Culinary glossary: 40 kitchen terms explained

Alaska pollock

Theragra chalcogramma: a lean, mild white fish and the raw material of most surimi. Not the same species as Atlantic pollock.

Bain-marieguide

Indirect, gentle heat: a container set over simmering water so the contents never touch the flame. Standard for melting chocolate, custards and hollandaise.

Blanchguide

Brief immersion in boiling water, usually stopped in ice water: to peel tomatoes, set a green colour, or parcook before finishing.

Braiseguide

Sear first, then cook low and covered with a little liquid: the method that turns tough cuts tender. The opposite of a quick grill.

Brunoiseguide

The finest classical cut: dice of 1–2 mm, used where the vegetable should melt into the dish rather than be seen.

Confit

Slow cooking submerged in fat at low temperature: duck confit is the classic. Tender and juicy inside, never browned by the fat itself.

Cookbook

The written form of the craft: a recipe collection, a culinary manual, or a technique reference. The word itself has a history — see how the genre is named.

Deglazeguide

Adding wine, stock or vinegar to a hot pan to lift the browned fond stuck to the base. That fond is the flavour of the sauce.

Emulsifyguide

To bind fat and water into a stable mixture: mayonnaise, vinaigrette, hollandaise, pan sauces. Without an emulsifier they separate.

Escabeche

A vinegar-and-oil preservation method from Spain and Latin America: the acid lightly cooks and then keeps the fish, meat or vegetable.

FEFO

First Expired, First Out: in the walk-in, the stock that expires soonest leaves first. Sits alongside FIFO, which rotates by arrival instead.

Fermentationguide

Transformation of food by microorganisms: bread, kimchi, miso, kombucha, cheese, charcuterie. Controlled spoilage, in the best sense.

Flambé

Igniting a high-strength spirit over the pan so the alcohol burns off and the flavour concentrates. Showmanship is optional; the reduction is not.

Food cost

The share of a dish’s selling price taken up by its raw ingredients. The number that decides whether a menu makes money.

Food pairing

The study of which ingredients share aromatic compounds, and therefore combine well — a scientific answer to a question cooks once answered by habit.

Gastronomyguide

The art and science of preparing and serving food, from the everyday table to the tasting menu. Broader than cooking: it includes culture and history.

Gratinate

Browning a surface with top heat: a crust on a gratin, melted cheese, a browned béchamel. Colour is the point, and flavour follows it.

HACCP

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points: the food-safety system that is mandatory in professional kitchens. In Spanish it is known as APPCC.

Julienneguide

Fine matchsticks, around 2 mm thick: the cut behind a slaw, a stir-fry or a garnish that cooks in seconds.

Low-temperature cookingguide

Cooking at 130–150 °F (55–65 °C) for hours rather than minutes: meat stays juicy because it never overshoots its target temperature.

Marinate

Resting food in an acidic, oily, aromatic liquid before cooking. It seasons and tenderises the surface; it does not penetrate deep into a roast.

Mirepoixguide

The French aromatic base, cut into even dice: onion, carrot and celery. The starting point of a great many stocks, braises and sauces.

Mise en placeguide

“Everything in its place”: weighing, cutting and arranging every component before the heat goes on. It is what separates cooking from improvising.

Molecular gastronomy

Applying physics and chemistry to the plate: gels, foams, spherification. A technique set, not a cuisine — and much older than the name suggests.

Nouvelle cuisine

The movement that reshaped French haute cuisine in the 1970s: lighter sauces, shorter cooking, plated portions, and the chef as author.

Pasteurisation

A gentle heat treatment — typically 161 °F (72 °C) for 15 seconds — that kills pathogens while preserving flavour. The reason milk keeps and custard is safe.

Poach

Gentle cooking in liquid just below a simmer, without browning: a poached egg, a soft onion, a delicate fish.

Production kitchen

The workshop behind a bakery, pastry shop or chocolate maker: it produces, it does not serve. In Spanish it is the obrador.

Recipe costing

Working out what a recipe actually costs: grams × price, with waste and trim included. The starting point of every menu price.

Reduce

Simmering a liquid so water evaporates and flavour concentrates. The technique behind almost every pan sauce.

Rest (meat)

Letting cooked meat stand before carving so the juices redistribute instead of running onto the board. Roughly five minutes for a steak, twenty for a roast.

Rouxguide

Flour and fat cooked together in roughly equal parts — white, blond or brown — used to thicken sauces without lumps. The base of béchamel and velouté.

Sautéguide

Fast cooking over high heat with little fat, moving the food so it browns on all sides without steaming.

Searguide

Browning a surface fast, over high heat, in a dry or lightly oiled pan. It builds flavour through the Maillard reaction — and it needs a thick-based pan.

Sofrito

The Spanish base: onion, garlic and tomato slowly stewed in olive oil until sweet. The foundation of a great many Spanish dishes.

Sourdough

Bread raised with a live culture of flour and water instead of commercial yeast. Slower, more acidic, and it keeps far longer.

Sous-videguide

Cooking vacuum-sealed food at a constant, precisely controlled temperature in a water bath. Repeatable in a way no pan is.

Station (partie)

An organised work position in a professional kitchen — garde manger, grill, sauces, pastry — each with its own tools and its own rhythm.

Stockguide

The flavoured liquid from simmering bones, vegetables and aromatics. Not the same as broth: stock is built for body, broth for drinking.

Umamiguide

The fifth taste: the savoury note of glutamate, found in tomatoes, mushrooms, parmesan, soy and cured meat.