Some cooking definitions

One of the things I felt most challenging when I started cooking more seriously was to get familiar with the terminology one encounters in most recipes. Bast, blanch, coat, deglaze, fold, mince, chop, reduce... Give it a break so I can grab a dictionary!

So, I thought it would be of some help to list here some of the most familiar, basic culinary terms and define them. This list does not intend to be not even near complete. It contains the terms that I think are more useful but this list is for you so... make it yours! I would be pleased to receive your suggestions.

BAST - To spoon melted butter, fat, or cooking liquid over foods.

BEAT - To mix foods or liquids thoroughly and vigorously with a spoon, fork, whip, or an electrical beater.

BLANCH - To put food into boiling water and to boil it until it has softened or is partially of fully cooked. Food is also blanched to remove too strong flavors.

BLEND - To mix foods together in a less vigorous way than beating, usually with a fork, spoon, or spatula.

BOIL - Liquid is technically at the boil when it is seething, rolling, and sending up bubbles. But in practice there are slow, medium and fast boils. A slow boil, when the liquid is hardly moving, is called SIMMER. A very slow boil, where there is barely no movement at the surface of the liquid is called SHIVER and it is used to poach fish and other delicate foods.

BRAISE - To brown food in fat, then cook them in a covered casserole with a small amount of liquid. The term can also be used for the process of cooking vegetables in butter, in a covered casserole.

CHOP - Cut into small pieces.

DEGLAZE - After the meat has been roasted or sauteed, and the pan degreased, liquid is poured into the pan the coagulated meat juices are scrapped into it as it simmers.

DEGREASE - To remove accumulated fat from the surface of hot liquids.

DICE - To cut food into cubes.

FOLD - To blend a fragile mixture (such as beaten egg whites) delicately into a heavier mixture (such as souffle mixture). The term also means to mix delicately without breaking or mashing.

GRATINE - To brown the top of a sauced dish, usually under a hot broiler.

JULIENNE - To cut foods, usually vegetables, into thin stripes.

MACERATE; MARINATE - To place foods in a liquid so they will absorb flavor, give off flavor, or become more tender. Macerate is the term usually used for fruits while marinate is used for meats.

MINCE - to chop very finely. The best way is to chop first and then, with a sharp knife and holding both ends of the blade, use rapid up-and-down movements until obtaining very small, as even as possible, pieces of the ingredient being used.

NAP - To cover foods with a sauce which is thick enough to adhere but supple enough so the outlines of the food are preserved.

POACH - Submerge and cook in a liquid that is barely simmering.

PUREE - To transform solid foods into a mash. This can be made through a food mill, a electric blender, a sieve or even a fork. Textures will vary, though.

REDUCE - To boil down a liquid, reducing it in quantity, and concentrating its flavor. This is the key step for sauce making.

REFRESH - To put hot food into cold water in order to cool it rapidly and stop the cooking process.

SAUTE - To cook and brown food in a very small quantity of very hot fat, usually in an open skillet.

TOSS - To make the food flip in the pan.