Sachet: A small pouch or bag used to contain herbs.

Salpicon: Highly seasoned minced meat mixed with a thick syrup.

Sambal Ulek (sambal oelek): Used as an accompaniment and in cooking. Made by crushing fresh red chilies with a little salt: Remove the seeds from the chilies, chop finely, then crush with salt using a pestle and mortar. Three chilies will make about 1 tablespoon sambal ulek (also available redy-prepared in small jars from Oriental stores and some delicatessens).

Sanitize: To kill 999 out of 1000 pathogenic micro-organisms.

Sautéing: Browning food first on one side and then on the other in a small quantity of fat. In this cooking process, the fat is placed in a shallow pan, and when it is sufficiently hot, the food is put into it. Foods that are to be sautéed are usually sliced thin or cut into small pieces, and they are turned frequently during the process of cooking. All foods prepared in this way are difficult to digest, because they become more or less hard and soaked with fat.

Scald: To heat to temperature just below boiling point.

Scrapple: Scrapple is boiled, ground leftover pieces of pig, together with cornmeal and spices, usually  served with a spicy tomato catsup.

Sear: To brown surface rapidly at high temperature.

Seltzer: Plain soda water.

Shallots: Not green/spring onion - mall pointed members of the onion family that grow in clusters something like garlic and have a mild, onion taste.

Sift: To pass through a sieve.

Simmer: To cook in liquid at a temperature just below boiling.

Single cream: In the US light cream.

Skewer: A long pin of wood or metal on which food is placed and held in shape while cooking.

Sliver: To cut or shred into long, thin pieces.

Soft Water: Water that contains very little mineral matter. A common example of soft water is rainwater.

Spanish onion: Also called Bermuda onion.  Large and not as "hot" as standard onions.  This nomenclature may vary in some regions. Often used to mean "Red Spanish Onion" which is not so much red as purple.

Spores: A resistant body formed by certain micro-organisms when exposed to unfriendly environments.

Squash: A family of vegetables.  All but two have a thick, hard, usually inedible rind, rich tasting meat, and lots of seeds. A well known if not wide-spread example is the pumpkin. There are also things called summer squashes, which have edible rinds, milder meats, and usually fewer seeds.  An example of this type is the zucchini or courgette.

Sterilize: To kill all micro-organisms.

Stew: To cook covered in a small amount of simmering or boiling water for a long time.

Stock: The liquid in which meat, poultry, fish or vegetables have been cooked.

Straight Whiskey: This is whiskey made from only one grain and it is not blended with anything else, including other whiskeys.