The Recipe Filer culinary glossary.

Degrees Celsius. Fan ovens typically run 20 °C cooler than conventional.

Also: C

Degrees Fahrenheit. 350 °F ≈ 180 °C.

Also: F

'To the tooth' — pasta or vegetables cooked so they still have bite.

US name for rocket.

Also: Rocket (UK)

A large purple nightshade fruit used as a vegetable, salted before cooking to draw out bitterness.

Also: Eggplant (US), Brinjal (India)

Water bath used to cook things gently and evenly — custards, terrines, delicate sauces.

Also: Water bath

Baking a dish in a hot-water bath — for cheesecakes, custards, terrines.

Cook over live fire — direct grilling or low-and-slow smoking.

Also: BBQ

Spoon cooking juices, butter or marinade over meat during cooking.

The flank steak — loose-grained, take it rare or medium-rare and slice against the grain.

Also: Flank steak

The dark red root vegetable, earthy and sweet.

Also: Beets (US)

Fatty layered cut — roast for crackling or braise for melting richness.

Also: Pork belly

'White butter' sauce — cold butter whisked into a hot wine-and-shallot reduction.

Raw paste of soft butter and flour, whisked into hot liquid to thicken.

A raising agent that reacts with acid.

Also: Baking soda (US), Sodium bicarbonate

Plunge into boiling water briefly, then into iced water — sets colour, softens skin.

Toast dried spices in oil or dry pan to release flavour; also hydrating gelatine in cold water.

A tied bundle of herbs (thyme, bay, parsley) added to stocks and stews, removed before serving.

Sear then cook slowly in a small amount of liquid, covered. Ideal for tough cuts.

Soak in salted water (often with sugar and aromatics) before cooking — juicier meat.

Tough, richly-flavoured cut from the chest — slow-cook for hours.

US name for grilling under overhead heat.

Also: Grill (UK)

Very fine 2–3 mm dice — used in classical French cooking.

Large, creamy white beans.

Also: Lima beans (US)

Cut horizontally through meat almost in half, then open like a book.

Also: Spatchcock (for poultry)

Heavy iron pan that holds heat brilliantly — sears steak, roasts, cornbread.

Finer than granulated but coarser than icing sugar — dissolves quickly.

Also: Superfine sugar (US)

Skin-on, boneless chicken breast with the first wing joint left on.

Darker, juicier chicken meat — forgiving to overcook.

Round beige legumes; the base of hummus and falafel.

Also: Garbanzo beans (US)

Stack, roll and thinly slice leafy herbs or greens into ribbons.

Shoulder cut. Cheap and flavourful — perfect for stew or mince.

Also: Braising steak (UK)

The leafy top of the coriander plant. Bright, citrusy, essential in Mexican, Thai and Indian cooking.

Also: Coriander (UK), Chinese parsley

Cook slowly submerged in fat at low temperature — duck legs, garlic, etc.

UK name for the fresh cilantro herb; also the dried seed used as a spice.

Also: Cilantro (US)

Fine white starch used as a thickener.

Also: Cornstarch (US)

A young summer squash with tender, edible skin.

Also: Zucchini (US)

Beat softened butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy — the base of most sponge cakes.

A UK 'cup' is 250 ml.

A US 'cup' is 240 ml (or 236.6 ml legally).

Preserve with salt (and often sugar / nitrite) — bacon, gravadlax, biltong.

About 1/16 teaspoon — a very small splash.

Submerge food in hot oil (170–190 °C).

Pour liquid (wine, stock) into a hot pan to lift the caramelised fond — the base of a good sauce.

A wholemeal semi-sweet biscuit — often used as a cheesecake base.

Also: Graham cracker (US alternative)

Rich UK cream, 48%+ butterfat — whips beautifully.

Also: Heavy cream (US), Whipping cream (US, ~35%)

Heavy lidded pot (usually enamelled cast iron) — stews, breads, braises.

Also: Casserole dish

US name for aubergine.

Also: Aubergine (UK)

Combine two liquids that don't naturally mix (oil + vinegar → vinaigrette).

The most tender cut, from the tenderloin muscle. UK 'fillet' = US 'filet mignon' at the small end.

Also: Tenderloin (US), Filet mignon

Wide flat spatula for turning fried food.

Also: Turner, Spatula

Fluid ounce — a volume measure. UK fl oz = 28.4 ml; US fl oz = 29.6 ml.

Gently combine a light mixture (whipped cream, meringue) into a heavier one to keep the air in.

See 'Fold'.

The caramelised brown bits left in a pan after searing — deglaze them for sauce gold.

Gram — the base metric weight unit.

Also: gram, gramme

Gallon — 4.55 L (UK) or 3.79 L (US).

UK oven scale: Gas 4 = 180 °C, Gas 6 = 200 °C, Gas 7 = 220 °C.

About 1 tablespoon of a poured liquid.

A pale amber inverted sugar syrup — Lyle's is the classic.

Also: Light treacle

Cook on a hot flat or ridged plate.

Ridged pan that gives food grill marks on the hob.

In the UK, to cook under overhead radiant heat.

Also: Broil (US)

Cypriot brined cheese with a very high melting point — grills without collapsing.

Whatever fits comfortably in the palm — enough for a garnish, not exact.

Very finely ground sugar for dusting and icings.

Also: Powdered sugar (US), Confectioner's sugar (US)

Handheld stick blender — purées soup right in the pan.

Also: Stick blender

Cut into fine, matchstick-thin strips.

Also: Matchstick cut

Hard, salty Greek sheep's-milk cheese — often grated.

Kilogram — 1000 grams (2.2 lb).

