Word Of Mouth

Apple cider vinegar is simply a vinegar made from apple juice or apple cider. It comes in two versions: filtered and unfiltered. The difference between the two is the “mother,” which is a somewhat murky collection of cellulose and acetic acid bacteria that’s removed when the vinegar is filtered. Does it matter which type of vinegar you use? Much depends on what you are doing with it. Filtered apple cider vinegar is made with apple juice and water.

affogato: n. An Italian, coffee-based dessert consisting of vanilla gelato (or ice creamThis is a really quick summer dessert (made better by a fancy name). Get some elaborate and boozy versions, below…Of course, hot espresso and cold ice cream doesn’t seem like a good combination. You might end up with more of a float or possibly a soup. We’d let the coffee or espresso cool slightly before pouring it over the ice cream.

Doufeu, noun – A cooking vessel with a concave lid to be filled with ice and promote condensation. French for “gentle heat.”As we get into braising and roasting season, we thought we’d take a look at this particular style of dutch oven. The concave lid is filled with ice to create condensation throughout the cooking process. Dimples on the underside of the lid are designed to distribute the moisture to the food.

Chapati [chuh-pah-tee] noun: Pan-grilled unleavened flatbread eaten in India, East Africa, and most of South Asia.Chapati is ubiquitous in Kenya; big golden wedges of this flat, chewy bread were served at almost every meal. We loved it; the fried golden taste is so delicious, and it’s handy for sopping up extra meat and sauce. We were already familiar, too, with chapati from Indian cuisine.

Oven Spring noun: In bread baking, the final burst of rising just after a loaf is put in the oven and before the crust hardens.When the dough hits the hot oven, it can puff up to as much as a third of its size in a matter of a few minutes. This oven spring is a good indicator of the crumb of your bread: more oven spring means a light and airy interior and little oven spring indicates a dense, compact crumb.More on how oven spring works after the jump!

Ma La [ma la] adj. spicy quality characterized by both a burning and a numbing sensation.Ma la is a Chinese phrase that means “spicy-numb,” a sensation associated specifically with Szechuan pepper. Szechuan pepper is unrelated to black pepper or chili pepper; in fact, its Chinese name is literally translated as “flower pepper,” due to its floral, citrusy quality.

When I think of smooth and creamy desserts, the first two things that come to mind are pudding and mousse. While they share similar characteristics, these creamy, no-bake desserts have a few differences. Do you know what sets pudding and mousse apart? Did you know that pudding wasn’t originally served as a dessert? Far from it, actually. Pudding was originally a savory dish, made by mixing processed meat with a binder, like eggs, grains, or butter, then steamed, baked, or boiled.

Beurre Manié [bur man-yay], noun: A kneaded paste of butter and flour added to a soup or sauce toward the end of cooking in order to thicken.If your dish is nearly done cooking and you feel that it’s soupier than you’d like, a simple beurre manié can save the day. Here’s how it works!If you add flour straight into hot liquid, you just end up with a clumpy sauce, right?

Aromatic; noun: Any herb, spice, vegetable or combination thereof that is used to infuse flavor into a final dish and add to its aroma.This is another building block for cooking without recipes!

labneh: n. A fresh cheese made from strained yogurt, popular in the Middle East, that is served as a spread or formed into soft balls.Several of us here at the Kitchn were traveling over the holidays, and this is just one of the foods we fell in love with while eating overseas. We ate labneh for breakfast every morning while on a trip to Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.Unfortunately, we kept forgetting to bring our camera to breakfast.

I’ve been to a lot of Japanese restaurants where the noodle soups have an option of udon or soba noodles. While they’re both Japanese noodles and are sometimes used interchangeably, there are quite a few differences between the two. Here’s what you need to know! Udon noodles are made by kneading wheat flour, salt, and water. These white noodles are sold dried, fresh or frozen. Dried udon noodles can vary in thickness and can be quite dense.

Al Dente; adjective, Italian: Literally, “to the tooth.” In practice, this means cooked just enough to still be firm, where the center still remains a bit under-cooked and the pasta still offers resistance when chewed.In medieval times, pasta was cooked for an hour or more until it was soft, mushy, and offered no resistance. This was typical of all cooking at the time (ie, cooking food to death!

Clabber, noun: soured milkBack before there was baking powder to use as a quick leavener in baking, there was clabber. This was something that every farm wife or person with access to fresh milk could make, no additional ingredients necessary!To make clabbered milk, the fresh, raw milk was simply left out at room temperature. Bacteria in the milk would start converting the lactose (sugars) into an acid, causing the milk to thicken and sour while also keeping it from actually spoiling.

Pumpernickel, noun – An incredibly dense and strongly flavored dark bread made with a blend of coarse and fine rye flour originating in Germany.We love the heartiness and deep, almost bitter flavor of pumpernickel bread, especially with a little sharp cheese melted over the top! Making an authentic loaf of pumpernickel is one of our winter goals, plus we think it would look lovely on our Thanksgiving table!Do you like pumpernickel bread? Ever made it yourself?

