Adipose Tissue - Fat.
Andouille - Andouille sausage - an essential ingredient in classic dishes of New Orleans Cajun and Creole cuisine.
Artisanal - Products produced in traditional ways. Often hand-crafted by small, family-owned farms or entities.
Kurobuta Pork - The legend has the Berkshire hog being discovered by Oliver Cromwell's army in winter quarters at Reading, the county seat in the shire of Berks in England. Fancied for its tremendous eating quality, the Berkshire breed was refined in the early 1800's and has remained pure ever since.
Braising - A wet-roasting technique that slow cooks inexpensive cuts of meat, or even vegetables. The use of small amounts of moisture with cuts like chuck break down connective tissue and infuse the tenderized meat with aromatics added to the cooking liquid.
Bratwurst - German sausage. Fresh, not smoked. Often called "brats" for short.
Bears Head Mushrooms - Once rare, now cultivated, mushrooms (actually fungus).These are huge, round fungus something near the size of an apple. Pale ivory in color, they are quite delicate and should only be purchased if pristinely white/ivory. They have a delicate flavor, but good texture. Best sauteed.
Bouillabaisse - Classic fish soup from Marseilles, France. Typically, this Provencçal dish will contain many types of fish, shellfish, fennel, saffron, and croutons with rouille floating on top.
Bresaola - Air-cured salted beef round that is aged about two or three months until it becomes purple in color. Rich, lean and tender.
Cartoccio -"al cartoccio" Italian term for the method more widely known by the French term "en papillote." In this method, food is wrapped in a pouch of parchment paper, then baked. The food steams in the packet. Easy cleanup and elegant preparation. Foil can be used in place of parchment.
Chorizo - Also known as "chouriçe or chouriço" in Portuguese communities. Chorizo is richly flavored, smoked garlic sausage from Spain. Smokiness and red color are imparted from Spanish paprika or pimentón. Mexican chorizo is fresh, not smoked and spicier. These are not interchangeable. In Spain, chorizo is popular at breakfast with eggs, or eaten as tapa. It's essential in many stews and paella.
Charentais melon - Melon similar to cantaloupe. Incredibly fragrant and tender melon, known to induce swooning. Looks similar to cantaloupe, slightly smaller and veined.
Capocollo - Made from the muscle between the pork head (capo) and shoulder (collo). Cured for at least three months. Very sweet.
Chateaubriand - A piece of the tenderloin (the pointed end of the short loin), sized to feed two or more people and traditionally roasted.
Court Bouillon - Court bouillon is a poaching liquid used primarily to poach seafood and fish.
Crespone - A traditional salami from the Brianza region in northern Italy. Made from a coarse paste seasoned with pepper, garlic and wine.
Delmonico - A boneless cut from the rib section, named after the 19th century New York restaurant that popularized this dish.
Drip - Fluid that collects in meat packages as a result of damage during freezing and thawing. The damage is caused by ice crystals that form and puncture meat fibers releasing fluid.
Feathering - Streaks of fat in the muscle between ribs of pork carcasses.
Filet mignon - The name of this cut translates as tenderloin and it is the tapered, fork-tender end of the short loin.
Flank steak - A lean cut of meat taken from the underbelly that grills quickly. This cut often is used for fajitas.
Flank Streaking - Streaks of fat beneath the sheath of connective tissue which surrounds the flank muscle of lamb carcasses.
Flatiron steak - Cut from the top blade, so named because it resembles a flatiron.
Florribean - Term used to describe the fusion of Caribbean and other cuisines that combine in unique combinations in Florida. Key elements include spices, citrus (like intense Key limes) and other fruits like mamey (a tropical fruit with a flavor something like a cross between peach and apricot), mango, and papaya are very common. Rice and Plantains are often components of the meal.
Foie Gras - A delicacy at the epicenter of food morality controversy. Liver of ducks or geese intentionally fattened by a force-feeding process.
Freezer Burn - Excessive moisture loss from meat surfaces which causes discoloration and a corklike texture.
Gooseberry- Poha, cape gooseberry. Small golden fruit with husk similar to tomatillo. Excellent in pies and jams due to its high level of pectin.
Gelato - An italian version of ice cream, which is smoother and served not as frozen.
Hanger steak - Also called the hanging tenderloin, this cut is part of the diaphragm that hangs between the ribs and the loin.
Heirloom (tomatoes) - Heirloom vegetables are increasingly popular as consumers re-discover older cultivars. Seeds have been saved and passed down through generations. Commercial tomatoes and other vegetables (hybrids) have been bred to meet the demands of mass market agriculture and to survive the farm-to-consumer transport. Older cultivars are often not as uniformly attractive as hybrids, but the flavor far outweighs many commercial hybrids.
