50 Words Every Food Lover Should Know

We always make sure to spatchcock our capons on the plancha while we make salmagundi on the side. Don't know what any of that means? Then you're in luck, because we're here to help you bone up on your kitchen vocabulary. Learn these 50 words and soon you'll be running your kitchen like a pro (or maybe just confusing whoever is helping you cook). Most importantly, memorizing this vocabulary could save you from some eating disasters (like scrapple). Be sure to click on the word to get the full description so you don't mistakenly use a word like scorrat as a verb (hint: it's a noun). Start studying!

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Comments

[Lilykmorris]

10:10 PM on 12/14/2011

This reminds me of when my friend Abbey posted on Facebook about her husband spatchcocking a chicken and I thought she was making up the word. I apparently need to expand my food vocabulary! here's a great place to start.

[Your Dirty Mind1]

06:05 PM on 12/14/2011

Also, the quenelle definition isn't right. Originally, a quenelle is a dumpling-like item made of fish or meat that happens to have that oval shape described. The serving of ice cream is only called that because it has a similar shape to an actual quenelle. (Kind of like giving someone a "stick" of butter. It doesn't mean that the word stick is a kind of butter.)

[Your Dirty Mind1]

05:51 PM on 12/14/2011

FYI, "Chapuline" isn't a word. Chapulin is the singular and chapulines is the plural. Chapuline is, well, nothing.

[vegasres2]

06:44 PM on 12/13/2011

About these "50 Words," I suppose it would be too much to ask to put a pronunciation in the descriptions ..... just sayin'!

[dickn2000b]

03:42 PM on 12/12/2011

I've been a chef for over 50 years. I've managed to remain ignorant of all but a few of these words, and in all that time I've not received a single complaint about anything I've prepared. I'm sure those words must be important to someone, perhaps even a chef, but not this chef.

[Fredricka Devega Waring]

03:29 PM on 12/12/2011

good article

[N0NDescript0]

01:29 PM on 12/12/2011

"Maillard Effect: When foods are heated, their flavors change. Some, like beef and potatoes, form a crisp, caramelized outer coating when directly exposed to high heat."

The Maillard effect and caramelization are two distinct processes. Using one to describe the other is simply inaccurate, and highly ridiculous in a post that is supposed to be educational.

[hman570]

09:20 AM on 12/12/2011

The only thing that looked like something that an average working person would know is the last one, Bacon with a fancy name. As for the rest of the stuff on this article, you would have to be a rich person, or go to some fancy resturant to find these items. I am sure that the writer of this article is a snob and talks over the heads of the readers? Just my opinion folks so don't get your shorts in a knot.

[Havana Thinks]

07:27 AM on 12/12/2011

An enjoyable journey for me. I was surprised by the comment about soccarat. It was an uninformed response to what is considered delicious and required of the best tasting rice in Persia and many other parts of the Middle East and Africa. Until the author eats food prepared by people of those parts and or knowledge it is impossible to imagine how delicious soccarat is. Wet, soft, mushy rice is unacceptable! Crusty bottom rice is in demand throughout parts of the world.

[dblueII]

09:12 PM on 12/11/2011

Ok, I still don't know what Salmagundi is. I ordered it once, and don't know what it is.

[NYnotLiberal]

02:08 PM on 12/12/2011

I went to school with Sal Magundi......he still owes me money.

[Adam Valen Levinson]

07:04 AM on 12/11/2011

I am so excited to become more pompous.

[rhnconsult]

11:46 AM on 12/12/2011

Thank you. Pomposity is the best, served with gout and fatty liver.

[William Corbett Brady]

09:15 PM on 12/10/2011

French word is farcis, not farce, although it is pronounced farce-ee

[PatrickforO]

03:50 AM on 12/10/2011

I wonder how I made it for 53 years without knowing about 'fumet.'

Hey....something smells rotten!

[TaurusRose]

02:42 AM on 12/13/2011

The author did not mention it here, but I always understood that fumet was fish based stock.
That would make the fourth error in this little tutorial.

[ClevelandLib]

11:11 PM on 12/09/2011

We've been spatchcock grilling chickens for a few years now..cooks a whole chicken in half the time and cooks it perfectly even...no more dry breasts or undercooked thigh/legs. I highly recommend it.

[dayzee10]

10:51 PM on 12/09/2011

Nothing like spatchcock on a roll splattered with a creamy cheese sauce......