Foods and Cooking Terms You Should Know Before Leaving This Earth

Just when you thought that dining out at trendy restaurants and pulling off a few dinner parties made you a culinary erudite — along comes a menu item, a cooking term, or strange-looking dish that befuddles the mind and tangles your tongue.

Though you can quickly Google a word like bain-marie, you might still need a chef to explain why you would bake something such as custard-filled ramekins in a “water bath” in the first place. And while you may possess a reasonable understanding of pad thai and demi glace, you better listen closely to a waiter’s rehearsed script if the daily pasta special comes with “quahog.” Nodding like a know-it-all while thumbing your phone will result in large hard-shell clams setting off your shellfish allergy.

Below is a list of terms in alphabetical order to help guide you through some of today’s contemporary restaurant menus and cookbooks. Seasoned diners and avid home cooks will be familiar with some or most of them. But people who rarely think about what they’re eating, yet love food, should give it a read.

A blanc (ah BLAHNK): A French term meaning “in white” to identify meats that aren’t browned during cooking. In other words, they’re blanched and pale.

Abbacchio (ah-BAHK-ee-yoh): The Italian word for a very young lamb.

Ackee (ah-KEE): A bright-red tropical fruit with a creamy white flesh used in a number of Caribbean-style restaurants to sweeten meat and poultry dishes. Certain parts of the fruit, however, are toxic when under-ripe.

Bake blind: An English term used for baking a pastry shell before it is filled. You’ll hear it used on the PBS’ fabulous Great British Baking Show and see it stated in confectionery cookbooks.

Bouquet garni (Boo-KAY Gar-NEE): A bundle of fresh or dried herbs (bay leaves, thyme, parsley, oregano) tied in cooking cloth to flavor soups and stews.

Braciole: (Bra-ZHUL): We could only wish this Italian dish showed up on more menus. It’s flank steak that gets pounded out and rolled around various combinations of hard-boiled eggs, herbs, bacon, prosciutto, spinach, pine nuts and more. The rolls are then slow-braised in tomato sauce and always steal the hearts of carnivores.

Daikon (DI-kuhn; DI-kon): A large Asian radish that is juicier and sweeter than its American counterpart.

Frizzle: To fry thinly julienne slices of vegetables in oil until crisp and slightly curly.

Ganache (gahn-AHSH): Not to be confused with mousse, this rich icing preferred by pastry chefs consists of semisweet chocolate and whipping cream. The ingredients are heated and stirred together, then cooled for adding into cakes and tortes.

Gyoza (Gee-OH-za): The Japanese equivalent of a Chinese pot sticker. Though common, those who don’t venture out much rarely know this.

Macerate (MAS-uh-rayt): To soak a food (usually fruit) in brandy, rum or liquor in order to infuse it with those boozy flavors.

Madeleine (MAD-l-ihn): A petite, airy cookie of French origin sporting scallop-shell indentations. They’re what every cup of coffee and tea deserve.

Maitre D’ (May-TRA-dee) Hotel Butter: Softened butter blended with minced parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper that’s served often in fine dining establishments with grilled meats and fish.

Mise en Place (ME-Zhan-Plahs): The organized laying out of ingredients and tools before starting to cook.

Nam prik (nahm PRIHK): A Thai term that refers to various condiments and chili sauces used with fish, rice and vegetables.

Parchment paper: Martha Stewart flaunted it years ago on her cooking shows and never told us where we could buy it. Nowadays it’s available in most grocery stores. The paper is grease and moisture-resistant, and used often for lining baking pans, making disposable pastry bags or enveloping foods for oven cooking. Once you start using these miracle sheets, it’s hard to live without them.

Quadriller (Qwad-rye-ler): To make crisscross lines on the surfaces of foods such as meats and pastries in order to make them prettier.

Quark (qwark): A rich unripened cheese with the texture and flavor of sour cream that is used as a dip or for finishing off a variety of foods and desserts.

Sablefish (SAY-bl-fihsh): The fancier term for “black cod,” it’s a flaky white fish found in deep waters in the Pacific Northwest, and available often in expensive seafood restaurants.

Tapenade (TA-puh-nahd): In its traditional French form, tapenade is a thick paste made from capers, anchovies, ripe olives, olive oil, lemon juice, seasonings and sometimes small pieces of tuna. It’s commonly spread over fresh baguette or crackers.

Timbale (TIHM-buhl): Usually a cupcake-shaped mold of meat, fish, rice vegetables or custard.

Tournedos (Tor-NA-doe): No, not “tornados,” but rather small, thick slices of filet hailing from top-quality cuts of beef and pork. They’re served often with some type of cream-laden sauce.

Veloute (Va-LOOT): A semi-creamy French “mother” sauce made of flour, butter, and chicken or veal stock instead of milk. In French restaurants, you’ll commonly see it paired to chicken.