Cooking glossary
Every cooking word, explained in plain English, with the science behind it.
A
Acid Balance
Acid balance is adjusting sour ingredients like lemon or vinegar so a dish tastes bright, not flat or harsh. Add it late, in small…
📖 GlossaryAcidulated Water
Acidulated water is water with lemon juice or vinegar added, used to stop cut apples, pears, and artichokes from browning. Ratio: about…
📖 GlossaryAgar-Agar: The Seaweed Gel That Replaces Gelatin
Agar-agar is a vegan gelling agent from red seaweed. It must boil to dissolve, sets at about 35 °C / 95 °F, and stays firm until about…
📖 GlossaryAir Frying: How an Air Fryer Really Works (and Its Limits)
Air frying cooks food in fast-moving hot air, up to about 200 °C / 400 °F. It's compact convection baking that crisps food with far less…
📖 GlossaryAl Dente
Al dente is Italian for 'to the tooth': pasta or vegetables cooked tender outside but slightly firm at the centre, usually 1–2 minutes…
📖 GlossaryAllicin: The Chemistry Behind Garlic's Bite
Allicin is the pungent compound that forms when garlic is cut or crushed. Finer chopping makes more of it, and cooking breaks it down…
📖 GlossaryAmylose and Amylopectin: The Two Starches That Shape Texture
Amylose and amylopectin are the two molecules in starch. Linear amylose sets firm and stales fast; branched amylopectin makes food…
📖 GlossaryAquafaba: Chickpea Liquid That Whips Like Egg Whites
Aquafaba is the liquid from cooked chickpeas. Its proteins, starches and saponins whip just like egg whites; use 3 tbsp per egg or 2…
📖 GlossaryAromatics
Aromatics are vegetables, herbs, and spices like onion, garlic, ginger, and celery, cooked in fat at the start of a dish to release…
📖 GlossaryAutolyse
Autolyse is resting just flour and water for 20–60 minutes before adding salt and yeast. It hydrates flour, starts gluten, and cuts…
B
Bain-Marie: What a Water Bath Is and Why It Works
A bain-marie is a hot water bath that cooks or melts food gently, because water can't climb past 100 °C / 212 °F. Used for custards,…
📖 GlossaryBaker's Percentage
Baker's percentage lists each ingredient as a percent of total flour weight, with flour always 100%. It makes bread recipes easy to…
📖 GlossaryBaking Soda vs Baking Powder
Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate that needs an acid to rise; baking powder already contains acid. Soda is about 3–4 times…
📖 GlossaryBasting: Does It Work? The Science of Spooning Fat Over Food
Basting is spooning fat, juices or glaze over food as it cooks. Butter basting in a pan browns and flavours fast, but oven basting adds…
📖 GlossaryBeurre Blanc
Beurre blanc is a warm French sauce of cold butter whisked into a white wine, vinegar and shallot reduction. The emulsion holds best at…
📖 GlossaryBeurre Manié
Beurre manié is equal weights of soft butter and flour kneaded into a paste, then whisked into a simmering sauce to thicken it at the…
📖 GlossaryBlanching
Blanching is briefly boiling food, then plunging it into ice water. It sets bright colour, keeps vegetables crisp, loosens skins and…
📖 GlossaryBlind Baking
Blind baking is pre-baking a pie or tart crust, lined and weighted, before adding filling. It sets the pastry so wet fillings like…
📖 GlossaryBlooming
Blooming means hydrating or activating an ingredient before use: softening gelatin in cold water, frying spices in hot fat, waking…
📖 GlossaryBlooming spices
Learn how to bloom spices in hot oil, why it makes curries and chilis taste deeper, and how long to cook them before they turn bitter…
📖 GlossaryBouquet Garni
A bouquet garni is a tied bundle of herbs, classically parsley stems, thyme, and bay leaf, simmered in stocks, soups, and braises, then…
📖 GlossaryBraising
Braising means searing food, then cooking it slowly, covered, in a little liquid around 150 °C / 300 °F. It turns tough, collagen-rich…
