I found this great list in an old Home Economics Teachers Casseroles cookbook (from 1965) that I got from my mom last weekend. Some of these are familiar, but some I hadn't heard before, or heard of it but didn't quite know what it meant. So, for all the homemakers who desire to provide the best for their families, I present:
Cooking Terms and Definitions:
- Bake ................ To cook foods in the oven.
- Baste ............... To brush or pour water, melted fat or other liquid over food.
- Beat ................ To make a mixture smooth or to introduce air by using a brisk regular motion that lifts the mixture over and over.
- Beat Lightly .... To beat lightly with a fork to mix. This process usually applies to just mixing the whites or the yolks of eggs.
- Bind ................ To hold foods together with a sauce.
- Blanch ............ To parboil in water for a minute, or to pour boiling water over food and then drain it almost immediately.
- Blend .............. To thoroughly mix two or more ingredients.
- Boil ................. To cook in boiling water.
- Bread .............. To roll in crumbs. Often the food is dipped first into beaten egg and then rolled in the crumbs.
- Brush .............. To brush food with melter fat or liquid to coat it.
- Chop ............... To cut into pieces with a sharp knife.
- Cream ............. To work one or more foods unti mixture is soft and creamy or fluffy.
- Cube ............... To cut into small equal squares.
- Dice ................ To cut into cubes.
- Disjoint ........... To cut poultry into pieces at the joints.
- Dissolve .......... To completely mix dry ingredients with liquid until in solution.
- Dot ................. To scatter small pieces of butter or other fat over food before cooking.
- Dust ................ To sprinkle food lightly with a dry ingredient such as paprika.
- Fillet ............... To cut a piece of meat or fish into desired shape, removing all bones.
- Flake ............... To break into small pieces with a fork.
- Fold ................ To combine by using two motions, cutting vertically through the mixture and turning it over and over by sliding the implement across the bottom of the mixing bowl with each turn.
- Garnish ........... To decorate foods, usually with other foods.
- Grate ............... To cut food into minute particles by rubbing on a grater.
- Grind ............... To cut food into tiny particles by running through a grinder.
- Julienne .......... To cut foods into match-thin strips.
- Knead ............. To fold, turn, and press down on dough with the hands until it becomes smooth and elastic.
- Mince .............. To cut or chop intovery small pieces.
- Mix .................. To combine ingredients in any way that evenly distributes them.
- Parboil ............ To partially cook food in boiling water before completely cooking in another way.
- Pare ................ To cut off the outside covering.
- Peel ................. To strip off the outside covering.
- Scald ............... To heat milk to just below the boiling point.
- Scallop ............ To bake food in layers with a sauce.
- Shred ............... To cut finely with a knife or sharp instrument.
- Sift ................... To put dry ingredients through a sifter or sieve.
- Sliver ............... To slice into long, thin strips.
- Stew ................ To cook long and slow in a liquid.
- Stir .................. To mix foods with acircular motion for the purpose of blending or securing uniform consistency.
- Tear ................ To break or tear into bite-size pieces.
- Whip ............... To beat rapidly to produce expansion due to the incorporation of air as applied to cream, egg and gelatin dishes.
