Terms and Techniques used in the Kitchen
Here are some kitchen terms and the meanings for them, so they may be helpful to you when trying to understand the cookbooks on today’s market. They may come in handy to help understand the terminology that chef’s and pastry chefs use in the kitchen when describing items or tasks.
Bain Marie - technically, the French term for water bath. For candy making purposes it means to place a container (baking pan, bowl, or dish.) in a large pan of warm water to be used as a double boiler. Bark- confectionery coating used to make candy, and for dipping.Chocolatier - a person who works with and is knowledgeable in all aspects of chocolate.Cric Acid- natural fruit acid that adds tang to sour candies.Crystallizing - a method of preserving fruit or flowers with superfine sugar after they have been dipped in beaten egg whites.Dipper - a utensil used for dipping candies or to mark the surface decoratively.Divinity - fluffy white candy made with egg whites.Dragree - very tiny gold or silver hard candy balls used to decorate cookies, cakes, and other candies.Embellish - to decorate.Emulsifier - an agent that binds food together. Enrobe - to drench candy in an outer covering, usually chocolate.Extracts - pure oil flavorings.Fondant - a sugar syrup made with the addition of glucose to keep it soft and creamy. It is worked and kneaded until smooth, after which it is cut into shapes or draped over cakes.Foot< - a pool of chocolate that collects and hardens at the base of a piece of candy after it has been dipped.Ganache - chocolate mixture made by combining chocolate and boiling cream then stirring until smooth. It can be used as a filling, or base for truffles and other chocolate candy. Glucose - a substance used to prevent the sugar from crystallizing during boiling. Jellies - candies made with unflavored gelatin as a thickening agent.Marzipan - sweetened almond paste used for making candy and other decorationsMolds - transparent plastic shapes that allow chocolate to be poured in, and released easily when hardened.Nougat - a French candy made by whipping egg whites until they are light and frothy. A sugar or honey syrup is added, along with nuts, such as almonds, pistachios, or walnuts. Other flavoring ingredients can be added to create different flavors. Its compact chewy texture is achieved by weighing it down.Penuche - brown sugar fudge.Praline - nuts covered in caramelized sugar.Pulled Candy - candy made from a sugar syrup that is repeatedly pulled and folded to incorporate air bubbles. Taffy is a pulled candy.Spun Sugar - candy made by spinning sugar that has been boiled to a high temperature. Cotton candy is spun sugar.Summer Coating - a confectionery coating that has chocolate flavor but shouldn’t be confused with real chocolate. It may contain small amounts of cocoa butter or chocolate liquor, but primarily contains other vegetable fats and cocoa for easier handling and faster set up. The colored summer coatings have a vanilla flavor. Temper - a procedure that stabilizes the fat crystals in chocolate so that it doesn’t streak, and retains a glossy finish.Toffee - a candy made by boiling brown sugar or molasses with butter and sometimes nuts. It can be soft and chewy, or hard and brittle.Truffle - rich candy made from a basic combination of chocolate , butter and cream. It is scooped or rolled into balls and then covered in optional coatings.
About the author
Chef Shelley Pogue is a Le Cordon Bleu graduate from The Texas Culinary Academy located in Austin, Texas. Chef Pogue graduated with honors of cum laude with a GPA of 3.71. Shelley went to work for The Hills Fitness Center in Westlake Hills after graduation and stayed the for one year as the Executive Chef. She then left The Hills and went to work for a company Vertical Sales and Marketing, San Ramon, CA. Chef Pogue is currently developing sauces and meal concepts for large retail markets in the US. Chef Pogue lives in Austin, TX, and is also a personal chef and caterer, and also working on developing a recipe and cook book
Chef Shelley Pogue
Tags: bain marie, beaten egg whites, chocolate flavor, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, confectionery coating, double boiler, fluffy white candy, french term, fruit acid, hard candy, natural fruit, pastry chefs, preserving fruit, real chocolate, s market, sour candies, tiny gold, vanilla flavor, vegetable fats
Related Posts
- A Simple Guide to Tasting and Describing Coffee
- Rice for Dessert
- The Basic Equipment Needed For Home Brewing
- How to Make the Perfect Cup of Coffee
- Understand Your Microwave Oven
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically each day to your feed reader.
No comments yet.
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>