📖 GlossaryBrine vs Dry Brine
A wet brine soaks meat in salt water; a dry brine rubs salt on the surface so meat seasons itself and browns better. Both make meat…
📖 GlossaryBrining
Learn what brining is, how a saltwater soak keeps chicken and pork juicy and flavorful, and how to make a simple brine at home in a few…
📖 GlossaryBroiling
Broiling cooks food with intense radiant heat from the oven's top element. It browns, chars and melts in minutes, and rack distance from…
📖 GlossaryBrown Butter (Beurre Noisette)
Brown butter is butter cooked until its water boils off and the milk solids toast golden through the Maillard reaction, giving a nutty,…
📖 GlossaryBrunoise
Brunoise is a precise knife cut of tiny 3 mm (1/8 in) cubes, made by dicing julienne strips. Use it for garnishes, fine sauces, and…
C
Capsaicin: Why Chilies Burn and How to Cool Down
Capsaicin is the compound that makes chilies hot. It triggers heat-sensing TRPV1 receptors and dissolves in fat and alcohol, not water,…
📖 GlossaryCaramelization
Caramelization is sugar browning on its own under heat, starting near 160 °C / 320 °F for table sugar, which creates caramel's colour…
📖 GlossaryCarryover Cooking
Carryover cooking is the rise in internal temperature after food leaves the heat, often 3–8 °C (5–15 °F) for roasts. Pull meat early so…
📖 GlossaryChiffonade
Chiffonade is a knife cut that turns leafy herbs and greens like basil or spinach into thin ribbons: stack the leaves, roll them up, and…
📖 GlossaryClarified Butter vs Ghee
Clarified butter is pure butterfat with water and milk solids removed; ghee is cooked longer so the solids brown first, adding nutty…
📖 GlossaryCoagulation
Coagulation is when denatured proteins bond into a solid or gel, setting eggs, custards, cheese, and tofu. Learn key temperatures and…
📖 GlossaryCollagen and Gelatin
Collagen is the tough connective protein in meat; slow, moist heat above 70 °C (160 °F) turns it into gelatin, making braises tender and…
📖 GlossaryConfit
Confit is food slowly cooked submerged in fat at about 85–95 °C / 185–200 °F until meltingly tender. Duck leg is classic; garlic and…
📖 GlossaryConsommé
Consommé is a crystal-clear, richly flavoured soup made by clarifying stock with a raft of egg whites, ground meat, and mirepoix that…
📖 GlossaryConvection Oven: How It Works and How to Adjust Recipes
A convection oven uses a fan to move hot air, so food cooks faster and browns more evenly. Lower the heat by about 15 °C / 25 °F or cut…
📖 GlossaryCreaming
Learn what creaming butter and sugar means, why it makes cookies and cakes light and tender, and how long to beat it for the best texture.
📖 GlossaryCreaming Method
The creaming method beats softened butter and sugar until fluffy to trap air, then adds eggs and dry ingredients. It gives cakes and…
📖 GlossaryCrème Anglaise
Crème anglaise is a pourable vanilla custard sauce of milk, egg yolks, and sugar, cooked gently to 82–84 °C (180–183 °F) until it coats…
📖 GlossaryCross-Contamination
Cross-contamination is when bacteria move from raw food, hands, or tools onto ready-to-eat food. Use separate boards, wash hands, and…
📖 GlossaryCrumb
Crumb is the inside texture of bread or cake: the size and softness of its air cells. Learn what makes an open or tight crumb and how to…
📖 GlossaryCuring: How Salt, Sugar and Nitrite Preserve Food
Curing preserves meat or fish with salt, often plus sugar and nitrite. Salt draws out water and stops bacteria; nitrite blocks botulism…
📖 GlossaryCustard
Custard is milk or cream thickened by egg proteins that set as they heat. It can be stirred, like crème anglaise, or baked, like flan,…
D
Deep-frying
Learn what deep-frying is, why oil temperature is the key to crispy, non-greasy food, and how to fry safely at home with a thermometer.
