol) in a pan to dissolve the cooked particles remaining after browning; this remaining liquid becomes a base for a resulting sauce.

dice To cut into small cubes, 1/8 – 1/4 inch.

émincé (eh-mince-say) French for chopped into small pieces; minced

fiasco A hand blown, round bottomed bottle, wrapped in wicker generally associated with Chianti. Not generally used today because of their expense.

ganache A rich blend of heavy chocolate and cream used as pastry or candy filling, as well as a coating.

ghee (gee) a form of clarified brown butter originating in India used for long shelf life, high smoke point and nutty flavour.

hard A wine tasting term for a tannic, astringent red wine.

irradiation A preservation technique used on certain, fruits, grains, vegetables and plant products using a blast of ionizing radiation to steralize the food, retard the ripening process and prevent inadvertant sprouting or germanation; this technique has little to no effect on texture, flavour or appearance.

jagging wheel A wheel-type pastry cutter with a fluted cutting edge; also known as a pie jagger.

kecap manais (ketchup manees) A sweet dark soy sauce used in Malaysian cuisine as a seasoning or a condiment.

liaison [ lee-AY-zon] thickening agent usually in French cooking – eggs and cream. It can also be used as any type of thickener including, Beurre Manier (equal parts flour and whole butter by weight) or a slurry (a starch and water solution, generally cornstarch and water).

limoncello An italian liqueur made from steeping lemon peels in alcohol and adding a sugar syrup.

monté au beurre “to mount with butter” adding whole butter at the end of the sauce making process, specifically when making pan sauces, enriches and creates shine, flavour and richness in the sauce.

muddler A rod or stick with a flattened end used for mashing ingredients for a cocktail.

nerveux French wine tasting term for a lively, and well balanced wine with a defined character; a fine, vigorous wine.

orzo Italian for barley; used to describe rice shaped pasta.

pincer (pin-sehr) carmelizing meats and vegetables before braising.

tight a term for young wines.

tournant (tour-na-nt) also known as swing cook or relief cook; the chef or head of department who can be used on any station and at any time. They are the all-rounders of their craft.

sous-chef French for underchef.  Second in command in a brigade system.  Sous (soos) are responsible for the scheduling, acting as aboyeur and responsible for replacing the chef or station chefs as needed.

Spaetzle (SHPEHT-slee) irrigularly shaped Austrian/German noodles made from a dough of flour, eggs and water and poached in water.