Cooking Glossary
C
Cacao -- A tropical tree whose seeds are used to make cocoa and chocolate.
Cacao Recipes
Caesar salad -- Famous salad first made by Caesar Cardini in Tijuana, Mexico. Romaine lettuce and croutons are tossed with garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, anchovy, egg, and Worcestershire sauce.
Caesar Salad Recipes
Cajun -- A culinary style of French and Southern origins, associated with the deep south.
Calorie -- An energy unit of measure. It is defined as the energy required to heat one gram of water by one degree C.
Cannelloni -- A large, tube-shaped pasta. Generally boiled, stuffed, and served with a sauce.
Cannelloni Recipes
Cannoli -- Italian dessert of deep fried pasta shells filled with a sweet ricotta cheese.
Cannoli Recipes
Canola oil -- Canadian oil made from the rapeseed.
Capellini -- Thin pasta.
Capellini Recipes
Capers -- The flower but of a bush native to the Mediterranean and parts of Asia. It is picked, dried and then pickled in a vinegar brine.
Caper Recipes
Cappuccino -- An Italian coffee beverage of expresso, a little steamed milk, topped with steamed milk foam.
Cappuccino Recipes
Capsaicin -- The "heat" in chiles comes from this compound. Most prevalent in the seeds and veins of the chiles.
Caramel -- A candy produced by melting sugar to between 320 F. and 350 F. When cooled, it is hard and brittle. Soft caramel is made by mixing butter and milk with the caramel.
Caramel Recipes
Caramelization -- Browning sugar over a flame.
Carpaccio -- Italian dish of raw beef, very thinly sliced, drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil, and topped with capers and onions.
Carpaccio Recipes
Caster suger -- Superfine sugar.
Caviar -- Sturgeon roe (eggs).
Caviar Recipes
Cayenne -- Bright red, very hot chile pepper.
Cayenne Recipes
Celeriac -- The root of a variety of celery.
Celeriac Recipes
Celsius -- A temperature scale where 0 is the freezing point of water, and 100 is the boiling point (at sea level.) F = 32 + C * 9/5.
Chafing dish -- A dish kept above a heat source to keep food warm.
Challah -- A Jewish yeast bread.
Challah Recipes
Chard -- A vegetable related to the beet, used for its leaves and stalks.
Chard Recipes
Cheese -- A milk-derived product produced in hundreds of forms using many methods.
Cheese Recipes
Cherries jubilee -- A dessert of dark red cherries, sugar, and brandy, flamed then served over ice cream.
Cherries Jubilee Recipes
Chervil -- A mild, anise-flavored herb related to parsley.
Chervil Recipes
Chess pie -- A favorite southern pie that has a combination of corn syrup, sugar, eggs and a small amount of flour as the filling.
Chess Pie Recipes
Chestnut -- A large, sweet nut of the chestnut tree.
Chestnut Recipes
Chickpea -- Also called garbanzo beans, these large peas are common in Mediterranean, Indian, and Middle Eastern dishes.
Chickpea Recipes
Chicory -- A bitter-tasting green, related to endive.
Chicory Recipes
Chiffon -- Pie filling made light and fluffy with stabilized gelatin and beaten egg whites.
Chiffonade -- Thin strips of vegetables lightly sauteed or used raw to garnish soups.
Chinois -- A fine, metal sieve, used to strain food.
Chives -- A hardy, perennial herb (Allium schoenoprasum) of the lily family, with small, slender, hollow leaves having a mild onion odor.
Chive Recipes
Chocolate -- A highly refined and processed derivative of cocoa beans.
Chocolate Recipes
Chop -- To cut into irregular pieces.
Chop suey -- Chinese dish made of chopped meat, mushrooms, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, onions, and rice.
Chop Suey Recipes
Chorizo -- A highly seasoned, coarsely ground pork sausage flavored with garlic, chili powder and other spices used in both Mexican and Spanish cooking.
Chorizo Recipes
Chowder -- Any thick and chunky soup.
Chowder Recipes
Churn -- The process of agitating cream until it separates into solids and liquids. The solid fat result is butter.
Chutney -- A spicy, Indian condiment made from fruit, vinegar, and spices.
Chutney Recipes
Cilantro -- The stems and leaves of the coriander plant, also known as Chinese parsley and coriander.
Cilantro Recipes
Clafouti -- A French dessert made by topping fresh fruit with batter.
Clafouti Recipes
Clarified butter -- Butter with milk solids removed. Easy to make by slowly melting butter in a bowl until the solids settle to the bottom. Then chill until hardened, turn over, and skim off the solids.
Clarify -- Remove impurities from butter or stock by heating the liquid, then straining or skimming it.
Coat -- To evenly cover food with flour, crumbs, or a batter.
Coddle -- A cooking method in which foods are put in separate containers and placed in a pan of simmering water for slow, gentle cooking.
Coffee -- Beverage produced by steeping roasted, ground coffee beans.
Cognac -- A fine brandy from the Cognac region of France.
Cognac Recipes
Coleslaw -- A shredded or chopped salad of red or white cabbage and mixed with mayonnaise, vinaigrette or other dressing.
Coleslaw Recipes
Collard -- A Southern green of the cabbage family.
Collard Recipes
Combine -- To ingredients into a single mixture.
Compote -- A dessert dish of fruit which has been slowly cooked in a syrup, then chilled.
Compote Recipes
Confit -- To slowly cook pieces of meat in their own gently rendered fat.
Consomme -- A clarified meat or fish broth which can be used as a soup or sauce base.
coral lettuce -- A type of lettuce with leaves resembling coral.
Core -- To remove the inedible center of fruits such as pineapples.
Coriander -- A spice made from the seeds of the coriander plant.
Coriander Recipes
Cornichon -- A pickle made from small gherkin cucumbers.
Cornichon Recipes
Courgette -- French word for zucchini.
Courgette Recipes
Court-bouillon -- A poaching broth made of vegetables and herbs boiled for 30 minutes then allowed to cool before straining.
Couscous -- A grain of semolina used in North African cuisines.
Couscous Recipes
Cream -- The milk-fat portion of separated milk. Cream is categorized by the amount of milk fat. Light cream contains about 18-30% fat, light whipping cream 30-36%, heavy whipping cream 36-40%. Half and half is a blend of light cream and milk, with about 12% fat.
Cream of tartar -- A powdery acid that comes from deposits inside wine barrels.
Cream of Tartar Recipes
Creme fraiche -- Cream that has fermented into a thick, tangy sauce.
Creme Fraiche Recipes
Crimp -- To create a decorative edge on a piecrust.
Crisp -- To restore the crunch to foods.
Crockpot -- An electric cooking pot with a crockery liner in which foods are cooked on lower temperatures for a longer time period.
Crown roast -- A preparation of meat, where a rib section is tied in a circle with the rib ends up.
Crush -- To condense a food to its smallest particles.
Crystallize -- To form sugar- or honey-based syrups into crystals.
Cumin -- A very aromatic seed, sold in seed and ground form.
Cumin Recipes
Curd -- Custard-like pie or tart filling flavored with juice and zest of citrus fruit.
Curdle -- To cause semisolid pieces of coagulated protein to develop in food.
Cure -- To preserve or add flavor with an ingredient.
Curry -- A gravy-based Indian dish.
Curry Recipes
Custard -- A mixture of beaten egg, milk, and other ingredients such as sweet or savory flavorings, which is cooked with gentle heat, often in a water bath or double boiler.
Custard Recipes
Cut in -- To work vegetable shortening, margarine, or butter into dry ingredients.
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