📖 GlossaryDeglazing: What It Means and Why It Works
Deglazing is adding liquid to a hot pan to dissolve the browned bits (fond) stuck to the bottom. Those bits are concentrated flavour and…
📖 GlossaryDenaturation
Learn what protein denaturation is, why heat turns egg whites white and firms up meat and fish, and how to cook proteins to stay tender…
📖 GlossaryDicing
Learn how to dice an onion and other foods into even cubes, why uniform pieces cook evenly, and the easy steps to do it safely with a…
📖 GlossaryDoneness temperatures
Find the safe internal cooking temperatures for chicken, ground beef, pork, steak, and fish in Fahrenheit and Celsius, plus how to use a…
📖 GlossaryDough Hydration
Dough hydration is water weight divided by flour weight, as a percentage. A 70% dough has 700 g water per 1,000 g flour. See typical…
📖 GlossaryDredging: Why You Coat Food in Flour Before Cooking
Dredging is lightly coating food in flour, cornstarch or crumbs before frying or searing. The coating dries the surface, browns fast and…
📖 GlossaryDry brine
Learn what a dry brine is, how salting meat ahead gives juicy, well-seasoned results and crispy skin, and exactly how much salt to use…
📖 GlossaryDry-Aging: How Aged Beef Gets Tender and Funky
Dry-aging holds beef uncovered near 1–3 °C / 34–38 °F for weeks. Its own enzymes tenderize it while moisture loss concentrates a nutty,…
📖 GlossaryDutch-Process Cocoa
Dutch-process cocoa is cocoa powder treated with an alkali to neutralize its acidity, making it darker and milder than natural cocoa. It…
E
Emulsifier
An emulsifier has a water-loving end and a fat-loving end, so it coats droplets to keep oil and water mixed. Egg yolk, mustard and honey…
📖 GlossaryEmulsion
An emulsion is a stable mix of liquids that normally separate, like oil and water, with droplets of one held in the other. Mayo and…
📖 GlossaryEn Papillote
En papillote means cooking food sealed in a parchment packet, where its own moisture turns to steam. It suits fish, chicken, and…
📖 GlossaryEnzymatic Browning: Why Apples and Avocados Turn Brown
Enzymatic browning turns cut apples and avocados brown as the enzyme polyphenol oxidase reacts with oxygen. Acid, cold, blanching and…
F
Fat Bloom: Why Chocolate Turns White or Grey
Fat bloom is the grey-white streaking on chocolate when cocoa butter re-sets in unstable crystals at the surface. It's safe to eat and…
📖 GlossaryFermentation
Fermentation is when microbes like yeast and bacteria turn sugars into acids, gas, or alcohol, making bread, yogurt, kimchi, and wine.…
📖 GlossaryFlambé: What It Means and the Science of Setting Food on Fire
Flambé means lighting warm spirits in a pan so the alcohol vapour burns off in a burst of flame. It adds caramel notes, but about 75% of…
📖 GlossaryFolding in Baking: How to Fold Without Losing the Air
Folding gently combines an airy mixture like whipped egg whites or cream into a heavier batter with a cut-and-lift motion, so the air…
📖 GlossaryFond
Fond is the browned, sticky residue left in a pan after searing meat or vegetables. Deglazing it with liquid releases concentrated…
G
Ganache
Ganache is an emulsion of chocolate and hot cream. Ratio sets texture: 1:2 for sauce, 1:1 for glaze or frosting, 2:1 for truffles…
📖 GlossaryGelatinization
Learn what gelatinization is, how starch swells with heat and water to thicken sauces and cook rice, pasta, and potatoes, and how to…
📖 GlossaryGluten
Gluten is the stretchy protein network formed when wheat's glutenin and gliadin meet water. It traps gas so bread rises and gives dough…
📖 GlossaryGluten Development
Gluten development is how mixing, kneading and resting build wheat proteins into a stretchy network. More gives chewy bread; less gives…
📖 GlossaryGratin: What It Is and the Science of a Golden Crust
A gratin is a dish baked in a shallow pan until the top forms a browned crust of cheese, breadcrumbs or cream. Potato gratin bakes 1…
