Glossary

Food glossary

536 definitions · page 4 of 9.

Fillet: The term used to describe a boneless, lean cut of meat, fish or poultry. Fillet of beef is a prime cut and different parts of it are called different names depending on which part of the fillet they're cut from, including filet mignon, tournedos and…
Filo pastry: Paper-thin translucent sheets of pastry commonly used in Greek, Eastern European and Middle Eastern cuisines. It's sold ready-made in rolled layers - fresh from the chiller cabinet, or frozen. The delicate sheets are strengthened by using several layers…
Fines herbes: A mixture of chopped aromatic fresh herbs used in French cooking, particularly in egg dishes, sauces, salads and soups. The classic combination is chopped chives, chervil, parsley and tarragon. You can buy fines herbes dried.
Fish sauce: A powerful thin brown sauce used in the cooking of numerous countries in Asia. It's made by fermenting small whole fish in brine and drawing off the liquid, which is then bottled. It smells pungent and tastes very salty, although cooking greatly reduces its…
Five-spice powder: A pungent mixture of five spices commonly used in Chinese cookery; it's a brown powder made of ground star anise, fennel seeds, cloves, cinnamon and Sichuan pepper. It's available from Chinese grocers, and is becoming more widely available in supermarkets…
Flaky pastry: A type of pastry that's rolled, folded and re-rolled several times to create layers of pastry which in the heat of the oven will rise into thin leaves. Heavier than puff pastry, but easier to make, it's usually used for savoury pies and is often baked with a…
Flan: An open pie with a pastry base containing a sweet or savoury filling in a custard of eggs and cream. Spinach flan or leek and bacon flan are examples. In Spain and Latin America 'flan' is used to refer to the egg custard dessert that we know as crème caramel.
Fleur de sel: Fleur de sel is a moist salt from France. Available from good delis or some larger supermarkets.
Florentine: Any French or Italian dish described as 'Florentine' uses spinach as its base. A florentine is also a kind of biscuit made with nuts, honey and dried fruit. When the biscuits are cooked and have cooled they’re spread on one side with melted chocolate and…
Florets: Florets are the small, individual flower stems that make up the heads of vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower.
Flour: Flour is made from finely ground cereal, such as wheat, barley, oats, rye, rice and maize (corn). In Britain, the word 'flour' usually refers to flour produced from wheat. Wheat flour contains gluten, a protein that forms an elastic network that helps…
Foie gras: Literally French for ‘fat liver’, this term refers to the rich pâté made from the liver of ducks and geese that have been force-fed and fattened until their livers become enlarged. The south-west of France is the major foie gras producing area and the method…
Fond: The French word for stock - the flavoured liquid base used for making a sauce, stew or braised dish.
Fondant: Fondant is a sweet itself and is also used as an icing or filling. It's made from sugar, water and cream of tartar or liquid glucose, which are boiled together until the syrup reaches what is called soft ball stage (when a spoonful of the sugar syrup is…
Fondue: A glorious Swiss dish of melted cheese and wine served at the table in a large pot (also called a fondue) set over a burner to keep the cheese warm. Each person spears bite-size pieces of bread with a long-handled fork and dips it into the melted cheese…
Fontina: A very popular semi-soft Italian cows'-milk cheese, fontina is deep golden yellow in colour with a reddish brown rind. It has a firm, slightly springy texture and melts easily, so is great to cook with. It has a delicate flavour and makes a good dessert…
Fragrant rice: An aromatic long-grain rice favoured in Thai and Vietnamese cooking. It’s also known as jasmine rice and is quite similar to Indian basmati, but is slightly stickier. Serve it with Thai-style curries or spicy, saucy dishes. For something different try using…
Frangipane: Frangipane (or frangipani) is an almond-flavoured sweet pastry cream used when preparing various desserts, sweets, cakes and pancakes. It's made with milk, sugar, flour, eggs and butter mixed with either crushed macaroons or with ground almonds. It's said to…
French dressing: Also known as vinaigrette (French for 'little vinegar') this is a fairly thick salad dressing made from a mixture of olive oil, wine vinegar (red, white or balsamic) and salt and pepper to which various flavourings can be added such as herbs, mustard, honey…
Fricassée: A delicate creamy dish of chicken and vegetables, often served with rice. The chicken is cooked gently in butter, after which a creamy white sauce (usually made with double cream) is added. It's often garnished with small glazed onions and lightly cooked…
