MetroKitchen Cooking Terms Glossary #5 – S for sizzle!
Sauce – generally, a thickened liquid used to add flavor to other foods.
Sautéing – a dry heat cooking method that uses conduction to transfer heat from a hot pan to food with the aid of a small amount of hot fat. Cooking is usually done quickly over high temperatures.
Scald – to heat a liquid, usually milk, to just below the boiling point.
Sear – to brown food quickly over high heat; usually done as a preparatory step for combination cooking methods.
Shallow Poaching – a moist heat cooking method that combines poaching and steaming; the food (usually fish) is placed on a vegetable bed and partially covered with a liquid (caisson) and simmered.
Simmering – 1) a moist heat cooking method that uses convection to transfer heat from a hot (approximately 185° to 205° F) liquid to food submerged in it. 2) Maintaining the temperature of a liquid just below the boiling point.
Slurry – a mixture of raw starch and cold liquid used for thickening.
Small Sauces – also known as compound sauces, made by adding one or more ingredients to a leading, or mother, sauce. They are grouped together into families based on their leading sauce. Some small sauces have a variety of uses; others are traditional accompaniments for specific foods.
Standard Breading Process – the procedure for coating foods with crumbs or meal by passing the food through flour, then an egg wash and then the crumbs. It gives food a relatively thick, crisp coating when deep fried or pan fried.
Steaming – a moist heat cooking method in which heat is transferred from steam to the food being cooked by direct contact. The food to be steamed is placed in a basket or rack above a boiling liquid in a covered pan.
Stewing – a combination cooking method similar to braising but generally involving smaller pieces of meat that are first blanched or browned, then cooked in a small amount of liquid which is then used as a sauce.
Stir-Frying – a dry heat cooking method similar to sautéing in which foods are cooked over very high heat using little fat while stirring constantly and briskly. Often done in a wok or open stir fry pan.
Stock – a clear, un-thickened liquid flavored by soluble substances extracted from meat, poultry or fish and their bones as well as from mirepoix, other vegetables and seasonings.
Submersion Poaching – a poaching method in which the food is completely covered with the poaching liquid.
Suprême – 1) a sauce made by adding cream to a velouté made from chicken stock. It is used to make several compound sauces of the velouté family (see next week’s Cooking Glossary) 2) a boneless, skinless chicken breast with the first wing segment attached
Sweating – cooking a food (typically vegetables) in a small amount of fat, usually covered, over low heat without browning until the food softens and releases moisture. Sweating allows the food to release its flavor more quickly when cooked with other foods.
Be sure to check out next week’s Cooking Terms Glossary. We’ll go from T to Z and then add many of your suggestions. Thanks for your help.