Culinary Terms

To candy :
To preserve various fruit-based or vegetable-based mixtures (small onions, peppers, lemons, cherries) in oil, alcohol, vinegar or sugar.
Canneleur :
Tool used to cut strips of citrus zests.
To caramelize :
To apply a layer of caramel on the inner sides of a mould.
To caramelize :
To apply a layer of caramel on fresh or dried fruits.
To caramelize :
To colour an onion cut in half in a frying pan without fat, or on a hot plate.
Carcass :
Skeleton of an animal.
chaufroiter :
to coat meat or fish with a "chaud froid" sauce.
Chiffonnade :
Shredded salad.
Chinois :
Small iron conical strainer used to strain sauces. There are two sorts of strainers: the traditional one and cheesecloth.
Chocolate coating :
Coat a cake (sponge cake, biscuit joconde, biscuit de savoie) with a layer of melted chocolate with a brush in order to prevent the cake from breaking into pieces when it is soaked in syrup. Also prevents it from sticking to the service dish. Once cold the layer of chocolate wraps the cake like a shell. This device is used only on chocolat-based cakes.
To chop :
To reduce into small pieces with a knife or a food processor.
Civet :
Stew generally binded with the blood of the animal. Originally, this dish was flavored with civette (chive), hence the name.
Clarified butter :
Butter melted to separate milk solids.
To clarify :
To make a soup or a jelly clear.
Clarify :
To separate butter from its milk solids by gently melting it.
To clean :
Remove the central guts of crawfish or scampi before cooking them.
To coat :
To cover food evenly by dipping it or by it (fritter, chocolate).
To coat :
To coat food evenly with cream, sauce or jelly.
To coat rice :
When making rice pilaf you coat raw rice with oil or warm butter.
To coat :
To completely cover food with sauce or cream.
Coating :
Chocolate with a high cocoa butter content, used in pastry-making and in confectionery.
To combine :
To mix one food with another.
cooked in boiling salted water :
To cook food in salted boiling water (eg: boiled vegetables)
Cooking :
To cook. Generally used for a liquid in which food cooks.
Cordon :
Sauce poured evenly around a dish so as to form a sort of cord.
To core :
To hollow fruit (apples, pears, ...) by removing the central part.
Cornstarch :
Corn flour .
coulis :
Thick sauce made by pureeing food (raspberry sauce, tomato purée ...).
To bread :
To cover food with a breadcrumb coating or after having covered it with batter, mustard or .
To cream eggs and sugar :
Whisk eggs or egg yolks with sugar until the mixture becomes white and smooth.
To cream a preparation :
to work a mixture to give it a creamy appearance.
To crimp :
Flute the rims of tarts or pies to improve their presentations.
Cristallized :
When a sugar syrup has cristallized.
Crop :
Bag made by the bulge in the oesophagus that birds have and where the food sits before going in the stomach. Sometimes named "gave".
Croustade :
Small puff pastry patty with various shapes made from pastry scraps.
crown :
To arrange in a ring shape : line the bottom of a dish with a dressing and leave a space in the middle to lay another dressing (wreath or turban of rice).
To crush nuts :
To grind nuts (almonds, hazelnuts...) with a pestle.
To crush tomatoes :
For tomatoes. Blanch and cut them in halves. Then seed and slice thinly. Turn them round a quarter and cut them in dice.
Cuisson à blanc :
La cuisson à blanc est conseillée pour les tartes ou les quiches destinées à contenir des ingrédients liquides. Il s'agit d'une pré-cuisson de la pâte au four avant qu'elle ne soit garnie. Avant d'être enfourner, la pâte sera recouverte d'un papier sulfurisé sur lequel seront disposer des noyaux de cuisson qui éviteront à la pâte de gonfler durant cette pré-cuisson.
To cut crosswise :
To cut (mushrooms, artichoke hearts) diagonally.
To cut the fat off :
To remove the surplus of fat from a piece of meat.
To cut into sections (meat, fish) :
Cut food into pieces of the size wanted according to the nature of the food.
To cut into sections (vegetables) :
Cut certain vegetables in large long pieces (sections of leeks, carrots).
To cut up :
To cut into different parts a fairly large piece of meat.
Cutter :
Iron or plastic tool with various shapes used to cut doughs or other culinary preparations into shapes. There are uniform cutters that have smooth and sharps edges but also fluted cutters that have sharp and honeycombed edges.