Many people want to learn techniques and ways to cook. Baking is sort of a precise art while cooking meals are usually dependent on the cook’s preference. Cooking recipes for cakes and other pastries usually have terms that need to be understood and followed to make a successful cake. Cooking recipes for meals usually have simpler terms and it is usually the ingredients that may need defining.

Uncommon Cooking Terms

Baste means to brush the meat you are cooking with liquid fat or juices while roasting. This action will prevent the meat from drying and integrate more flavor into it. In some cooking recipes, the term confit means to gradually cook pieces of meat in their own juices or fats. Gratin means to combine food with a liquid ingredient like milk, tomato sauce, béchamel sauce or cream. In cooking recipes, you might find the term Julienne, it means to cut into thin, long strips.

Some cooking recipes might call for a medallion. This means a round piece of meat not the medal that comes to mind. To score means to make some cuts on a piece of meat in order to tenderize it. Some cooking recipes ask for aspic; this is a clear gel like substance formed from broth or even juice. A Dutch oven is a pot made from cast iron which is used to make stews, braises and pot roasts. If some cooking recipes call for Duxelles, you will now know that it means a fine shallot-scented mushroom hash.

Most Thai and Asian cooking recipes might need fish sauce. Fish sauce is a semi-transparent amber liquid made from fermented fish. Other Asian cooking recipes also use lemongrass, which is used to give flavor and aroma to most food. Japanese cuisine, especially the makis, usually use these dried seaweed sheets for rolls and soups. Quenelle is a paste derived from fish, meat or poultry mixed with panade, cream and eggs. It can also be a rounded dumpling made from the paste which is poached in stock.

These terms are just a few of the cooking recipes more uncommon terms. These terms are usually used for cooking meals and not parties or cakes which used somewhat different terms. Cooking recipes abound in the Internet and you can even copy some of them because most contributors post their recipes free of charge. For those who wish to try and cook meals, it is best to familiarized yourself with the recipe and its terms before starting to cook it.