Cooking Terms Glossary
Learn the language of cooking with our comprehensive glossary of culinary terms.
B
Bake
Baking means cooking food with the dry, surrounding heat of an oven rather than in direct contact wi...
Baste
Basting is the technique of spooning or brushing liquid over food as it cooks, using pan drippings,...
Beat
Beating is the act of stirring a mixture vigorously to make it smooth and to work air into it, using...
Blanch
Blanching is a quick cooking method in which food, usually vegetables or fruit, is plunged into rapi...
Blend
Blending means combining two or more ingredients until they are fully and evenly incorporated into a...
Boil
Boiling is cooking a liquid, or food submerged in it, at the temperature where bubbles form rapidly,...
Braise
Braising is a combination cooking method in which food is first browned in a little fat and then coo...
Bread
Breading is the process of giving food a crumb coating so it fries up crisp and golden. The standard...
Broil
Broiling cooks food with intense heat coming from directly above, using the top element or flame of...
Brown
Browning means cooking the surface of food, most often meat, over fairly high heat until it develops...
C
Caramelize
Caramelizing is the slow melting of sugar, or of foods that contain natural sugars, over heat until...
Chop
Chopping is cutting food into small, roughly bite-sized pieces with a knife. The pieces do not need...
Clarify
Clarifying is the process of making a cloudy liquid clear by removing the fat, solids, and other imp...
Coat
Coating means covering the surface of a piece of food evenly with a dry or semi-liquid layer such as...
Coddle
Coddling is cooking food very gently in water kept just below the boiling point, so the water stays...
Compote
A compote is fruit that has been cooked slowly in a sugar syrup, sometimes with added spices, citrus...
Cool
Cooling means letting hot food stand until it is no longer warm to the touch, allowing it to drop to...
Cream
Creaming is beating a solid fat, usually butter, until it becomes soft, smooth, and lightened, and m...
Crumble
Crumbling means breaking food into small, irregular fragments or crumbs with your fingers, a fork, o...
Cube
Cubing is cutting solid food into cube-shaped pieces, generally about half an inch or larger on each...
Cut in
Cutting in is the technique of working a cold solid fat, such as butter or shortening, into dry ingr...
D
Dice
Dicing is cutting food into small, uniform cubes, typically between one-eighth and one-quarter inch...
Dredge
Dredging is coating food by pulling or rolling it through a dry substance, most commonly flour, corn...
Dust
Dusting is sprinkling a food lightly with a fine, dry ingredient such as flour, powdered sugar, or c...
E
Egg wash
An egg wash is a simple mixture of beaten egg combined with a little liquid, usually water, milk, or...
F
Fillet
A fillet is a boneless piece of meat, poultry, or fish, and as a verb, to fillet means to cut such a...
Flake
Flaking is separating cooked food into small, thin, natural pieces, usually with the gentle pressure...
Flute
Fluting is creating a decorative pattern of ridges, grooves, or scalloped indentations around the ed...
Fold
Folding is a gentle mixing technique used to combine a light, airy ingredient with a heavier one wit...
Fry
Frying is cooking food in hot fat, and it comes in a few forms depending on how much fat is used. Pa...
G
Gash
Gashing is cutting shallow slits or a decorative pattern into the surface of food with a knife, most...
Glaze
Glazing means brushing or coating food with a thin, often shiny liquid so that it sets into a glossy...
Grate
Grating is reducing a firm food to small shreds or particles by rubbing it across a grater's sharp-e...
Grill
Grilling cooks food on a rack or grate directly over a high, dry heat source such as hot coals, gas...
Grind
Grinding breaks a food down into small, uniform particles using a grinder, mill, blender, or food pr...
J
Julienne
Julienne is a knife cut that turns vegetables, fruit, or meat into long, thin, uniform strips resemb...
K
Knead
Kneading is working a dough by repeatedly pressing, folding, and stretching it, usually with the hee...
M
Marinate
Marinating means soaking food, usually meat, poultry, fish, or vegetables, in a seasoned liquid call...
Mince
Mincing is cutting food into very small, fine pieces, smaller than a dice or a chop. You typically r...
Mix
Mixing is combining two or more ingredients until they are evenly distributed throughout each other....
P
Panbroil
Pan-broiling is cooking food, usually a relatively thin cut of meat, in a hot, heavy skillet using n...
Parboil
Parboiling is partially cooking food by boiling it briefly, then removing it before it is fully done...
Pare
Paring means trimming away the thin outer skin or surface of a fruit or vegetable with a small, shor...
Peel
Peeling is stripping or pulling off the outer skin, rind, or covering of a fruit or vegetable. Depen...
Poach
Poaching is cooking food gently in liquid held at a low temperature, well below a boil, so the surfa...
Puree
Pureeing is processing food until it becomes a smooth, uniform pulp or thick paste, free of lumps. Y...
R
S
Saute
Sauteing is cooking food quickly in a small amount of hot fat over fairly high heat, keeping the pie...
Scald
Scalding has two related meanings in cooking. Most often it means heating milk or cream until it is...
Score
Scoring is cutting shallow slits into the surface of a food, often in a crosshatch or diamond patter...
Sear
Searing is browning the surface of food, usually meat, very quickly over intense heat so a deeply co...
Shred
Shredding is cutting or tearing food into long, thin strips. You can do it with the large holes of a...
Simmer
Simmering is cooking food in liquid kept just below the boiling point, where small bubbles rise gent...
Sliver
Slivering means cutting food into long, thin, narrow slices or slender pieces. It is a delicate cut...
Steam
Steaming cooks food with the hot vapor from boiling water rather than in the water itself. The food...
Steep
Steeping is letting an ingredient sit in hot liquid, off the heat, so its flavor, color, or aroma se...
Stew
Stewing is cooking food slowly by simmering it in enough liquid to cover it, usually for a long time...
Stir
Stirring is moving ingredients around in a bowl or pan, usually with a circular motion using a spoon...
Stir-fry
Stir-frying is a fast, high-heat method of cooking small, uniform pieces of food in a little oil whi...
T
Toast
Toasting is browning the surface of a food with dry heat, in an oven, toaster, dry skillet, or under...
W
Whip
Whipping is beating a food rapidly with a whisk, rotary beater, or electric mixer to incorporate air...