Food Vocab Flashcards
Alsatian
A region in North East France.
Creme Fraiche
Crem Fresh
Mature (unpasteurized) thickened cream, slightly tangy, nutty flavor and velvety rich texture.
A cream similar to sour cream in texture and preparation (Process of cream becoming sour)
Less sour then American sour cream.
Gruyere
Groo-yer
A cheese that melts very well and is hard in texture, and yellow in color.
Sweet, but slightly salty
Saffron
Saf-ruhn
Yellow Orange stigmas from a small purple crocus (Crocus Sativa) Each flower provides 3 stigmas (receptors for flowers) hand picked and dried $$$
14,000 stigmas for 1oz.
Worlds most expensive spice.
Pungent spice that goes a long way. Also used for food coloring.
Aioli
A strongly flavored garlic Mayonaise from the provence of southern France. Popular use in fish, meats, and veggies.
Buffalo Meat
Really a bison - a shaggy, humped member of the cattle family.
Buffalo meat is tender, and taste like lean meat. That means cooked slower and low heat.
Higher in Iron and lower in fat and cholesterol then most cuts of beef and chicken, and some cuts of fish.
It has no pronounced gamey flavor.
Carpaccio
Italian in Orgin
Thin shavings of raw beef fillet.
Usually an appetizer.
Truffle
One of the rarest and most expensive foods in the world.
Truffle is a fungus that grows near trees (oak, but also chestnut, hazel and beech.) The way it’s cropped is why it’s so expensive. Dogs or pigs smell it out. It’s then cropped with no touch of the hand or skin.
Truffle is earthy, and garlicky aroma.
Vinaigrette
An emulsion of vinegar
3 parts oil 1 part vinegar
with S+P
Mignonette
meen-yawn-Neht
A pepper sauce that is commonly served with oysters.
A pepper sauce with vinegar
Cornichons
KOR-nih-shohn
French for “gherkin”.
Cornichons are crisp, tart pcikles made from tiny gherkin cucumbers.
Usually served with smoked meats and fish.
Coulis
koo-lee
A general term refering to a thick puree or sauce.
Cure; curing
To treat food by:
- Smoking (usually cool smoke; could take a month
- Pickle- soack in various flavored acid based brines.
- Corn; corned - Have also been soaked in brine. Usually with salt water and seasoning.
- Brine def - Strong solution of water and salt used for pickling. salt water
- Salt-cured foods - dried and packed in salt preperations.
Napoleon
Dishes that are reflective of Naples.
Usually those including tomatoes, onion, garlic, herbs, and olive oil.
Lemon Verbena
ver-BEE-nuh
Native to South America. Long slender leaves of this potent herb, have an over powering lemonlike flavor.
beurre blanc
Meaning “White Butter”
Classic french sauce - wine, vinegar, and shallot reduction into which chunks of cold butter are whisked until the sauce is thick and smooth.
English Pea
A simple garden pea.
Prosciutto
Italian for ham - ham that has been seasoned and salt cured (but not smoked) and air dried.
Artisanal
ar-TIH-zen-ahl
food or bev has been primarlily handmade and produced in small batches by traditional, predominantly non mechanical methods.
Superior fresh, natural, and local ingredients and attention to detail and excellence are all part of the artisan tradition. The results in products of homemade goodness.
Baguette
A french bread that’s been formed into a long narrow cylindrical loaf.
Spring Radish
the radish is in fact the root of a plant in the mustard family. Skin can vary from white to red.
Quinoa
New to the American market, but it was a staple to the ancient Incas. Called the mother grain.
Super grain of the future. contains more protein than any other grain. A complete protein that contains all the eight essential amino acids.
Also higher in unsaturated fats and lower in carbs.
Tiny and bead shaped. Cooks like rice, but takes half the time. Expands to 4 times it’s OG size.
Flavor is delicate and bland.
couscous
A staple of North African cuisine.
Is granular semolina.
Steamed on top of dishes sometimes like lamb, or chicken.
Tarragon
An herb - known for it’s distinctive aniselike flavor. Widely used in classic french cooking for variety of dishes.
Anise is an herb that tastes like licorice. You can substitute fennel seeds for the same flavor when cooking; some cookbooks also say you can use “anise-like” herbs such as dill, basil, tarragon, marjoram or angelica.
Roquefort
rohk-FOR
“King of Cheeses” One of oldest and best known in the world. A blue cheese used since caesars time.
Made from sheeps milk exposed to a mold. (penicillium roqueforti) aged for 3 months in caverns of Mount Combalou near the village of Roquefort in SW France.
Tapenade
Hailing from France’s Provence region.
Thick paste made from capers, anchovies, ripe olives, olive oil, lemon juice, seasonings and sometime small pieces of tuna
Crostini
little toast
toasted and brushed with olive oil
Kangaroo
A healthy meat beacuse of it’s free range environment, the foods they eat and their low fat content.
Flavor between wild rabbit and venison.
Suggested to not cook over Med Rare.
Even with low fat content, it’s still considered a tender meat.
Also called australus to avoid calling kangaroo.
Game Animals
Wild and are not farm raised
Creme Chantilly
is lightly sweetened whipped cream, sometimes flavored with vanilla or liqueur. Usually used as a dessert topping
Bisque
A thinck, rich soup usually consisting of pureed seafood and seafood.
Heirloom Tomatoes
Unique and extremely flavorful
Burrata Mozz
Cow’s milk was created as a means of using up scraps of mozz.
Fresh curd is dipped into hot whey, then stretched and kneaded to the desired pliability.
