Cook and Brew.

Yes, there is a cooking term called “Sweat“.

Before you feel disgusted and think that it’s a yucky method or mixture, check out the definition below.

Sweating Onions and Garlic

To sweat is to slowly cook vegetables in a covered pan (although it may also be done uncovered) until they are soft, but still hold their shape. It usually results in tender, more translucent pieces.

It also means to cook vegetables in small amount of fat like butter and olive oil over gentle heat so they become soft but not brown, and their juices are concentrated in the cooking fat. This method softens, draws out the natural juices, and develops flavor. You may also consider lightly sprinkling with salt to further draw out, or “sweat”, your food.

This is often done with onions or garlic.

Photo credits to www.sourgrapes.ie.

You may know of someone who’s named Julienne. But don’t be surprised if you also encounter this term in cooking books.

Julienne is a method wherein a food item is cut into long thin strips. The origin of the term is uncertain, but may have derived from the proper name Jules or Julien.

This can be done with many vegetables like carrots or celery.

For some, they make their food preparation easy through a julienne peeler, a little gadget that makes perfect stylish, thin, long strips.

This is an Italian phrase that has something to do more commonly with pastas and it means “To the tooth” or “To the bite”. Often, this can be read at the cooking instructions of pasta on their plastic labels. There are also a number of restaurants worldwide with such name.

By Al dente, it means pasta is cooked just firm to the bite. Tender but not mushy. Never crunchy. The pasta will still offer some resistance when being chewed.

The term is also occasionally used in reference to cooking vegetables, such as green beans, but should be interpreted as cooking them just until they lose their raw taste, as a way to avoid overcooking them.

The husband wished for any chicken dish for dinner that has sauce or any that isn’t dry or fried. So here come my cookbooks to the rescue. But I halted for a while when I encountered the term “Baste“.

Wikipedia defines “Basting is a cooking technique, and usually involves cooking meat with either its own juices or some type of preparation such as a sauce or marinade. The meat is left to cook, then is periodically coated with the juice or marinade as it cooks.”

This term can often be used around the holiday season when the Thanksgiving turkey comes out. Roast lamb or chicken are often basted with the juices in the pan during cooking, in order to keep the meat moist and for an added flavor. Several liquids may be used for basting meats such as broth, melted butter, pan drippings, or a combination of these ingredients.

This process sets the color of vegetables, lets you easily peel fruits such as onions, tomatoes, plums, peaches and slip the skins off nuts such as almonds, and prepare vegetables for canning or preserving.. The food does not cook all the way through. It’s just partially cooked in boiling water for a minute or so, so crisp texture is preserved.

Anyone trying to cook for the first time may be a little hesitant on following a recipe because of confusing cooking terms. I remember the first time I tried to cook a lunch meal, I had to scour the definition on the web the term “blanch” because I totally forgot what my Home and Economics teacher taught way back my grade school years. You see, we grew up with a household help who cooked for us while we studied so basically, I was really clueless on cooking and it’s only when I got married that I was forced to mingle with kitchen stuffs and cooking utensils. I’m far from being a good and expert cook so in my journey to learn more about learning cooking further, I’d be sharing in this blog the cooking terms or should I say “cooking jargons” that appear to us, newbie cooks.

Wikipedia defines:

“Cooking is the process of preparing food by applying heat, selecting, measuring and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure for producing safe and edible food. The process encompasses a vast range of methods, tools and combinations of ingredients to alter the flavor, appearance, texture, or digestibility of food. Factors affecting the final outcome include the variability of ingredients, ambient conditions, tools, and the skill of the individual doing the actual cooking.”

“Brewing is the production of alcoholic beverages and alcohol fuel through fermentation. The term is used for the production of beer, although the word “brewing” is also used to describe the fermentation process used to create wine and mead. It can also refer to the process of producing sake and soy sauce. “Brewing” is also sometimes used to refer to any chemical mixing process. Brewing specifically refers to the process of steeping, such as with tea and water, and extraction, usually through heat.”

“Food is any nourishing substance that is eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, promote growth, etc.”

“Life is the general or universal condition of human existence.”

“Spice is something that gives zest.”

“Nice is pleasing; agreeable; delightful.”

So in a nutshell, this will be basically a food blog and an online nook that will discuss spices and the ingredients needed to cook and brew a delightful life.

Welcome aboard…and bon appetit!