H
High-Altitude Baking: Why It Changes and How to Adjust
High-altitude baking means adjusting recipes above about 900 m / 3,000 ft, where water boils cooler and batters overrise. Cut leavening…
📖 GlossaryHoly Trinity (Cajun and Creole Cooking)
The holy trinity is diced onion, celery, and green bell pepper, the Cajun and Creole flavour base for gumbo, jambalaya, and étouffée.…
📖 GlossaryHot Smoking vs Cold Smoking: Temperatures and Differences
Hot smoking cooks food in smoke at about 52–135 °C / 125–275 °F. Cold smoking adds flavour below 30 °C / 86 °F without cooking, so food…
📖 GlossaryHygroscopic
Hygroscopic means an ingredient pulls in and holds water from its surroundings. Sugar, honey, and salt are hygroscopic, keeping cakes…
I
J
K
Koji: The Mould Behind Miso, Soy Sauce and Sake
Koji is steamed rice or grain grown with the mould Aspergillus oryzae. Its enzymes turn starch into sugar and protein into umami, the…
📖 GlossaryKosher Salt vs Table Salt: Differences and Conversions
Kosher and table salt are the same sodium chloride, but kosher crystals are bigger and lighter, so a teaspoon holds less salt. Convert…
L
Lacto-Fermentation
Lacto-fermentation uses salt and lactic acid bacteria to turn vegetables sour and preserved, as in sauerkraut and kimchi. Learn salt…
📖 GlossaryLaminated Dough
Laminated dough is dough folded around butter and rolled repeatedly to form hundreds of thin layers, as in croissants and puff pastry.…
📖 GlossaryLeavening
Leavening is anything that makes dough or batter rise by adding gas: yeast, baking soda, baking powder, whipped air, or steam. Learn how…
📖 GlossaryLecithin
Lecithin is a natural emulsifier in egg yolks and soybeans that helps oil and water stay mixed. It holds mayonnaise together and keeps…
📖 GlossaryLiaison
A liaison is egg yolks and cream tempered into a hot soup or sauce to enrich and lightly thicken it. Heat to about 80 °C / 176 °F, and…
M
Macerate: What It Means to Macerate Fruit (and Onions)
To macerate is to soak fruit in sugar, liqueur or juice so it softens and releases a syrup. Sugar draws water out of the cells by…
📖 GlossaryMaillard Reaction
The Maillard reaction is browning between amino acids and sugars above about 140 °C / 285 °F, creating the roasted flavour of seared…
📖 GlossaryMarbling: What It Is and Why It Makes Meat Juicy
Marbling is the fine white fat threaded through muscle. It melts as meat cooks, making it juicier, richer and more forgiving, and it…
📖 GlossaryMarinade
A marinade is a seasoned liquid, usually salt, acid, oil, and aromatics, that flavours food before cooking. Learn how deep it penetrates…
📖 GlossaryMarinating
Learn what marinating does, how long to marinate chicken, beef, and fish, and why acid marinades can make meat mushy if you leave them…
📖 GlossaryMeringue
Meringue is egg whites whipped with sugar into a stable foam. French, Swiss, and Italian meringue differ in how the sugar goes in,…
📖 GlossaryMirepoix
Mirepoix is a French flavour base of diced onion, carrot, and celery in a 2:1:1 ratio by weight, cooked in fat to build depth in stocks,…
📖 GlossaryMise en Place
Mise en place is French for 'everything in its place': measuring, chopping and organizing all ingredients and tools before you cook, so…
📖 GlossaryMonter au Beurre
Monter au beurre means whisking cold butter into a warm sauce off the boil to finish it. The butter emulsifies, adding gloss, light body…
📖 GlossaryMother Sauces
The five French mother sauces are béchamel, velouté, espagnole, tomato and hollandaise: bases thickened by roux, reduction or emulsion…
📖 GlossaryMouthfeel: The Texture Side of Flavour
Mouthfeel is how food feels in your mouth: thickness, creaminess, crunch, astringency and fizz. Fat, starch, gelatin, particle size and…
📖 GlossaryMSG (Monosodium Glutamate): What It Is and Is It Safe?
