Culinary Terms

To make our recipes easier to understand I have listed some of the classic culinary terms that we will be using with exactly what they mean.

SAUTE: It is a French verb meaning to jump, i.e. wok cooking. To do this you would stir constantly moving, using little grease. Basically tossing.

FRY: This means to cook on high heat, with colour. For instance frying onions until golden brown to promote caramalization.

SWEAT: This is to cook on a low heat without colour. For example cooking onions slowly until translucent.

SEARING: The meat is pan fried to brown on both sides to promote caramalization but this does not lock in the juice of the meat.

HERB: A tropical plant whose stems do not become woody, for example parsley, sage, dill, oregano

SPICE: This is tropical and can be made up of roots, bark, seeds. For example mace, nutmeg, turmeric

ALLSPICE: In Jamaican recipes they sometimes refer to this as pimento, they do not mean pimento pepper but actually allspice.

CHIFFONADE: This is a cutting technique used to cut herbs and flat leafy green vegetables into thin pieces.

JULIENNE: To cut vegetables very thin into matchstick strips

BLANCH: A method used to keep vegetables crisp and fresh looking. A quick boil then an ice bath. It allows vegetables to keep their colour, texture and flavour. Once cooled you can cook anyway you desire to re-heat such as grilling or pan frying.