De Buyer Culinary Glossary

Blanching: when cooking, it means boiling raw food in salted water and when the water starts boiling again, the food is removed and immediately cooled in ice water.
When baking, it means vigorously whisking with a whisk a mix of egg yolks and sugar until frothy and light.

Brunoise: this involves cutting food into small regular dice measuring 4 mm.

Canelé: a speciality from the Bordeaux region, this is a moist cake flavoured with rum and vanilla and covered with a thick caramelised crust.

Cooking: an operation that enables you to cook food by exposing it to a heat source. There are different cooking methods:

Roasting: cooking food either in indirect contact with the heat source or by radiant heat (oven, spit-roaster, spit, etc.) and with fat.
Searing: this consists of starting to cook food with high heat and on a high flame so that the surface coagulates instantly and the food browns (Maillard reaction, caramelisation of juices) or does not brown (food immersed in a boiling liquid).
Grilling: cooking food in direct contact with a hot surface, on a high flame and at a high temperature.
Frying: the food is cooked by immersion in grease at a high temperature.
Sautéing: quickly cook and brown food (of varying size) in a container (a straight or rounded sauté pan with handle, a fry pan, a sauté pan with 2 handles) with fat. The food is stirred while it is cooked. No moistening is used.
Steam cooking: consists in cooking food without any contact with the heat source at low pressure (stewpan/ stockpot with steam colander) or high pressure (pressure cooker). Food is cooked in contact with the steam, which generates heat.
Boiling: cooking food in boiling salted water (starting in boiling water).
Poaching starting from cold water: consists in cooking food in a liquid (flavoured or not liquid), which is cold at the beginning. The liquid is heated until it simmers without bringing it to the boil.
Cooking in court bouillon: cooking food in a flavoured broth called court bouillon.
Blanching starting from cold water: boiling food in cold water with salt or vinegar at the start (the food is immersed in cold water which is then brought to the boil).
Stewing: cooking process divided into four stages: in a container (stewpan, stockpot, sauté pan, sauté pan with 2 handles) sear the meat or fish with some fat; lightly dust the food with flour; add the moistening and aromatic garnish (carrots, onions, bouquet garni, etc.) ; cover and leave to cook slowly.
Panfrying: involves cooking food in a covered container (braising pan, sauté pan with 2 handles) with fat (the food is frequently covered with the liquid) and an aromatic garnish. The cooking process may start by browning the food (fry pan, sauté pan, sauté pan with 2 handles).
Braising: the cooking process starts by browning the food, which is then cooked on low heat in a closed container (braising pan, stewpan, coquelle) with little moistening (a small amount of liquid: water or broth).
Cooking in the oven: ambient cooking, heated air cooks the food.
Reducing: cooking without a lid to reduce the volume of a liquid to bring it to the desired consistency
Sweating : cooking a vegetable or fruit on a gentle heat to remove part of its water.
Slow cooking: cooking food slowly over gentle heat.

Cutter / Pastry cutter: used to cut pieces of tart pastry. It can be either smooth or fluted. To make a tart, the cutter needs to be bigger than the mould, as it must cut the pastry size corresponding to the size of the mould, plus the edge.

Deglazing: pouring liquid to dissolve the caramelised juices at the bottom of the cooking utensil.

Emulsifying: mixing two liquids with a whisk or a blender.

Fluting: cutting grooves in a vegetable or a fruit with a canelle knife.

Juices: caramelised parts that settle on the bottom of a cooking pot.

Julienne: food cut into thin strips.

Lining: to cover a mould/pastry ring with baking paper/pre-cut linings for easy removal.

Maillard reaction: it occurs from 145°C and causes caramelisation on the surface of food’s natural juices. The food, thus caramelised and browned on the surface, seared on both sides continues cooking on low heat without losing moisture. The juice remains inside the food and preservers its nutritional qualities.
Ideal temperature: between 145°C and 164°C.
Beyond this temperature, the food's carbonisation process starts, which makes it difficult to digest.

Matignon: mix of vegetables cut into 10mm dice.

Moulding stamp: stamping means garnishing by following the shape of the bottom and the sides of a mould, tart ring or a tray with flattened pastry. The moulding stamp is used to quickly create the bottom of tartlets by pushing the rings of pastry into the cavities.

Pastry chinois: micro-perforated utensil. It very finely filters jelly, coulis or custard to block the germ of the egg yolk which, when cooked, becomes as hard as a rock.

Pie pan: the high-sided pie pan is ideal for making any kind of quiche or tart. The bottom of a pie pan can be smooth or perforated: depending on the kind of product, the perforation prevents condensation when the tart or cake is cooling down and thereby prevents it from becoming too soft; the pastry remains firm after cooling. The pie pan can have a removable bottom, which makes it easier to remove the food without breaking the pastry bottom.
Tip: when taking it out of the oven, place the pie pan with removable bottom on a bowl. The edge of the pie pan will fall and the tart can be removed from the mould without breaking it.

Roll out: spreading the pastry according to the desired thickness with a rolling pin.

Round-bottomed mixing bowl: The name of this stainless steel or copper bowl with a hemispherical convex skirt is due to its rounded bottom. This hemispherical shape provides proper ventilation for the mix during the mixing stage, a movement performed from top to bottom. Inseparable from the whisk, the round-bottomed mixing bowl is the ideal tool to quickly and easily beat egg whites until stiff and make emulsions. It can be used to beat crème fleurette into Chantilly cream. In this case, do not hesitate to put it in the freezer for a few minutes, with the whisk and cream, so that all three are very cold.

Salpicon: mix of various ingredients cut into small cubes measuring 2 mm and sometimes bound with a sauce.

Scraper: usually made of soft plastic material and rounded on one side. There are also hard scrapers, often made of stainless steel. Rounded scrapers are used to scrape a container, that is remove the remains of a mix sticking to the inside by following the shape of the container. Another function: scrapers are also used to cut tarts, bread or pizza dough.

Seasoning: process to make the utensil used for cooking the food naturally non-stick when using it.

Slicer: manual vegetable cutter used to grate and cut fruit and vegetables.

Stamping: garnishing a mould, a tart ring with tart pastry base.

Zesting: peeling by separating the bitter peel from the outer skin. This term is mostly used for citrus fruits.