MSG, monosodium glutamate, is a pure umami seasoning: the same glutamate found in tomatoes and Parmesan, paired with sodium. Food…
📖 GlossaryMyoglobin: Why Meat Is Red (and It's Not Blood)
Myoglobin is the iron-rich protein that stores oxygen in muscle and makes meat red. The red juice in steak is myoglobin and water, not…
N
Nappe
Nappe means a sauce thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, so a finger swiped through leaves a clean line. Custards reach it at about…
📖 GlossaryNixtamalization: How Lime Turns Corn into Masa
Nixtamalization is cooking dried corn in an alkaline solution, usually slaked lime. It loosens hulls, frees niacin and lets masa form…
O
Osmosis
Learn how osmosis works in cooking, why salt draws water out of vegetables and meat, and how to use it for crisp salads, brines, and…
📖 GlossaryOsmosis in Cooking
Osmosis in cooking is water moving out of cells toward higher salt or sugar levels. It's why salted vegetables weep, sugared fruit makes…
📖 GlossaryOven Spring
Oven spring is the fast rise bread makes in its first 10–15 minutes of baking as gas expands and water turns to steam. Learn what boosts…
P
Pan Sauce
A pan sauce is made in the pan you seared meat in: deglaze the browned fond with wine or stock, reduce it, then swirl in cold butter for…
📖 GlossaryParboiling
Parboiling is partly cooking food in boiling water before finishing it another way, such as roasting or frying. It gives crisp roast…
📖 GlossaryPasta Water
Pasta water is the starchy, salted water left after boiling pasta. Its dissolved starch thickens and emulsifies sauces so they turn…
📖 GlossaryPectin
Pectin is a natural fibre in fruit that gels with sugar and acid to set jam. Learn high- vs low-methoxyl pectin, the 104 °C jam set…
📖 GlossarypH
Learn what pH means in cooking, how acids and bases change color, texture, and flavor, and why it matters for baking soda, pickles, and…
📖 GlossarypH in Cooking
pH measures how acidic or alkaline food is, from 0 to 14. In cooking it controls browning, vegetable colour and texture, protein…
📖 GlossaryPoaching
Poaching is cooking food gently in liquid at about 70–82 °C (160–180 °F), below a simmer, so proteins set without toughening. Ideal for…
📖 GlossaryPressure Cooking: How Higher Pressure Cooks Food Faster
Pressure cooking traps steam so water's boiling point rises to about 115–121 °C / 240–250 °F, cutting braising and bean cooking times by…
📖 GlossaryProofing
Proofing is the final rise of shaped yeast dough before baking. Learn ideal proofing temperatures, how the poke test works, and the…
📖 GlossaryProtein Denaturation
Protein denaturation is the unfolding of a protein's shape by heat, acid, salt, or whipping. It firms eggs, tightens meat, and makes…
Q
R
Reduction
Reduction is simmering a liquid so water evaporates, concentrating flavour and thickening it. Reducing stock, wine or cream by half…
📖 GlossaryRendering
Rendering is slowly melting fat out of meat, skin, or trimmings over low heat. It crisps bacon and duck skin and makes lard, tallow, and…
📖 GlossaryResting Meat
Resting meat means letting it sit after cooking so juices thicken and carryover heat finishes it. Steaks need about 5 minutes, roasts…
📖 GlossaryRoasting
Roasting is cooking with dry oven heat, usually 200–230 °C (400–450 °F), so surfaces dry and brown through the Maillard reaction while…
📖 GlossaryRoux
A roux is equal weights of fat and flour cooked together to thicken sauces, soups and gravies. It ranges from white to dark brown;…
S
Sauteing
Learn what saute means, how to cook food quickly in a hot pan with a little fat, and how to get great browning without steaming or burning.
📖 GlossaryScoring Bread: Why You Slash Dough Before Baking
Scoring bread means slashing the dough with a razor before baking. It gives oven spring a controlled place to expand, so the loaf opens…
📖 GlossarySearing: What It Is and Why It Makes Food Taste Better
Searing is browning food's surface over high heat to build a flavourful crust through the Maillard reaction. Despite the myth, it…
📖 GlossarySeason to Taste
Season to taste means adding salt, acid, pepper and other seasonings in small amounts, tasting after each, until the dish tastes right…
📖 GlossarySeasoning Cast Iron: What It Is and the Science Behind It
Seasoning on cast iron is a layer of oil heated until it polymerizes and bonds to the metal. It makes the pan non-stick and protects the…
📖 GlossaryShortening
Shortening is any solid fat that tenderizes baked goods by limiting gluten, and the name for 100%-fat vegetable shortening. Compare it…
📖 GlossarySifting: Do You Really Need to Sift Flour?
