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Cooking Terms

Ratatouille

A vegetable stew originating in Provence, France. It is comprised of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, onions, garlic, and zucchini, all of which are stewed together (perhaps after an initial sauté to better develop their flavors) until the mixture is very soft and the flavors have blended together. It is often flavored with a hint of bay leaf and thyme. It is most often eaten hot, but is also delicious served cold on a hot day.

Reduce

This term is used frequently in sauce making and French cuisine. To reduce means to boil a liquid so that the volume reduces. In saucemaking, reducing the volume of a sauce or stock intensifies the flavor and body of the sauce/stock. Reducing wine reduces the overall acidity.

Renneting

The process of adding rennet (an animal based enzyme) which, when making cheese, coagulates the milk in to curds and whey.

Render

To render something generally means cook a food item with a high fat content in order to melt the fat. The fat can then be used in other preparations. An example of this could be the use of duck fat to sauté vegetables as an alternative to butter.

Risotto

A famous Italian rice dish that originates in the northern part of the country. Risotto should be creamy with slightly al dente rice kernels. It can be flavored in a multitude of different ways. The procedure though is fairly standard-- sweating onions in butter, adding the rice which continues to sweat for a few moments, and then adding small amounts of hot liquid in stages. It is important to allow the rice to absorb each addition of liquid before adding more liquid. The rice used for risotto can be one of several different Italian short grain varieties from the Po River Valley (Arborio, Vialone Nano, and Carnaroli).

Rouille

A pungent and rustic sauce from Provence used as a condiment to Bouillabaisse. It is made by crushing raw garlic, cayenne chile, and soaked bread in a mortar and pestle until it forms a paste. Extra virgin olive oil is then worked into the sauce.

Russet Potato

Commonly called a chefs potato the russet is generally considered an all purpose potato.

Sashimi

Pieces of raw fish served most often in Japanese restaurants, usually presented in an artistic fashion and using only the highest quality fish.

Sachet d'epices (Fr)

This translates into "Bag of spices." Most commonly consists of aromatic ingredients that are encased in cheesecloth. It is used to flavor stocks and other liquids. A classical sachet contains parsley stems, cracked peppercorns, dried thyme, and a bay leaf.

Salamander

This piece of restaurant equipment resembles a broiler, but is placed above a stove. It heats from the top and is very hot. It is often used for rapid browning or gratin dishes.
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