Frittata: An Italian omelette usually made quite thick with a variety of fillings, such potatoes, mushrooms, courgettes, ham, cheese, and so on. Unlike a French omelette, the ingredients are mixed with the eggs rather than being folded inside them. The frittata is cut…
Fritter: A fritter is any piece of raw or cooked meat, fish, fruit or vegetable coated in batter and deep-fried until crisp, golden and cooked through. Fritter batter is usually made from flour, eggs, milk, salt, pepper and a little oil to help them go crisp. If it's…
Fritto misto: An Italian dish combining a variety of fritters. Literally meaning 'fried mixture' it can include a variety of deep-fried meats and vegetables such as lamb, rabbit, veal, sausage, liver, courgettes, carrots, aubergine, fennel and tomatoes. Fruit, such as…
Fromage frais: A fresh, low-fat curd cheese (similar to cottage cheese but processed until the texture is smooth and lump-free) made from pasteurised cows' milk. Fromage frais has very little fat but there are ones that have cream added which make them better for cooking…
Fumet: A strong-flavoured cooking liquor used for flavouring sauces; fumet usually refers to concentrated mushroom and fish stocks. The liquid left over from cooking is boiled down rapidly to a syrupy consistency, to be added to an accompanying sauce. For meat…
Fusilli: Spiral-shaped pasta which comes in plain, wholewheat and flavoured varieties such as spinach or tomato. Fusilli tricolore comes in three colours: white (plain egg pasta), green (coloured with spinach), and red (coloured with tomato). The twists and turns are…
Galangal: Galangal is a member of the ginger family. It's widely used in South-east Asian cuisine, particularly Thai cookery; it's an important ingredient in Thai curry pastes. It can be bought as fresh root, dried root or a dried, ground powder. The root looks a bit…
Garam masala: An aromatic mixture of ground spices used as a base for many Indian dishes ('masala' means spice). The proportion of spices changes according to the dish being cooked but the basic ingredients are cumin, coriander, cardamom, black pepper and cinnamon. The…
Garlic: Garlic is a member of leek and onion family. There are many varieties, differing in size, pungency and colour. The bulb or 'head' of garlic is formed of 12 to 16 bulblets, called cloves. The most widely used European variety has a white/grey skin and is…
Gazpacho: Originally a peasant bread soup from Andalusia, Spain, it was flavoured with olive oil, garlic and vinegar and any vegetables growing in the vegetable patch. In winter the soup could be eaten hot and in summer cold. The modern version is more like a cold…
Gelatine: A product derived from the bones of animals, and used as a setting agent for sweet or savoury jellies and pudding fillings. Gelatine comes in powder form or in leaves and is tasteless. Powdered gelatine is sprinkled over cold water and left to soak and swell…
Ghee: A form of clarified butter used in Indian cookery. The clarified butter (the butter is slowly melted, thereby separating the milk solids, which sink to the bottom of the pan, from the golden liquid on the surface) is simmered until all the moisture…
Ginger: A spice that comes from the rhizome (a thick underground stem) of the Zingiber officinale plant. Ginger can be used fresh (often called root ginger or ginger root) or dried and ground to a powder. Ginger adds a touch of heat to both sweet and savoury dishes…
Globe artichoke: The globe artichoke is related to the thistle. Its leaves are eaten, along with the bottom part of the flower, called the heart (which you can also buy tinned). It makes a delicious starter simply boiled whole and served with melted butter, mayonnaise…
Gluten: Gluten is a mixture of two proteins present in cereal grains, in particular wheat. It's a key factor in the success in all kinds of baking because it's gluten that absorbs liquid, giving dough its elasticity and strength. The kneading process helps to…
Gnocchi: A sort of pasta for potato lovers - these are small Italian dumplings usually made from potato, flour (traditionally buckwheat flour) and egg and shaped into small ovals with a ridged pattern on one side. They can also be made from semolina, as Roman cooks…
Gorgonzola: An Italian blue cheese made from pasteurised cows' milk. It's pale yellow streaked with greenish-blue veins. It has a distinct smell and can be mild, strong or sharp in flavour depending on its maturity. Gorgonzola is rich and creamy, generally used…
Gram flour: A flour made from ground chickpeas. It's pale yellow and powdery and has an earthy flavour best suited to savoury dishes. Gram flour contains no gluten and is widely used in Indian cookery.
