This document provides definitions for over 80 basic food preparation terms used in cooking, such as al dente, bake, baste, beat, blend, bone, braise, bread, brown, broil, brush, candy, caramelize, chill, chop, clarify, cube, cut-in, cure, dash, deep-fry, deglaze, dice, dissolve, dollop, dot, drain, dredge, dress, dust, flake, flour, fold, fricassee, fry, garnish, glaze, grate, grease, grill, hull, julienne, knead, marinate, mince

1. BASIC TERMINOLOGIES
USED IN FOOD PREPARATION
(UNIT IV)
(Paper – 101 Food and Nutrition)
A PRESENTATION BY:
DR. KUMKUM PANDEY
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF HOME SCIENCE
DDM PG COLLEGE, FIROZABAD, U.P.
Mail id: kumkum.pandey.unique@gmail.com

2. Al dente: Italian term used to cook food until just firm, usually to pasta, but can include
vegetables.
Bake: To cook food in an oven using dry heat.
Barbecue: To cook on a rack or spit over hot coals or some other source of direct heat like open
charcoal or wood fire.
Baste: To spoon pan juices, melted fat, or another liquid over the surface of food during cooking to
keep the food moist and add flavour.
Batter: A mixture containing flour and liquid, thin enough to pour.
Beat: To mix ingredients together with a rapidly circular up and down motion using a spoon,
whisk, or beater to incorporating air.

3. Bind: To thicken or smooth out the consistency of a locked.
Blanch: To immerse in rapidly boiling water upto 1 minute and allow to cook slightly eg. chips.
Blend: To incorporate two or more ingredients thoroughly.
Boil: To cook in liquid at 100 degrees C or until bubbles break continually on the surface.
Bone: To remove bones from fowl or meat.
Braise: Simmer in a small amount of liquid over low heat for a long period of time in a covered pan
until tender.
Bread: To coat with dry bread or cracker crumbs.
Brown: To cook over high heat (usually on the stove-top) to brown food.
Broil: To expose food to direct heat on a rack or spit, often used for melting food like cheese.
Brush: To apply sauce, melted fat, or other liquid with a basing or pastry brush.

4. Candy: To cook in a sugar syrup until coated or crystallized.
Caramelize: To heat sugar until a brown colour and characteristic flavour develop.
Chill: To make a food cold by placing it in a refrigerator or in a bowl over crushed ice.
Chop: To cut into small pieces.
Clarify: To make a liquid clear by removing solid particles.
Chop: To cut vegetables into large squares, usually specified by the recipe.
Clarify: To separate and remove solids from a liquid, thus making it clear.
Coat: To thoroughly cover a food with a liquid or dry mixture.
Combine: To mix or blend two or more ingredients together.
Cool: To let a food stand until it no longer feels warm to the touch.

5. Core: To remove the center part of a fruit such as a apple or pineapple.
Cream: To beat ingredients (usually sugar and a fat) until smooth and fluffy.
Crush: To pulverize.
Cube: To cut into small squares of equal size usually about 1/2 inch.
Cut-in: To combine solid fats, often with flour using a pastry blender, two forks, or the fingers.
Cure: To preserve meats by drying and salting and/or smoking.
Dash: 1/8 teaspoon.
Deep-fry: To cook in a large amount of hot fat.
Deglaze: To dissolve the thin glaze of juices and brown bits on the surface of a pan in which food
has been fried, sautéed or roasted.

6. Degrease: To remove fat from the surface of stews, soups, or stock. Usually cooled in the
refrigerator so that fat hardens and is easily removed.
Dice: To cut into very small size cubes of even size, usually 1/4 to 1/8 chunks.
Dissolve: To cause a solid food to turn into or become part of a liquid.
Dollop: A spoonful of a semi-solid food, like masted potatoes, placed on top of another food.
Dot: To place a small pieces of butter or another food over the surface of a food.
Drain: To remove liquid from a product.
Dredge: To coat a food by sprinkling it with or dipping it in a dry ingredient such as flour.
Dress: To coat foods with a sauce, such as salad or to prepare a food for cooking.

