Glossary of Cooking Terms

A type of ravioli pasta that is prepared as a fried pasta instead of the more common boiled pasta.

Traditional cracker bread common in India that is most often served as a complement to a main dish, but also used as a snack or appetizer to be topped with chutney, various dips or salsas.

An orange-fleshed tropical fruit that is pear-shaped with a thin skin that is greenish to yellowish in color, depending on its ripeness.

Made from various paper-based materials, paper plates are manufactured to be used for casual dinners, picnics, and any events where the plate is to be discarded.

A common utensil that has been used since early times as a cleaning, prepartion and utility tool for many ocassions associated with food.

A wide flat ribbon pasta that is approximately 5/8 to 1 inch in width. It is available with straight edges or rippled edges.

A reddish brown spice ground from dried peppers to be made into a sweet, mild or hot tasting seasoning.

A waxy, white or colorless and tasteless substance that is used when making jelly to seal its surface.

A process used to leach excess salt, excess blood or strong flavors from a variety of meats.

A process of cooking food in boiling water for only a short amount of time to retain the color, to help preserve nutrients and to firm foods, such as vegetables.

A type of rice that has been altered through various processing methods to improve it for cooking and eating.

Parchment cones are used for decorating with small amounts of frosting. They are used to apply lettering, small designs, and for touching up areas.

A silicon-based paper, commonly referred to as silicon paper, that is used as a lining between metal surfaces and prepared foods so that the foods do not stick to baking sheets, pie tins, muffin tins, baking dishes, and other surfaces after baking.

To peel or trim off the outer skin of a fruit or vegetable.

A Jewish term used in reference to food that is made without animal or dairy products.

In France, this is a frozen dessert that consists of egg, whipped cream, sugar and flavoring.

Traditionally, this utensil is a small knife with a straight, sharp blade that is generally three to five inches long and rounded on the cutting side.

Often referred to as allemande sauce, this sauce is made by combining cream cheese, oil, lemon juice and chervil.

A type of roll made with a yeasted dough of bread flour or all-purpose flour, enriched with eggs, butter, and milk.

A ham from Parma, Italy that is dry-cured, aged for over a year and well known as a high quality distinctively flavored ham.

A semi-hard to hard well-known Italian cheese made from partially skimmed cow's milk processed during the spring, summer or fall.

A specially designed tool for removing strips of Parmesan cheese easily and quickly as it is grated over salads and pasta.

An Italian term meaning "with Parmesan cheese".

A variety of Parmesan cheese, considered to be the best of the Parmesan cheeses, that is aged for at least 24 months.

A Dutch cheese made from cow's milk. The rind is a golden tan that covers a cream-colored cheese with a semi-hard texture.

A green, curly or flat leafed herb with a clean fresh flavor, which is used as a seasoning in cooking and as a garnish.

A root vegetable, native to the Mediterranean that closely resembles a parsnip, but has a pale white color rather than creamy yellow.

A creamy yellow, long root vegetable that resembles a carrot. The Parsnip has a rich sweet nut-like flavor and can be boiled, fried, glazed, creamed, and used as an ingredient for soups and stews.

A ham from the leg primal cut that has only the leg bone remaining. The hip or shank bone has been removed, making it easier to carve.

A ham that has been heated during some part of the processing to an internal temperature exceeding 137°F but less than 148° F.

A small stocky game bird, similar to a quail or grouse that originated from the pheasant family.

A dark green, tapering and narrow pepper that is five to seven inches long. When fully mature it turns a dark brown.

Pashka,

Crushed tomato blends that are used often as ingredients for Italian cooking. Passata is made from straining crushed ripe tomatoes with either a fine or coarse strainer to create a smooth or somewhat chunky blend, depending on the strainer texture.

A soft cheese made from cow's milk that is produced in the Flanders region of Belgium.

Descriptor of wine produced with grapes that are semi-dry.

An oval-shaped, purplish-brown fruit that grows on a woddy vine, which climbs and clings to other forest plants in order to grow upward.

An Italian term used to describe a method of making sweet wines. The term is also used to describe the actual wine that is made using the Passito Method.

A popular and common food made from a paste-type dough consisting of durum wheat flour, salt, and a liquid that may be in the form of water, milk or eggs.

Tube pasta that is created by wrapping a strip of pasta dough around a thin stick.

A kitchen utensil that may have cutting wheels or cutting circles used to cut pasta dough into strips, circles, squares, or other pasta shapes.

A wooden or stainless steel set of removable or rotating rods laying horizontally, evenly spaced and parallel to each other that are connected to a stand which keeps the rods a foot or more above the base of the rack stand.

A utensil used when preparing and serving various types of strand, ribbon or noodle pasta.

A kitchen utensil, also referred to as a Pasta Rolling Machine, that is used to roll pasta dough into thin sheets of pasta.

A large round cooking pot that is used boil pasta noodles. This kitchen utensil is typically made of stainless steel in a variety of sizes from 8 quart to 12 quart for general home use and larger sizes for commercial use.

Any of a variety of savory toppings and mixtures of ingredients that enhance the flavor of the pasta dish being served.

A kitchen tool designed to accurately gauge the amount of uncooked pasta that will be needed for serving from 1 to 4 portions of pasta.

A combination of a ground, mashed, or pureed ingredient and some type of liquid....

The process of heating foods, such as milk, cheese, yogurt, beer, fruit ciders, wine, and other foods to a temperature high enough and for a sufficient period of time to destroy harmful micro-organisms.

Eggs that are pasteurized to destroy any bacteria that may be present. The pasteurization process heats the eggs for a period of time to destroy the bacteria, but the process does not cook the eggs.