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Nowadays microwave meals, which require no more preparation than poking ventilation holes in the cellophane wrapper, are the mainstay of the American diet. But there are times when overcooked macaroni and tasteless cheese sauce served out its plastic tub do not make for a memorable meal. Family feasts or intimate dinners require that you relocate the stove and discover those grocery aisles full of fresh produce. It also means deciphering a new recipe that is chock full of unfamiliar words, half of which are French. Although such culinary terms as coagulation and emulsion can truly be reserved for professional chefs or passionate aficionados, other terms from sautéing to julienne constitute the basic of everyday cooking. Here are some top cooking terms you are certain to stumble over as you grill that lemon chicken or whip the eggs for that chocolate soufflé.
Let’s start with your main dish that will probably consist of beef, pork, lamb, poultry or fish – or ‘meat’ for easy reference. In order for your meal to be edible, you will have to cook your main dish in some fashion, the most popular cooking methods being frying, broiling, roasting and searing. Simply put, frying is cooking meat in hot fat or oil. Sautéing, stir-frying, pan-frying and deep-frying are all variations on this basic frying theme. Sautéing uses a very small amount of fat in an open pan over high heat. To aid this quick cooking method, the meat is cut into small pieces and flipped frequently to prevent burning. Stir-frying differs from sautéing only in the equipment used. Most frequently associated with Asian cooking, stir-fry woks have rounded bottoms and curved sides to more evenly distribute heat and aid in tossing the meat. Pan-frying is similar to sautéing in that meat is cooked in fat over high heat, but all pan-fried meat is first breaded to lock in its moisture and prevent the fat from penetrating the meat. Deep-frying uses the most fat of all the frying methods. Meat is usually breaded or coated in a batter before being entirely submerged in extremely hot fat.
While Southerners will swear that frying is the only suitable method for cooking meat, if your recipe hails from a chic California spa, expect to use a no-fat method of cooking like broiling or grilling. According to chefs Sarah R. Labensky and Alan M. Hause in their cooking resource guide titled On Cooking, broiling cooks food through the use of overhead heat. Most household ovens come equipped with working broilers that reach temperatures as high as 2000F. Whereas frying requires small pieces of meat to facilitate its quick cooking method, broiling is adept at cooking larger cuts. Grilling is similar to broiling except that the heat source comes from below rather than from overhead. The heat source can be electric, but woods such as hickory and mesquite are popular for creating distinct flavors. Grilling is ideal for large quantities of meat, and produces the distinct crosshatch patterns of the hot grill irons across the meat’s surface.
Particularly large pieces of meat, such as whole game birds, are usually cooked by roasting. Roasting and baking are used to describe cooking in a closed, heated environment. The meat sits in a pan and is usually covered with a tent of tin foil that allows heat to penetrate, but prevents all the meat's moisture from escaping. The term 'roasting' is applied to poultry, pork and beef while 'baking' is reserved for fish, but the processes are one in the same. Roasting and baking require more cooking time than frying, broiling or grilling.
Searing is a preparation step to frying, broiling, grilling, roasting or baking. Meat is quickly cooked over extremely hot heat only long enough to brown the outside layer. Raw meat is full of natural sugars and juices, and meat that has been seared will retain more of its natural moisture and flavor as it completes the cooking cycle through other methods. Some fish, such as tuna steaks, are seared directly before eating.
Once your meat selection has been fried, grilled or baked to your desires, it is time to tackle the vegetables. Many recipes from simple salads to baked beans will require the vegetables to be diced, chopped or even julienned. Dicing means to cut the vegetables into cubes ranging from a 1/4 of an inch to 5/8 of an inch. Chopping is less precise than dicing and refers to cutting of vegetables into small pieces where uniformity of shape and size are of no importance. On the contrary, the term julienne is quite precise. To julienne vegetables is to cut them into small sticks approximately 1/8 inch by 1/8 inch by 1-2 inches. Almost all vegetables can be cooked using the methods described above for meats. However, blanching and steaming are two methods frequently reserved for vegetables. Blanching is submerging vegetables in boiling water for a short period of time, usually no more than a few seconds. Labensky and Hause's On Cooking guide identifies blanching as useful for removing bitter flavors, softening firm foods, setting colors or loosening skins. Some vegetables, such as snow peas and tomatoes, are blanched for consumption, and not necessarily in preparation for further cooking. Par boiling is blanching but over a longer period of time. Par boiling is used for the same reasons as blanching but is more useful for heartier vegetables like cauliflower and winter squashes. Steaming vegetables is another method of cooking vegetables. The vegetables are suspended above boiling water rather than submerged in it. Steaming takes the raw edge off of vegetables but still retains their color, flavor and freshness.
Now that you’ve grilled, baked or fried, blanched, steamed and julienned, you can turn your attention to the dessert. Common dessert terms include stirring, blending, folding, beating and whipping. Stirring is mixing two or more dry ingredients together until smooth. Blending is the same as stirring except that one or more of the ingredients is a liquid. In proper use of the terms, you would stir the flour and the sugar together and then blend the mixture with milk. Variations of blending include folding, beating, and whipping. Folding is the gentlest form of blending and involves turning ingredients lightly with a spatula. Beating is a more vigorous blend and uses a wooden spoon or paddle. Whipping is the most severe form of blending. All three serve to preserve or create air and develop gluten, which makes for light, spongy breads and cakes. In folding, for example, a cook will usually use a spatula to mix whipped eggs into pastry flour. The whipped eggs hold pockets of air and if they were harshly blended into the flour, the air pockets would burst. However, if the recipe calls for you to beat raw eggs and sugar together, the vigorous beating action – whether by hand or electric – will agitate the food to provide the proper froth. Whipping requires the use of a whisk whose light, slatted shape adds even more air and lift to a batter.
Other common dessert terms include creaming, sifting and cutting. Only fat and sugar vigorously blended together can be considered creamed. Sifting is the passage of dry ingredients through a strain to aerate the mixture. And finally, cutting is the incorporation of solid fat into dry ingredients. This is done with a specially made pastry cutter or with your fingers. The final result is large lumps of fat crumbled with flour.
For many cooks today, planning a meal is as simple as shopping the frozen food aisle at the grocery store. But despite our quick and easy lifestyle, there are still occasions where a home made meal is necessary. Deciphering the new terms of the French accented chef on your local cooking show can make even the bravest part-time cook want to order in. But even though the words sauté and julienne appear daunting, they are actually simple terms crucial to understanding basic cooking. And once you’ve mastered the difference between beating and folding, you’ll be ready to conquer the next level of culinary terms like decoction and dredging!
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