Work dough by hand or machine to develop gluten — smooth and elastic when ready.

Litre — 1000 ml (about 1.76 UK pints).

Also: L, litre, liter

Pound — 454 g. From the Latin 'libra'.

Also: lbs

Lean cut from along the back — chops or roasts.

A sharp slicing tool for very thin, uniform slices — use the guard!

Flat pea pods eaten whole — the name means 'eat all' in French.

Also: Snow peas (US)

Soak in a flavoured liquid before cooking — tenderises and seasons.

Ultra-fine rasp grater for zest, garlic, nutmeg and hard cheese.

Also: Rasp grater

Diced onion, carrot and celery — the French flavour base.

Also: Soffritto (Italy), Sofrito (Spain)

French: 'everything in place'. Prep and measure every ingredient before you start cooking.

Millilitre — 1/1000 of a litre.

Also: mL

The hanger steak — a butcher's favourite with deep beefy flavour.

Also: Hanger steak

Cross-cut veal shank with the marrow bone — braised Italian classic.

Ounce — 28.35 g by weight, or 30 ml by fluid (fl oz).

Cook in a modest amount of hot fat, flipping once or twice.

Italian hard cheese from Emilia-Romagna, aged 12–36 months.

Also: Parmesan

Uncooked, sieved tomato purée — Italian pantry staple.

Bowl and pounding tool for crushing spices and herbs.

Roughly 1/8 teaspoon — as much as you can hold between finger and thumb.

Bag with a tip for shaping icing, cream, meringue.

All-purpose wheat flour with no raising agent.

Also: All-purpose flour (US), AP flour

Cook gently in liquid at just below simmer (75–90 °C). Great for eggs and fish.

UK name for the crustacean.

Also: Shrimp (US)

Cook in a sealed vessel above boiling point — halves cooking times.

Let dough rise until doubled in size before shaping or baking.

Also: Prove, Rise

Pint — 568 ml (UK) or 473 ml (US).

Quart — 946 ml (US) or 1.14 L (UK).

Small ceramic dish — soufflés, crème brûlée, portioned puddings.

A neutral, high-smoke-point cooking oil.

Also: Canola oil (US)

Simmer a liquid until some evaporates, thickening it and intensifying flavour.

Plunge blanched vegetables into iced water to stop the cooking and set colour.

Let cooked meat sit off the heat for a few minutes — juices redistribute.

Well-marbled steak cut from the rib section — rich, tender when cooked medium-rare.

Also: Scotch fillet (AU), Entrecôte

Cook in dry heat in an oven — usually large cuts or vegetables.

A peppery salad leaf.

Also: Arugula (US), Rucola

Cooked paste of equal fat and flour — thickens sauces and soups.

Steak from the top of the hindquarter — full-flavoured, slightly firmer than sirloin.

Frothy whisked mixture of egg yolks and sugar over hot water — the base of zabaglione.

Also: Zabaglione

Cook quickly in a hot pan with a little fat, tossing to keep moving.

Also: Saute

US name for a spring onion.

Also: Spring onion (UK)

Cut shallow slits into the surface — helps skin crisp, seasoning penetrate.

Brown the surface of meat in a hot pan to build flavour and crust.

Plain flour with baking powder pre-mixed in.

Also: Self-rising flour (US)

Cook in a shallow layer of hot oil in a pan.

Lower leg — extremely tough raw, spoon-tender braised.

Meaty, marbled rib cut with a lot of connective tissue — braise low and slow.

Well-marbled slow-roast joint — the classic 'pulled pork' cut.

Also: Boston butt (US)

Mesh strainer for flour, icing sugar, purées.

Also: Strainer

Lean rear cut, often salted and boiled for corned beef.

UK cream with 18% butterfat — pouring, not whipping.

Also: Light cream (US)

Lean steak from the lower back. In the US the naming differs from the UK.

Cornflour whisked with cold water — added to hot liquid to thicken without lumps.

Flavour and cook with wood smoke — hot smoking cooks; cold smoking just flavours.

Vacuum-seal and cook in a precisely-controlled water bath. Impossible to overcook.

Remove the backbone from a whole bird and flatten it for even, faster cooking.

Young onion with a slim white base and long green tops.

Also: Scallion (US), Green onion

Cook over boiling water with a lid — preserves nutrients and colour.

US measure — 113 g (½ cup, ¼ lb).

Cook small pieces very quickly in a hot wok, tossing constantly.

Simmered bone or vegetable liquid — the base of soups and sauces.

Also: Broth

High-protein bread flour for a strong gluten structure.

Also: Bread flour

Cook vegetables gently in fat over low heat with no colour — softens without caramelising.

A large yellow-fleshed root, milder than turnip.

Also: Rutabaga (US), Yellow turnip

Conical-lidded North-African clay pot for slow braising.

Tablespoon — 15 ml (3 teaspoons).

Also: Tbsp, T

Slowly bring cold ingredients up to a hot mixture's temperature (e.g. eggs into hot milk) to prevent curdling.

UK: concentrated tomato paste in a tube.

Also: Tomato paste (US)

Lean roasting joint from the hind leg.

Dark, bitter sugar syrup — used in gingerbread and Christmas cakes.

Also: Molasses (US)

Tie a joint or bird with string to keep its shape while cooking.

Teaspoon — 5 ml.

Also: t

The fifth taste — savoury depth found in mushrooms, aged cheese, tomatoes, soy sauce.

Round-bottomed pan for stir-frying at high heat.

Grate the coloured outer skin of citrus — full of fragrant oils, avoid the bitter pith.

US/Italian name for a courgette.

Also: Courgette (UK)