Even as someone who’s tested recipes professionally and written about food for years, I still always stumble when I’m about to write about a piece of fish — is it fillet or filet? What’s the difference? Turns out that it’s a bit complicated! There are similarities between the two words — they’re pronounced the same way, for instance: fiˈlā, with a silent “t” on the end. But then it gets a little more interesting.

Cocoa powder is a bit of a confusing ingredient. Some recipes call for unsweetened cocoa, some call for cocoa powder, some call for natural cocoa, and some call for Dutch cocoa. What does it all mean? What’s the difference? (And is there any relationship between cocoa powder and hot cocoa mix?) Let’s find out!

Whether it’s topped with a few plump marshmallows or a heaping scoop of freshly whipped cream, a mug of piping hot chocolate is one of winter’s greatest pleasures. But wait — is what you have in your hands hot chocolate or actually hot cocoa? The terms are used interchangeably so often that it probably seems like they are identical beverages. While both mean an instant remedy for cold winter days, are they one in the same?

Spritz cookies and shortbread cookies both fall into the beloved category of classic and simple butter cookies. Side by side their ingredient lists are nearly identical in contents and measures. They both bake up buttery (no surprise there) with a tender, melt-in-your-mouth quality and a not-too-sweet flavor. What sets spritz cookies and shortbread cookies apart, then, comes down to one ingredient and shaping methods.

My first experience with “nice” ice cream was 10 years ago on a family vacation in Hawaii. The hotel served some type of magical dairy-free pineapple soft-serve, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how they made it. So I ate as much of it as I could before the trip was over, then promptly resumed my nightly Graeter’s habit upon our return home to Cincinnati. I figured the magical stuff could only be created in the tropical oasis that is Maui.

Southerners are known for their sweetness, and so are Southern desserts. But if you’re going to pay a visit south of the Mason-Dixon line, you’d best be sure you’re calling our sweet treats by their real names. Here are eight favorite treats that all y’all up north tend to mispronounce, fixed up real good with a guide for getting it right. And remember: Savor each of those vowels like a fine bourbon. We’re in no hurry.

Tortilla chips are fine on their own, but add a bowl of salsa or pico de gallo to the picture and snacking takes a delicious turn for the better. These two Mexican dips share quite a bit in common, but do you know what sets them apart? Depending on the recipe, the ingredients for salsa and pico de gallo can be nearly identical. What sets these two condiments apart is their texture and whether the ingredients are cooked or uncooked.

Bisque and chowder — are they just fancy monikers for creamy soup? Is there really a difference? This question never crossed my mind until it was posed to me recently. My immediate thought was that the answer was obvious. Except, when I started to actually think about it, I really had no idea what set them apart. So, what exactly is the difference between bisque and chowder? Bisque and chowder are two very delicious and very similar types of soup.

When it comes to cooking with turmeric you have several options. Do you choose fresh turmeric, whole dried pieces, or the ground spice? I tend to prefer punchy, fresh turmeric in sautés and smoothies and ground turmeric for its color and ease of use in roasted vegetables and rice pilafs. Here’s a quick guide to fresh and dried turmeric and how to substitute one for the other. Fresh turmeric rhizomes (often called roots) look similar to ginger, a close relative.

Emma used the word hangry in her recipe for granola bars earlier today, and it made me think about this very helpful word, a word to signal impending storm clouds and danger, a word to fear. Do you get hangry?! What happens when you do? Oh — not familiar with the term? Let me bring you up to speed. This is a word you should know.Hangry is a word to describe the glowering state of hunger that has passed the pleasant edge of anticipation.

Irio [eer-ee-o], noun: In the Kenyan tribal language of Kikuyu, irio just means food. But it usually refers to a simple, plain dish of mashed potatoes, maize, and peas or greens.A couple years ago I spent a week in Kenya, in the highlands of the Rift Valley about an hour away from Nairobi. I really enjoyed the good food of this agricultural region. Here’s a very typical dinner dish: bright green irio!We ate plain Kenyan food all week, prepared by wonderful cooks.

Ugali [oo-gahl-ee] noun: In Kenya, ugali is the name for the most common mealtime starch: a thick, stiff porridge made from white cornmeal or red millet.In Kenya, ugali is one of the most common dishes you can find. Served with meat or mashed vegetables, it’s practically the national dish. It’s found throughout Africa, in fact; in South Africa it may be called pap, and in Zimbabwe you can find it by the name of sadza.

Porchetta, noun: A Southern Italian dish of roasted suckling pig stuffed with wild fennel and garlicFriends of ours who have traveled in Italy come back singing praises about this iconic Italian dish – making us grind our teeth in envy. This is one culinary adventure we’d love to have!Porchetta is traditionally made with a whole suckling pig that has been deboned, stuffed, and rolled back into shape. The head, legs, and trotters are also often left on.

