Glossary of Cooking Terms

White translucent, slightly curved, thin tubes that are approximately 1 inch long.

A liquid that is made from the cooking and blending of white or brown rice and water.

A Chinese noodle, made from rice flour and water that have a mild subtle flavor and a chewy texture.

Asian in origin, this herb is a member of the snap-dragon family of plants and is an aquatic plant grown in the flooded rice fields of Asia.

A very thin edible paper made from rice flour and water, which are semi-transparent and very brittle.

A Japanese kitchen utensil that is usually made of wood and used to mix seasonings with warm sushi rice.

A thin noodle made from rice flour and water, which is available in various widths.

A grain syrup and sweetener made from whole grain rice that has been cultured and fermented with enzymes to break down the natural starches into complex carbohydrates, maltose and glucose.

Very long, thin, strands of noodles made from rice flour and water. They are generally sold in a bundle and are used in soups, spring rolls, cold salads, stir-fries or are deep-fat fried until crispy and then crumbled over Chinese chicken salad.

A sweet wine, low in alcohol, made from fermented glutinous rice. Rice wine is an important ingredient in Asian cooking, used in glazes, marinades and sauces.

A light flavored vinegar made from rice wine which has been created by adding a bacteria culture to the wine, thus beginning a fermentation process that produces the vinegar.

A kitchen utensil used to reduce whole soft foods, such as cooked potatoes and carrots into smaller bits.

Descriptor of a full, rounded, sumptuous wine.

Yeast dough that contains butter or some kind of fat or egg yolks. Rich dough produces bread that is soft with a tender cake-like texture.

An unripened Italian cheese, made from cow's, ewe's, or goat's milk whey that remains after the curds are removed.

A semi-soft cheese of Norwegian origin that is made from cow's milk. Often duplicated, it is a cheese that is made commonly in Norway as well as other countries throughout the world.

A Norwegian cheese produced from pasteurized cow's milk. This cheese is made with a outer coating of annato, a rust colored paste commonly used to coat foods, providing a distinctive color to the food.

Pronounced rees-ling or reez-ling. A grape varietal used in the production of white wine and is used as a blending agent in the production of Ice Wine in Canada.

A slightly curved tubular pasta that is larger than penne rigate but smaller than rigatoni.

A large, slightly curved tube pasta that is approximately 1 ½ inches in length. It has a ridged outer surface and straight cut ends.

The stiffening of the muscles in an animal shortly after it has been slaughtered.

A highly spiced, spreadable meat paste traditionally made of pork, goose or duck, but also fish and rabbit.

A French food consisting of small to medium sized cubes of high quality pork (typically from a pork belly) that have been slowly cooked in a covered pot to become candied.

Describes the outer edge of the wine surface when viewing through a goblet style wine glass at a 30 to 40 degree angle, against a white background (cloth or paper), using natural light.

The thick outer skin or covering that found on fruits, vegetables, meat, cheese, and other types of food.

Ring bologna, which is usually made from a mixture of beef and pork or all pork, is available fresh or fully cooked and coarsely ground or finely ground.

A sausage, also called ring bologna, which is made from a combination of beef and pork, and contains no fillers or extenders.

Descriptor of a balanced wine with the highest degree of varietal characteristics present.

For olives that are to be served as table olives, generally the olive is chartreuse colored when it is ripe and harvested.

Small rice or grain shaped pasta. Risi is slightly smaller than orzo. It is also referred to as risoni or pasta a riso.

The process in which dough expands as a result of the carbon dioxide that is produced by the yeast or other leavening agent in the dough.

The Italian word for rice, which may include any of the various varieties grown mainly in the Po Valley in Piedmont, Italy.

A creamy Italian rice dish made with starchy, short-grained Italian rice varieties.

A food item that has several versions from several different countries. To some, a Rissole consists of small round patties or balls of finely minced meat, fish, shellfish, or potatoes which are often combined or coated with breadcrumbs to be partially cooked prior to being fried in butter so they become golden brown and crisp textured.

1. A method of cooking food, such as meat, poultry, and fish, in an open pan and using dry heat (usually in an oven) to cook the food.

A paste made from crushed roasted chiles, which is used as a seasoning in many Thai sauces, soups, stir-fried foods, rice dishes, and a various array of Asian recipes.

Red ripened bell peppers that have been roasted in some manner. There are several ways in which the red peppers can be roasted.

A corn product made by oven roasting and freeze-drying kernels of sweet corn so that they become dry and crispy.

A sweet pepper that has been heated, sautéed in a pan or commercially roasted, for use as an ingredient for a food dish.

Domestic poultry that is allowed to reach an age and weight that allows it to be oven or grill roasted, resulting in tender, juicy meat.

A tabletop electrical cooking device that roasts food by distributing heat throughout the roasting chamber rather than heating with the use of gas or exposed coils similar to a conventional oven.

A pan used for roasting foods in a conventional gas or electric oven. A roasting pan should be large enough to place a metal roasting rack in the bottom, heavy enough to be used on the stovetop burner for making gravy and sauces from the drippings, and well made of thick metal with sturdy handles for maintaining a good grip on the pan to easily control it when filled with the foods being cooked.

A formed metal rack that is placed in the bottom of a roasting pan in order to keep foods raised above the bottom of the pan.

A traditional Italian farmhouse cheese made from primarily from cow's milk that is blended with a smaller amount of either sheep or goat's milk.

Descriptor of a full bodied, potent, intense wine.

A lean saltwater fish that has a white flaky flesh and a mild taste. It is available in fresh or frozen fillets.

Coarse salt crystals, which are not refined as much as other salts, thus resulting in a grayish tinted salt containing more non-harmful minerals and impurities than other salts.

A hardened form of cane sugar that is formed into large crystals to be served as a sweetener.

Green salad leaves that cannot be classified as a true herb or vegetable, which are native to the Mediterranean and eastern Asia.

A lean saltwater fish with flesh that is tender, white and mildly sweet flavored.