Al Dente
A lot trendy cooking terminology comes from French delicacies, however “al dente” is solely Italian, and it’s largely used to check with the doneness of pasta (and typically rice). Al dente means “to the tooth,” or tender but agency when bitten. It’s not solely about texture: Al dente pasta has a decrease glycemic index, which suggests extra steady blood sugar.
With a bit of follow and taste-testing, you may make completely al dente pasta, identical to a real nonna. Get began with chef José Andrés’s recipe for Pasta With Eggplant and Chickpeas at Pasta With Eggplant and Chickpeas.
Blanch
Blanching entails plunging meals — most frequently greens — into boiling water for a short while, adopted instantly by stunning (see additional down). This method preserves vitamins, which might typically degrade with different cooking strategies.
It additionally prevents the lack of taste, coloration, and texture, significantly for greens that you just’re going to can or freeze. Blanching is sensible for taming the bitterness of leafy greens, or for any time you need a tender-crisp — however not crunchy and uncooked — veggie.
Braise
Braising is a mixture of dry- and moist-heat cooking: Begin by browning your protein (typically a big, robust minimize of meat), then add sufficient liquid to partially cowl and simmer. Whereas braising, the fats renders, tissues dissolve, and collagen breaks down into gelatin, making the meat extra tender.
Robust cuts like quick ribs, oxtail, chuck roast, and pork shoulder are among the many hottest picks for the braising pot. Hen thighs, with their larger fats content material, are additionally a good selection. Plant-based eaters can simply braise greens solo — simply be certain to incorporate fats so as to add depth and richness, like in our recipe for Braised Greens.
Caramelize
Caramelization is frequent in cooking; it happens anytime sugar is positioned over warmth. You’ll be able to caramelize pure sugar, which is the way you make caramel sauce, however it additionally happens when greens and fruits are cooked — the sugars within the produce start to brown and develop a toasty, savory taste.
Caramelization is a dry-heat cooking methodology, which means it doesn’t occur in the event you’re cooking with water (like steaming or boiling). Alliums do significantly effectively with this therapy, as in our Caramelized-Onion Dip.
Chiffonade
These whisper-thin slips of herbs garnishing a soup, salad, or pasta are created by a method generally known as chiffonade. Why trouble (past aesthetics, in fact)? If you chiffonade greens, it releases their lovely aromas. That’s one motive why basil is so typically destined for this therapy.
You’d battle to chiffonade cilantro, thyme, and rosemary as a result of their leaves are too small. But it surely’s deceptively straightforward to do with greater leaves, like mint, sage, spinach, chard, and kale. Layer leaves on high of each other, then roll them up tight and use a super-sharp knife to slice them into skinny ribbons.
A pointy knife is essential for this method: Trying to chiffonade with a boring knife could cause the blade to tear and bruise the leaves slightly than slice cleanly by way of them, discoloring tender greens and muting their taste.
These ribbons of leafy greens could be wilted into soups, stews, stir-fries, or another one-pot meal that would use one thing inexperienced. You too can sprinkle chiffonaded recent herbs over your favourite dishes as a sublime crowning glory.
Deglaze
Deglazing is a not-so-secret strategy to imbue dishes with distinctive taste. It’s so simple as pouring liquid right into a sizzling pan after cooking one thing over excessive warmth, then gently scraping to loosen the bits from the underside. Also called fond, these brown bits are the deeply flavorful results of caramelization that happens whereas cooking.
Sometimes, broth, inventory, and wine are go-tos for deglazing due to the flavour they contribute, however almost any liquid — juice, beer, and even water — works. Deglazing happens in acquainted dishes like penne alla vodka and beef stew. You’ll be able to splash a bit of cognac right into a roasting pan to make attractive gravy for roast hen. Or attempt the tactic with our recipe for Mussels in Lemongrass Coconut Broth.
Emulsify
Because the saying goes, oil and water don’t combine — until, in fact, you emulsify them. Emulsifying entails combining nonhomogenous liquids (usually water and oil or another type of fats) so that they stay fused — by way of vigorous shaking, devoted whisking, or thorough mixing. An emulsion could be momentary, as occurs in a salad dressing made with oil and vinegar, or everlasting, as in mayonnaise, butter, and cream.
Fold
A way typically utilized in baking, folding entails gently incorporating a light-weight combination right into a heavier one, normally by slowly scraping the underside of the bowl and scooping the combination over itself in a “folding” movement. Folding is usually used with ethereal components like overwhelmed egg whites or whipped cream — you typically wish to incorporate these mixtures right into a heavier batter with out deflating the air that you just’ve whipped into them.
Poach
Like its siblings boiling and simmering, poaching entails cooking meals submerged in liquids however at low warmth. Inventory, wine, and water are all commonplace, however as with deglazing, most any liquid will do. Beer, cider, coconut milk, and juice make lovely poaching liquids.
You’re seemingly accustomed to poached eggs (right here’s a fast how-to on poaching an egg), however fish, hen, and fruit additionally take effectively to this methodology, which preserves delicate, nuanced flavors and textures which may be overwhelmed with higher-heat cooking.
The key to poaching? Endurance. Low and gradual is the important thing right here. For a stunning basic dessert, attempt our Poached Pears.
Shock
A way typically used instantly after blanching, stunning is the act of submerging partially cooked veggies in an ice tub to cease the cooking course of. Stunning retains greens crisp and preserves their brilliant colours. You may additionally use this method after boiling eggs to make them simpler to peel. Attempt our methodology for the right boiled egg at “Easy methods to Boil an Egg.”
Sous Vide
Pronounced “sue-veed,” this time period means “below vacuum” in French and entails vacuum-sealing meals, then cooking it in a water tub at a low temperature. It’s broadly thought-about probably the greatest methods to attain an actual diploma of doneness, because of the strict temperature management.
You need to use the sous vide approach on almost something — meat, poultry, fish, greens, and even eggs. However you want particular kitchen gear: a vacuum sealer, an immersion circulator, and a sous vide water tub. Even in the event you by no means do that at residence, you may encounter the time period whereas perusing a restaurant menu.
Sweat
A easy strategy to coax taste from chopped greens, sweating is commonly one of many first steps when getting ready soups, stews, and sauces. The objective right here isn’t to brown the veggies; slightly, you wish to gently warmth them with a sprinkle of salt to melt them and launch their flavors.
Because the greens cook dinner, you’ll see small beads of “sweat” kind on the floor — that’s moisture being drawn out, aided by the salt, which concentrates their taste.
The perfect candidates for sweating are fragrant greens, which you’ll acknowledge because the constructing blocks of many dishes: celery, carrots, peppers, fennel, and alliums (assume onions, shallots, garlic, and leeks).
The subsequent time you’re making a casserole or a ragu, don’t be afraid to let these veggies sweat to kind the bottom for a brilliant flavorful dish.
This text initially appeared as “A Glossary of Lesser-Recognized Cooking Phrases” within the Might 2023 difficulty of Expertise Life.
