Culinary Terms

Bain Marie :
Place a container into a bigger one filled with boiling water. Bain Maries are used to keep foods or sauces warm, to melt chocolate.....
To bake :
To cook food in the oven.
To bard :
To wrap a piece of meat, poultry or game with a thin slice of fat to prevent drying during the cooking process.
To baste :
To pour juice or fat over food while cooking to prevent drying.
Battered fish :
Action to flour a fish first then dipped in beaten eggs, breaded and sauté or fried.
To become rubbery :
when a dough or mashed potatoes become rubbery
Beurre noisette :
Heat butter in a saucepan. A delicious scent of toasted hazelnuts is apparent after butter is melted and just before it turns a golden brown.
Bilberryies :
Small red berries same family as bluberries but more sour. Prepared in compote, jam or jelly, they especially complement game dishes.
To bind :
To thicken a sauce with egg yolks, cornflour and , etc...
"blanc" :
Mixture of flour and cold water added to boiling water with lemon juice and used for cooking certain vegetables and white meat offals (artichoke, calf's foot or head) then covered by a layer of oil and a piece of greaseproof paper.
To blanch almonds :
When you remove the brown skin of almonds.
To blanch vegetables :
Put the vegetables in a pan with cold salted water and heat it until water boils. Remove after a short moment.
To bleed :
To kill an animal by bleeding it.
To block :
when chocolate in pastry becomes firm.
To bone :
To remove the bones.
Bouquet garni :
Parsley, thyme, bay leaves, celery and leek leaf tied together into a bunch. Used to flavour stocks, sauces, etc...
A bowl of ice water :
Container with cold water and ice cubes that allows to quickly cool down food by simply plungeing it.
To braise :
To cook slowly with a small amount of water in a cooking pot in the oven.
To braise :
Put rising doughs in the oven for fermentation.
To braise :
To braise foods.
To braise :
A preparation cooked in the oven in order to make it dry or to protect it from humidity.
Breadcrumbs :
Sifted breadcrumbs.
Breadcrumbs :
Ground and sifted dried bread.
Broth :
Stock : fish broth.
To brown (meat) :
To sauté food in a small amount of fat.
To brown (meat and vegetables) :
To sauté food in a small amount of fat so that it turns a golden brown.
To brown meat :
To colour the surface of a piece of meat by basting it with its cooking juice in a hot oven.
To brown potatoes :
To cook potatoes in a small amount of fat after having them.
To brown sabayons :
To colour the surface of a sauce or a cream below the heat of a salamander (eg : fruit gratin).
To brown vegetables :
Cook food (flour, onions) until it turns a golden brown.
Brunoise :
Diced vegetables used to garnish soups or sauces.
To brush :
To brush off the surplus of flour or sugar on a rolled flat pastry.
En buisson :
Way to arrange shellfish (crawfish, prawns,...) in a pyramid.
To burn :
When you burn the upper side of a grilled meat or a cake, it will taste burnt.