Le Trou Normand (luh trew nor-mahnd): A pause in the middle of a meal where everyone has a drink of brandy and then continues to eat.Folklore has it that the shot of alcohol burns a hole (“un trou”) in your stomach so that you can eat more food. This is something we definitely could have used last Thursday!At dinner parties, we tend to eat and drink throughout the evening, one conversation or platter of food simply rolling into the next.

Tournée (tour-nay): Literally, French for “turned.” In culinary terms, this describes a specific method for preparing and presenting vegetables by cutting them into uniform oblong shapes.If you really want to get fancy this Thanksgiving, you can have a go at “turning” all your vegetables! Just make sure you have a lot of extra time to spare before you start…Starchy vegetables like carrots, potatoes, and parsnips are good candidates for turning.

Unctuous (ung-choo-us) adj.: 1. Having the quality or characteristics of oil, slippery; 2. Containing or composed of oil or fat; 3. Abundant in organic materials, soft and rich.Nora’s post on Forsterkase cheeseTo us, ‘unctuous’ is much more of a texture than a flavor. It’s that feeling of having your entire mouth coated with butter, oil, or sometimes a flavor. It can equally describe the starchy-soft quality of good risotto or the melting richness of bone marrow.

galette (gah-leht): n. A round, flat cake with a flaky pastry crust, originating in France.We’ve been talking about crostatasTurns out, a galette and a crostata are essentially the same thing (one French, one Italian). Both of them differ from tarts in the sense that a tart is baked into a tart pan. Crostatas and galettes are typically free-form and rustic, with the dough edges folded up around the filling, which can be savory or sweet.

Sabayon, noun (sah-bye-on): A sweet dessert sauce made of egg yolks, sugar, and Marsala. More details and a recipe after the jump!This custard sauce has Italian origins, but was long ago adopted into classical French cuisine. You might also see it called “zabaglione” or “zabayon” in recipes and on menus.Foamy and creamy, sabayon is lighter and (typically) less sweet than milk-based creme anglaise.

Pudding, meaning dessert. Biscuit, meaning cookie. Clingfilm, meaning plastic wrap. I love the differences between British and English cooking (cookery!) words.It’s always disappointing when American publishers edited out the ‘dessertspoonfuls,’ ‘mince,’ and ‘courgettes’ when revising British cookbooks and I have never really understood why.

Preferment, noun: A combination of flour, water, and sometimes yeast that is prepared in advance (as in pre-fermentation) and then mixed into the main body of the dough as an additional ingredient.When we first started baking, this was a new technique and a new vocab word all in one. Wrapping your head around the idea of a preferment can be a little tricky at first, but well worth it for the boost in flavor and structure one provides!Making bread with a preferment gives everything a head start.

Mirepoix (mirh-pwah) noun. In French cooking, a mix of carrots, onions, and celery, usually finely diced, and used as the seasoning base for a meat dish or sauce.A mirepoix is often the only seasoning we use for a good pot of beans, like the one we posted yesterday. But when we looked for a post mentioning mirepoix to link back to – nada! Oops. Mirepoix is one of the foundations of the classical Western kitchen, and we rely on it heavily in our soups and stews.

Souse [sows] n. Variety of and term for head cheese in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect.Souse is a variety of head cheese, usually specific to the Pennsylvania Dutch. They make their head cheese from the pickled meat of often otherwise unused animal parts (usually pork). These often include the feet, head, tongue, and heart.The word itself probably comes from the Germanic souce, or pickling juice, which is related to sulza, or brine.Do you eat head cheese?

Cartouche [kär too sh] n. Circle of greaseproof parchment used to cover a dish while poaching or simmering. Poaching is a quick way to cook certain cuts of meat – especially fish and poultry. It usually involves cooking the food in a small amount of sauce or liquid, often covered by a cartouche. The cartouche serves two purposes: it keeps the small amount of liquid in a poached dish from evaporating too quickly, and it prevents that unpleasant skin from forming on the top of a sauce.

Braise [BRAYSE] v. To fry food then cook it slowly in liquid in a closed vessel. We’ve got braising on our minds around here, for reasons to be revealed shortly, so we went back to our Harold McGee to read up on all things braising. The word braise originated in the 18th century, coming from the French word for “live coals,” which were piled under and on top of a closed cooking pot.

Friandise [free-yawn-DEEZ]n. A small sweet or plate of sweets served at the very end of a meal. Friandise seems to be used interchangeably with mignardise, another French word for the tiny pastries and confections offered after the dessert course or during tea. Sometimes the word is used to refer to the whole assortment, and sometimes to the individual sweets.

Duxelles [dook-SEHL, deu-SEHL]n. A thick mixture of minced mushrooms and shallots slowly cooked with butter and herbs, used for flavoring soups and sauces and for fillings. This admittedly unphotogenic mushroom mixture is a deceptively simple way to add rich, intense flavor to many dishes, and it’s easy to make ahead and have on hand for quick appetizers. Wrap a teaspoonful in puff pastry and bake, or stuff into chicken breasts.