7. Dust: To lightly sprinkle the surface of a food with sugar, flour, or crumbs.
Drizzle: To pour liquid back and forth over a dish in a fine stream.
Flake: To break lightly into small pieces.
Flour: To sprinkle or coat with flour.
Fold: To incorporate a delicate mixture into a thicker, heavier mixture with a whisk or rubber
spatula using a down, up, and over motion so the finished product remains light.
Fricassee: To cook pieces of meat or poultry in butter and then in seasoned liquid until tender.
Fillet: To cut the bones from a piece of meat, poultry, or fish.

8. Flambé: To drizzle a flammable spirit over a food while its cooking, to ignite the just before
serving.
Fold: To combine light ingredients, such as whipped cream or beaten eggs whites, with a heavier
mixture, using a over-and-under motion.
Fricassee: To cook by braising; usually applied to fowl or rabbit.
Fry: To cook in a small amount of hot fat.
Garnish: To decorate a dish both to enhance its appearance and to provide a flavorful foil.
Glaze: To apply a liquid that forms a glossy coating such as jellies or sauces.
Grate: To reduce a food into small bits by rubbing it on the sharp teeth of a utensil

9. Grease: To rub fat on the surface of a cooking utensil or on a food itself.
Grill: To broil over hot coals or to fry on a griddle.
Grind: To mechanically break down a food into a finer texture.
Hull: To remove the outer covering of a fruit or vegetable.
Julienne: Cutting vegetables until long, thin stripes, approximately 1/4 inch thick and 1 inch long.
Knead: The process of mixing dough with the hands or a mixer
Lukewarm: Neither cool nor warm; approximately body temperature.
Marinate: To soak in a sauce or flavoured liquid for a long period of time, usually a meat, poultry.
Meuniere: Dredged with flour and sauteed in butter.
Mince: To cut as small as possible, most commonly used with garlic.

10. Mix: To combine ingredients usually by stirring.
Pan-broil: To cook uncovered in a hot fry pan, pouring off fat as it accumulates.
Pan-fry: To cook in small amounts of fat.
Parboil: To partially cook by boiling, usually to prepare the food for cooking by another method.
Pare: To remove the outermost skin of a fruit or vegetable.
Peel: To remove the peels from vegetables or fruits.
Pickle: To preserve meats, vegetables, and fruits in brine.
Pinch: trifling amount you can hold between your thumb and forefinger i.e. 1/16 teaspoon.
Pit: To remove pits from fruits.
Plump: To soak dried fruits in liquid until they swell.
Poach: To cook gently over very low heat, in barely simmering water just to cover.

11. Puree: To mash foods until perfectly smooth by hand, by rubbing through a sieve or food
mill, or by whirling in a blender or food processor.
Reduce: To boil down to reduce the volume.
Refresh: To run cold water over food that has been parboiled, to stop the cooking process.
Render: To make solid fat into liquid by melting it slowly.
Roast: To cook by dry heat in an oven.
Saute: To cook and/or brown food in a small amount of hot fat.
Scald: To heat liquid almost to a boil until bubbles begin forming just around the edge or
to bring to a temperature just below the boiling point.

12. Scallop: To bake a food, usually in a casserole, with sauce or other liquid. Crumbs often
are sprinkled over.
Score: To cut narrow grooves or gashes partway through the outer surface of food.
Shred: To cut or tear in small, long, narrow pieces.
Sift: To put one or more dry ingredients through a sieve or sifter.
Simmer: Bring a pot to a boil, then reduce the heat until there are no bubbles.
Skim: To remove fat or foam from the surface a liquid.
Slice: To cut vertically down, thickness sometimes specified by the recipe.
Smidgen: 1/32 teaspoon.
Steam: To cook food on a rack or in a steamer set over boiling or simmering water.

13. Steep: To soak a dry ingredient in a liquid just under the boiling point to extract the flavour,
such as with tea.
Sterilize: To destroy micro organisms by boiling, dry heat, or steam.
Stew: To cook covered over low heat in a liquid for a substantial period of time.
Stir: To mix ingredients with a circular motion until well blended or of uniform
consistency.
Toss: To combine ingredients with a lifting motion.
Truss: To secure poultry with string or skewers, to hold its shape while cooking.
Whip: To beat food with a whisk or mixer to incorporate air and increase volume.
Zest: The outer, coloured peel of a citrus fruit.