Granadilla: An exotic fruit belonging to the passion fruit family, granadillas are twice the size of passion fruit with a smooth, brittle, orange shell and a mild, sweet pulp inside made of a mass of flesh-covered green seeds. Only the seeds are eaten, not the shell…
Granita: An Italian sorbet made of lightly sweetened syrup, often flavoured with coffee or liqueur. It’s made with a basic sorbet mixture but is stirred during freezing to achieve a coarse texture. It needs to be served as soon as it’s ready and is traditionally…
Gratin: A gratin is any dish that's topped with cheese or breadcrumbs mixed with knobs of butter, then heated in the oven or under the grill until brown and crisp. The terms 'au gratin' or 'gratinée' refer to any dish prepared in this way. Special round or oval…
Gravadlax or gravlax: The traditional Scandinavian method of curing salmon, in which the freshest raw salmon is rubbed with a mixture of sugar, salt, pepper and fresh dill and left to cure until it has turned opaque. True gravadlax should be left to cure at a temperature of…
Gravy: Traditionally, 'gravy' meant simply the naturally concentrated juices that come from meat as it roasts. The juices can also be combined with a liquid such as chicken or beef stock, wine or milk and thickened with flour, cornflour or some other thickening…
Grècque (à la): 'À la grècque' is a term that crops up on restaurant menus mostly, and means with the addition of a dressing of tomatoes, fresh herbs, lemon juice and olive oil. It usually refers to a dish of cooked vegetables, served cold as a salad or hors d'oeuvre, as in…
Gremolata: An Italian garnish of raw, finely chopped garlic, parsley and lemon zest. It's usually sprinkled over slow-cooked braised meats, as in the Italian dish osso bucco, but it makes a good garnish for grilled fish or chicken too.
Griddle: A flat cast-iron pan traditionally used for breads and scones. More recently griddles tend to have a ridged surface and are used for cooking vegetables, meat and fish. It tends to be thought of as a healthier method of cooking as the fat from the meat drains…
Guacamole: A Mexican dish of mashed avocado mixed with lemon or lime juice and various seasonings (usually chilli powder and red pepper). Sometimes finely chopped tomato, onion and coriander leaf are added. You can make it as chunky or as smooth as you like. Guacamole…
Guinea fowl: Originally a game bird, but now domesticated and available all year round, the guinea fowl has a flavour somewhere between chicken and pheasant. You can substitute guinea fowl for just about any chicken recipe. A young bird has tasty flesh, although it's…
Gumbo: A thick, gelatinous, soupy stew from Louisiana in the southern US, thickened with okra. Made with chicken, fish, pork, turkey or seafood, it's typically spicy in flavour, as is much Cajun cooking. It's also a popular dish in many other American southern…
Habanero chillies: Habanero chillies are hot, hot, hot! There's an official heat scale for chillies known as the Scoville scale, developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912. To give you an idea of the range of heat in an habanero: a sweet pepper scores 0 on the scale, jalapeño and…
Haddock: A white sea-fish similar to cod (and subject to the same problems of overfishing). It has flaky flesh, is available fresh or frozen, whole or as steaks and fillets. It can be cooked just like cod - poached, baked, fried or grilled, and served with or without…
Haggis: A dish that strikes fear in the squeamish, haggis is a traditional Scottish sausage, made of a sheep's stomach stuffed with the diced sheep's liver, lungs and heart, oatmeal, onion, suet and seasonings. Most haggis is part-cooked before being sold and needs…
Hake: The various fish that come under the banner 'hake' are deep-sea members of the cod family and are popular throughout Europe and America. Hake is quite a mild fish, having a more subtle flavour than cod. In France it's known as 'saumon blanc', while in the US…
Halibut: By far the largest of all flatfish, halibut is available mostly in steaks, fillets and cutlets. Its firm, meaty white flesh has a delicious flavour but, as it can dry out quite easily, it needs careful cooking and is probably best prepared with plenty of…
Halva: There are numerous forms of halva, which is basically a ‘sweetmeat’ or dessert depending on which version you’re eating. The Middle Eastern sweet known as halva is made from ground roasted sesame seeds and honey. It's usually made in a slab and is often…
Harissa: This fiery North African pepper paste is orange-red in colour and usually served with couscous. It’s a mix of dried red chillies, garlic, caraway seeds, ground cumin and coriander, tomato purée, salt and olive oil. It can be used as a condiment or as an…
Hazelnut: A type of hard-shelled nut with an oval or round kernel, also known as a filbert. Hazelnuts are high in dietary fibre. Turkey is a major supplier of hazelnuts, along with Spain and Italy, but they do grow wild in the hedgerows around Britain. Cobnuts, which…
Herbes de Provence: A mixture of heady herbs from the south of France made up of any combination of basil, thyme, oregano, marjoram, bay, sage, rosemary and summer savory (some recipes also call for lavender and dried orange peel, among other flavourings). The Mediterranean…
Herring: A North Atlantic fish that's rich oils. Herring stocks are suffering from the effects of overfishing and ecological changes, so herring is less widely available than it once was. Usually sold whole, herrings can be poached, fried or grilled as well as…
Hoisin sauce: A thick, reddish-brown sweet and spicy sauce, widely used in Chinese cooking. It's a mixture of soya beans, vinegar, sugar, garlic, chilli peppers and various spices. Hoisin sauce is mainly used as a table condiment and for flavouring meat, poultry and…