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 bard :
To wrap a piece of meat, poultry or game with a thin slice of fat to prevent drying during the cooking process.
To moisten :
Add liquid (stock, wine, water) to a preparation so that it does not dry up when cooking.
Battered fish :
Action to flour a fish first then dipped in beaten eggs, breaded and sauté or fried.
To whisk :
To beat a mixture vigorously with a whisk.
Clarified butter :
Butter melted to separate milk solids.
"Maître d'Hôtel" Butter :
Butter with chopped parsley, lemon juice, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.
Kneaded butter :
Soft butter rubbed with flour in even quantities. Used for liaisons
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.
Soft butter :
Press and squeeze butter until it becomes the texture of a cream.
To bind :
To thicken a sauce with egg yolks, cornflour and white roux, 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 cream eggs and sugar :
Whisk eggs or egg yolks with sugar until the mixture becomes white and smooth.
To whiten :
Stir smooth butter and sugar with a wooden spatula until the mixture whitens.
To bleed :
To kill an animal by bleeding it.
To brown vegetables :
Cook food (flour, onions) until it turns a golden brown.
To block :
when chocolate coating 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...
To braise :
To cook slowly with a small amount of water in a cooking pot in the oven.
To truss :
Tie poultry giblets together with a needle and a string so as to even the cooking and give the bird a suitable appearance.
To brush :
To brush off the surplus of flour or sugar on a rolled flat pastry.
Broth :
Stock : fish broth.
Gratiner :
To sprinkle a preparation with gryuere or parmesan cheese, or with breadcrumbs and to cook it beneath the heat of the salamander or the grill so that it turns golden and shiny.
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 potatoes :
To cook potatoes in a small amount of fat after having blanched them.
Brunoise :
Diced vegetables used to garnish soups or sauces.
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.