Questions tagged [language]
Questions about naming and translation of culinary terms and phrases.
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What does it mean for a liquid to "crack"?
I'm looking at a recipe for condensed milk, and a couple of the steps say the following:
Do not stir once the mix starts to simmer otherwise it can crack and crystalize.
if there are sugary bits ...
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What do you call the result of passing through a sieve?
Writing down an instruction to add the 'passed ingredient X' to bowl Y, I found the possible referring phrases getting slightly clunky, or else unspecific like 'the result'. With tomatoes it would be ...
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What would (or do) you call komatsuna in English?
What if anything are these greens called in English?
Likely brassica rapa perviridis.
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How many grams is one serving of great northern beans for an average adult?
I was told for my diet one serving of great northern beans, But I do not know how much that is so I bought a gram scale thinking I could measure it but I don't know how much to measure. I don't mean ...
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Old biscuit recipe question - "until the dough blisters"
I'm reading through some old (early 1900's) cookbooks and something that keeps coming up is beating dough "until it blisters" - here's an example.
VIRGINIA BEATEN BISCUIT.
One quart flour. ...
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Does "pastry" mean something different in cooking than in baking?
I was watching Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend today. In the third episode, the theme of the competition was pastry, and the key ingredient they had to use was milk.
This site's pastry tag says ...
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What does it mean for a burger to be "a little pink"?
I ate at Red Robin's recently. Usually, I order a well-done burger because I want my burgers cooked thoroughly. But the waiter suggested that I try "a little pink" burger, which is the ...
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What is it called when you slice meat or fish into small, thin slabs, like sashimi?
Is there a term for when meat (or fish) is sliced into thin pieces that are a mouthful each, similar to sashimi?
So, in other words, if I am writing a recipe and I want to instruct the cook to cut ...
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What is the difference between whole grain wheat and whole wheat?
I am somewhat confused on the concept of whole grain wheat vs whole wheat. The product in question is "Triscuit" biscuits. The manufacturer does not know so I thought I would put it online. ...
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What is sortexed rice?
Here is a link to rice I want to buy. It is quoted as being polished and sortexed. I was wondering exactly that meant? Sortexed is not a word I heard before.
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What is this type of cookware called used for roasting and baking?
I'm looking for the English name for this cooking utensil:
It can be used for roasting on top of the stove, or it can be put in the oven for slow cooking.
I've stumbled upon 'roasting dish', or '...
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What exactly are American recipes containing "smoked sausage" or "smoked Italian sausage" referring to?
I have recently come across several American recipes that call for an ingredient described as 'Smoked Sausage' or 'Smoked Italian Sausage'. Here in Australia, we try to be a little more specific, so ...
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Meaning: muffins are "blind"
The following expression was used in an old baking book, "The Modern Baker, Confectioner and Caterer" (1907) by John Kirkland:
The bad results so frequently obtained are generally due to ...
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Firm vs. crisp vs. crunchy for apples
I see these terms used to describe apples on signage at markets and I'm wondering whether they are meant to imply different things and if so what?
For example, this page uses the terms "firm"...
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What do American chefs mean by "Red pepper flakes"? [duplicate]
I see the term "Red pepper flakes" used often by American chefs, but to the European mind this term is very confusing. It could mean flaked and dried:
Red chilli (e.g. Kashmiri, Birds Eye ...
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What is the difference between castor, confectionary and icing sugar?
I see these labels used and was wondering what exactly they mean?
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What is the name of this indirect grill?
In Japanese, it seems to be called a Machuugrill. It is fired by charcoal and the grill arrows are just air. It seems to be some convection heating with the temperature moderated by water. Translation ...
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What are the dips in muffin/cupcake tins called?
When I was writing this answer I realized that I have no idea what to call the dips in muffin/cupcake tins. I used to call them cups but when I looked it up I found that the cups are the paper inserts ...
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What is the distinction between baking and roasting?
Both baking and roasting refer to cooking things in the oven. The only foodstuff I am aware of that can be either baked or roasted is potatoes, and the distinction is that roast potatoes are cooked ...
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What's the difference between omelette/frittata/quiche?
What is the culinary difference between these dishes?
It seems to me that they are all egg dishes that are cooked with some fillings in them (onion/tomato/ham/cheese etc). Is quiche just a frittata in ...
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Beating eggs for brownie
This brownie recipe (from this book) calls for eggs, beaten. I'm not entirely familiar with US recipes. What does it mean that the eggs have to be beaten? Is it sufficient to do this lightly with a ...
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Do French/International chefs really use/talk about Fahrenheit instead of Celsius degrees?
Example: https://youtu.be/lVcTvHTn6Dw?t=325
This chef is very French, yet he talks about Fahrenheit. In France, which is in Europe, surely they use Celsius? He seems to "think" in American ...
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Category name for restaurants NOT dressing food?
Is it there a specific category name or whatever, defining restaurants that serve food without dressing, or any kind of food art or dish decoration, despite still serving good quality, tasty food, ...
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What are the tables called where food is delivered for service to dinner?
In formal dining rooms there is often a long table set to the side and the servers use it to stage dishes before they are served to the table. What is that appurtenance called?
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What is "compression" as a cooking technique?
I've recently stumbled on Masterchef professionals as an American, and it's very impressive! Many chefs serve "compressed" vegetables and fruits (e.g. tomatoes, pears, cucumber, mango, etc.)....
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What is "layering flavors"? What does it accomplish and how do I do it?