Hemoglobin - A reddish, iron-containing, oxygen carrying, protein found in the red blood cells of vertebrates.
Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers - A medium hot pepper, larger than a jalepeno and milder. Usually a bright chartreuse, registers medium hot on the Scoville scale. These Hungarian Wax Peppers are in the mid- to low-end of the Scoville scale. They range from 5,000 to 15,000 SHUs.Ideal for pickling.
Irradiation (of meat) - Irradiation is a method of preservation which uses ionizing radiation to destroy or inactivate many of the microorganisms which cause meat to spoil and cause food-borne illnesses.
Kurobuta Pork - Often referred to as Kurobuta, Berkshire Pork has been celebrated in Japan and around the world for many reasons, but especially for its marbling and flavor, which are its most distinctive characteristics.
Lactic Acid - A by-product which results when glucose is broken down without a sufficient supply of oxygen. In the presence of oxygen, lactic acid can be converted into fuel for the tissues, or can be converted back into glucose and be stored as glycogen.. Postmortem lactic acid buildup is an important factor in the postmortem pH decline in meat and has an impact on final meat quality.
Locavores - Term coined by San Francisco group interested in promoting local sustainable agriculture and raising consumer awareness of impacts of food choices. They advocate eating only, or primarily, food grown within a 100 mile radius of one's location. In their case, San Francisco.
London Broil - A large cut from the flank, often marinated to tenderize it, then broiled and served thinly sliced.
Marbling - Small visible streaks of fat within a meat cut. Marbling improves meat juiciness and flavor.
New York strip - A steak by many other names…(such as shell steak, Kansas City strip or sirloin club steak): The marbled, larger end of the short loin.
en Papillotte - French technique of cooking in parchment paper. In this method, food is wrapped in a pouch of parchment paper and baked. The food steams in the packet. Easy cleanup and elegant preparation. Foil can be used in place of parchment.
Pancetta - Unlike American bacon that comes from the sides and belly, this Italian-style bacon is made just from the pork belly and is salt-cured, not smoked.
Pasteurization - Partial sterilization of foods with heat or radiation to destroy microorganisms without major chemical changes to the substance.
Pepperoni - Made from pork and beef sausage and seasoned with red and black pepper, this is an American version of dry, spicy Italian salamis.
Porterhouse - Essentially the T-bone's big brother, combining two steaks in one, the New York and the filet.
Prime rib - The bone-in rib steak, cut from ribs six through twelve, that often contains a bit of gristle but is full of flavor.
Prosciutella - Mortadella (often called bologna because it originated in Bologne) with bits of prosciutto and pistachios. Meaty and flavorful.
Prosciutto de Parma - Dry-cured ham from Parma in Italy, made from pigs fed Parmigiano Reggiano, resulting in a distinct nutty taste.
Rib-eye - A rib steak without the bone; prized among steak lovers for its marbling and flavor.
Rouille - ("roo - ee") - Literally, rust. A type of paste that is rust colored. Made from garlic, olive oil, breadcrumbs and chile peppers. Served like a aioli on top of croutons or toasts in the classic Provençal dish, Bouillabaisse.
Salciccia Secca - Directly translates as dry sausage. A sweet, dry pork sausage with a buttery taste.
Sirloin steak - Sitting between the short loin and the rump steak is the sirloin, less tender than the short loin but still full-flavored.
Spargel - German name for white asparagus. Grown in mounds of earth to retard photosynthesis that would turn it green.
Shabu Shabu - Japanese type of meal comprised of fresh meats and vegetables very thinly sliced. Diners swish the food in bubbling broth on a burner in the middle of the table.
Sofrito - Sofrito recipes vary and are different in Puerto Rican dishes than in Cuban, but the essential elements include: onions, garlic, pepper (either small sweet red peppers or green bell peppers), oregano, cumin, bay leaf, oil, and culantro. Culantro and the small sweet peppers are two items you're likely to find only in a Latino market or an Asian market. Culantro is not cilantro, but has a similar flavor. The leaves are long and serrated and is sometimes called long coriander or recao.
Tapioca - A product made from cassava root. Usually dried and formed into flakes, powder or small or large "pearls". The slightly chewy pearls in bubble tea are tapioca. Either the flour or the small pearls can be used to thicken things like soups and berry pies. A tapioca pudding is usually made of small pearls.
T-bone - Similar cut as the Porterhouse, only the filet side is usually a bit smaller. Named for the t-shaped bone running down the center of the steak.
Tri-tip - Also known as a culotte steak or triangle steak, the tri-tip is a triangular-shaped portion of top sirloin. Mostly known in the Western United States. A great BBQ favorite.
Water Holding Capacity - The ability of meat to retain its water during cutting, grinding, heating, pressing, etc. Water holding capacity is a contributing factor to the juiciness of meat.
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