Sifting passes dry ingredients through a fine mesh to break up lumps and add air. Modern flour rarely needs it, but cocoa, icing sugar…
📖 GlossarySimmer vs Boil
A boil is water at 100 °C (212 °F) with big rolling bubbles; a simmer is gentler, about 85–96 °C (185–205 °F), with small steady…
📖 GlossarySlurry
A slurry is starch, like cornstarch, stirred into cold liquid, then whisked into a hot sauce to thicken it. Use 1 tbsp cornstarch per…
📖 GlossarySmoke Point
Smoke point is the temperature at which a fat starts to smoke steadily and break down. See smoke points for common oils and butter, and…
📖 GlossarySourdough Starter
A sourdough starter is a live culture of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria in flour and water that leavens bread. Learn feeding ratios…
📖 GlossarySous Vide
Sous vide is cooking sealed food in a water bath held at an exact temperature, like 55 °C / 131 °F for medium-rare steak, so it cooks…
📖 GlossarySpherification: How to Make Liquid Pearls That Burst
Spherification turns liquids into gel-skinned spheres that burst in your mouth. Sodium alginate reacts with calcium to form a thin skin…
📖 GlossaryStarch Gelatinization
Starch gelatinization is when starch granules absorb water and swell with heat, thickening sauces and setting bread. Learn the…
📖 GlossaryStarch Retrogradation
Starch retrogradation is the recrystallizing of cooked starch as it cools. It makes bread stale and rice hard, and it happens fastest in…
📖 GlossarySteaming
Steaming cooks food in the vapour above boiling water. Condensing steam delivers heat fast but gently, so vegetables, fish and dumplings…
📖 GlossaryStir-Frying
Stir-frying cooks small, even pieces over very high heat in a wok or wide pan with constant tossing, so meat sears and vegetables stay…
📖 GlossaryStock vs Broth
Stock is simmered from bones for body and gelatin and left unsalted; broth is made from meat, seasoned, and lighter. Here's how they…
📖 GlossarySugar Crystallization
Sugar crystallization is when dissolved sucrose re-forms solid crystals, turning syrup grainy. Learn why it happens and how to prevent…
📖 GlossarySugar Stages
Sugar stages are the temperature points, from thread (106 °C / 223 °F) to hard crack (154 °C / 310 °F), that tell you how firm cooked…
📖 GlossarySweating Vegetables
Sweating vegetables means cooking them gently in a little fat over low heat, often with salt, until soft and translucent but not…
T
Temperature Danger Zone
The food danger zone is 4–60 °C (40–140 °F), where bacteria multiply fastest. Keep perishable food out of it and never leave it there…
📖 GlossaryTempering
Tempering means slowly warming eggs with hot liquid so they don't scramble, or heating and cooling chocolate so it sets glossy and…
📖 GlossaryTempering eggs
Learn what tempering eggs means, why hot liquid scrambles eggs if added too fast, and the simple step-by-step method for smooth custards…
📖 GlossaryThe Five Basic Tastes: Sweet, Sour, Salty, Bitter, Umami
The five basic tastes are sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. Each one is sensed by its own receptors all over the tongue; the classic…
📖 GlossaryThe Leidenfrost Effect: Why Water Dances on a Hot Pan
The Leidenfrost effect is when a water drop on a very hot pan floats on its own steam and glides around. On steel it starts near 190–200…
📖 GlossaryToasting spices
Learn how to toast whole spices in a dry pan, why it unlocks deeper and nuttier flavor, and how to tell when cumin and coriander are ready.
📖 GlossaryTrussing: Why (and When) to Tie a Chicken or Roast
Trussing is tying poultry or a roast with butcher's twine into a compact shape so it cooks evenly. Tie roasts every 2.5 to 4 cm, and…