Recently I've been into cooking videos and tutorials and something that stands out to me is this concept of "layering flavors" that some chefs use when they add ingredients.
Example:
We're ...
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What kind of yeast is this?
I have a type of yeast that I'm finding hard to identify by English standard.
These are picture of it:
Whole, uncut.
cut in half
In my country, Bulgaria, we call it "live" yeast, despite ...
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What is a “small cup” in Australia and/or old recipes?
In older or Australian recipes, is “small cup” a specific (if not quite standardized) measurement? If so, what, approximately, is that measurement?
I’m going to be making a recipe from an Australian ...
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Are heavy-bottom stock pots called something else?
I would quite like to get hold of a large stock pot with a thick base so I can make things like preserves as well, but whenever I look at kitchenware in my local shops (I'm in NZ if that makes a ...
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Is sour milk, soured milk, and milk that has gone sour, all the exact same thing?
Is sour milk, soured milk, and milk that has gone sour, all the exact same thing?
Related to this question:
Is buttermilk another term for sour milk or some part of sour milk?
and especially this ...
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What's the 'opposite' of mise en place?
Mise en place definition for those unaware.
Mise en place (French pronunciation: [mi zɑ̃ ˈplas]) is a French culinary phrase which means "putting in place" or "everything in its place&...
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What is a refrigerator tray in older recipes?
Many older cookbooks call for filling a “refrigerator tray”. For example, in the 1960 Better Homes and Gardens Dessert Cook Book the recipe for “Banana Ice Cream” says to “Pour into refrigerator trays....
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Do blini have to be thin?
In case you're wondering, Blin (or Блин) is just Pancake in Russian.
It was given by my favorite YouTuber that these pancakes have to be thin to be a proper blin. Is this true?
user91735
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Simmering, rather than caramelizing, onions (plus garlic and ginger)
I can caramelize onions, garlic, and ginger over 30 minutes, stir frying.
But this requires me to stand in front of the stove for 30 minutes. Instead, I prefer to spend 90 minutes, adding a bit of ...
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What is a stem pan?
I have a vintage cookbook, from Charlotte, North Carolina and about 1958, that has a recipe for “Different Applesauce Cake”. It says to “Cook in stem pan approximately 1 hour, 10 minutes”.
Searches ...
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What does it mean for a dish to be called poêlé?
I was watching a show and they mentioned Fois Gras Poêlé. Now I know what fois gras is so I looked up what poêlé meant since I assumed it was a cooking technique. However, Google (patent pending) ...
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Is there an English word for the Spanish pepper called Ñora?
Is there an English word for the Spanish pepper called Ñora?
I have translated the following from Wikipedia
The ñora is a cultivated variety of Capsicum annuum or pepper, called
"bola" in ...
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Recipe word for "not trimmed"
I'm trying to write up a recipe by weight and include both the "cleaned" weight and the "uncleaned" weight. I can't find a good word for "uncleaned" and I'm hoping ...
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Choosing between semolina and non-semolina durum flour
I have a big confusion between flours, aggravated by the fact that I do not live in an english-speaking country and labeling and translations are confusing.
I like fresh pasta and have experimented ...
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What's the difference between thin crust pizza and a cracker
My friend says that thin pizza crust is nothing but a cracker, but I think there are significant differences between the two products. For example, if you buy a store-bought cracker and add pizza ...
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Is a pizza like this unheard of in the USA?
My idea of a pizza, bought from a pizzeria in Sweden (at least growing up and when I last did, which was a few years ago now), is as follows:
A standard pizza dough is grabbed and turned into a flat ...
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What is the difference between "water/drink enhancers" and cordial?
I was doing a bit of internet browsing today, and I came across this image (linked rather than embedded because of copyright), which shows a bottle of hand disinfectant along with three bottles ...
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"tomato sauce" vs. "tomato paste" [duplicate]
amazon returns almost 50 hits for "tomato sauce" and just 3 for "tomato paste"
Do "tomato sauce" and "tomato paste" mean the same thing?
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What does it mean to let gluten relax?
I'm new to cooking and have no experience cooking.
I know a bit about gluten in that it gives bread the toughness for stretching, which is good for chewy bread and bad for soft cakes.
I've watched ...
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What's 香茜 or 芫荽 in English?
Many Hong Kong Cuisine restaurants use 香茜 or 芫荽 in soup dishes. Please see the picture below.
Are 香茜 or 芫荽 the same species of plant?
What's the correct English translation? I'm hankering to buy ...
user91594
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What is the correct term for this method of cooking?
I'm a reluctant cook at the best of times but I'm interested to know what I just did.
I got a massive bone for the dog from the butcher. There was quite a lot of meat on it so I thought the dog and I ...
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What does resting mean
I'm a little confused with what resting actually means.
I've typically seen this term being used where you move food (typically meat) from the oven/grill/heat and then keep it warm for "some time" (...
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A “puck” of frozen food
I found a recipe that calls for 5 “pucks” of frozen spinach. I cannot find a definition of the term. I need to know how many ounces are in a puck?
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What are the vertical-edge plates called?
I'm assuming asking this question is ok since questions about kitchen equipment and cutlery are permitted.
So far I've only found steel plates that have a vertical edge. Do these vertical-edged ...
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Flavor of wasabi, horseradish, mustard, capers, and jalapeño
What is the name of the flavor of wasabi, horseradish, mustard, capers, and jalapeño?
Unfortunately, I'm not fond of the taste of the above ingredients.
To me, they taste similar.
I don't mind the ...
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