The Cook's Almanac

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A–Z

11 terms defined

A

Acid Balance

The adjustment of acidity in a dish to brighten flavours and counter richness or fat.

Aïoli

A Provençal garlic sauce made by pounding or blending garlic with olive oil, often with egg yolk, into a thick emulsion — a classical test of garlic’s role in binding fat, not just flavouring it.

Allicin

The volatile sulphur compound formed when garlic cells are damaged and alliinase converts alliin — the main source of raw garlic’s pungency. It is unstable: heat, time and acidity change its character, which is why crushed garlic tastes different from slow-cooked cloves.

C

Concassé

French for “crushed”; in classical cookery, tomato concassé is the standard name for peeled, deseeded, chopped flesh — especially in sauce work where skin and excess juice would thin the result.

E

Emulsion

An emulsion is a mixture of two liquids that do not naturally combine — typically oil dispersed as fine droplets through water, or the reverse. Vinaigrettes and hollandaise are familiar examples; stability depends on vigorous whisking and often an emulsifier such as mustard or egg yolk.

I

Infusion

Infusion is the gentle extraction of flavour, colour or perfume from an aromatic into a liquid or fat over time and controlled heat. Unlike a brief bloom, infusion allows tougher or slower-releasing materials to surrender their character gradually — from saffron threads in warm stock to garlic cloves steeped in milk before a béchamel is finished.

See also: Often paired with blooming for saffron, or with long steeping for aromatics in dairy and stock.

P

Passata

From Italian passare (“to strain”): tomatoes sieved into a smooth, uncooked purée. In the UK it usually means bottled passata — not tomato purée (paste), and not the same as chopped tinned tomatoes.

Persillade

A rough chop of garlic and flat-leaf parsley — stirred in at the end of cooking for a bright, aromatic finish, especially on grilled or roasted dishes.

R

Roux

A roux is flour cooked in fat — usually butter — until the starch is coated and the raw cereal taste has mellowed. It thickens sauces by dispersing starch evenly so liquid can hydrate granules without clumping, forming the base of béchamel, velouté and many gravies.

S

Stigma

The stigma is the pollen-receptive tip of a flower's pistil — the part that receives pollen during fertilisation. In saffron, only the vivid crimson stigmas of Crocus sativus are harvested, dried and used as the spice; their colour and perfume come from compounds concentrated in this tiny structure.

U

Umami

The savoury taste associated with glutamates — cooked and reduced tomatoes are a familiar source in the kitchen.