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Cooking
Glossary
A
Á la (au, aux): With or
dressed in a certain style.
Á la Allemande: In German style.
Á la Americaine: In American style.
Á la Bearnaise: In Swiss style.
Absinthe: A
distilled and highly alcoholic (usually 68 to 80 percent)
anise-flavored
spirit derived from herbs including the flowers and leaves of the
medicinal plant Artemisia absinthium, also called Grand Wormwood or
Absinth Wormwood. Absinthe is typically green or clear and is often
referred to as 'The Green Fairy'. Although it is sometimes mistakenly
called a liqueur, absinthe is not bottled with added sugar and is
therefore classified as a spirit. It is barred from the United States
and many European countries because it is considered very injurious
substance. Besides
being extremely intoxicating, it overstimulates the heart and the
stomach
if taken in even comparatively small quantities.
Acidulated
Water: Vinegar, lemon, juice or
wine added to water
to keep vegetables or fruits from darkening.
Aging:
The time required to develop the character of wine and many distilled
spirits. Aging is usually done in wooden casks. The type and condition
of the cask depends on the formula for the spirit or wine being
produced. no further aging occurs after bottling.
Allergy: A condition of heightened
sensitivity to a substance such as food.
<>Alcoholic
Beverages: Beverages made by
allowing yeast to ferment the
starch or the sugar in a certain kind of food, thus producing acid and
alcohol. Grains and fruits are usually used for this purpose. In some
cases, the fermentation is allowed to continue long enough to use up
all
the starch or sugar in the material selected, and in this event the
resulting
beverages are sour and contain a great deal of alcohol. In others, the
fermentation is stopped before all the sugar or starch is utilized, and
then the beverage is sweet and contains less alcohol. The higher the
percentage
of alcohol a beverage contains, the more intoxicating it is and the
more
quickly will a state of intoxication be reached by drinking it.
Al
Dente: Italian
term meaning cooked until
barely tender, but not soft, used in reference to pasta or vegetables.
Allspice:
Allspice is the dried, unripe
berry of a small tree.
It is available ground or in seed form, & used in a variety of
dishes
such as pickles, casseroles, cakes & puddings. Also known as
Jamaica
Pepper.
Apéritif
or Aperitif: A "before the
meal" drink to improve the appetite. It is often served with
something small to eat, like finger food, pistachios, chips, crackers,
cheeses or peanuts. Most of the fortified wines that also contain herbs
and botanicals are considered as apéritifs (e.g.. Vermouth.
Fortified wines without additives, such as port or sherry are not
apéritifs., but the dry versions are often served as such.
Cocktails and some medium-dry table wines also fall into the
apéritif category.
Appetizer: A small serving of food
or beverage served before, or as the first course of a meal.
Armagnac:
A fine French brandy. Full bodied and drier than cognac. Armagnac is
one of two rivals for cognac wine recognition as the finest
producer of eau de vie (brandy) in the world. Its name comes from the
Armagnac region of France where it originates. Armagnac has been making
brandy for around 200 years longer than Cognac.
Aromatic Wine:
Fortified wine that has been flavored with herbs, roots, bark or other
plant parts.
Aubergine:
Purple, vaguely egg shaped
vegetable. In the US called
eggplant. Another (Indian) word for eggplant or aubergine is brinjal.
Au Gratin: With a cheese topping,
with
crust or with browned crumbs.
Au Jus:
French term used in reference to
meat meaning "served
in natural juices."
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