Shel,
That's the thing with cooking terms. Most have a very specific usuage in a professional context but get pretty "loosey-goosey" in the home kitchen and publishing. This is normal of course and happens with any trade. The average cook at home is not going to need to know what the mother sauces are, the formal difference between a marmite, jus, or stock, etc. It can cause problems when people start becoming exposed to specific cooking terms from a dubious source of authority (Foodnetwork, I'm looking at you). And when I say problem I don't mean it any sort of elitist way. The chief problem is that a customer may have an expectation buit up based on false assumptions of a menu item. Nobody comes out happy in these circumstances.
--Al |