Kitchen glossary | Just how much is a pinch?

Cooks can feel like they're in a foreign land when they stumble onto unfamiliar cooking terms. Consider the following definitions your cooking CliffsNotes, which should be taped inside your cupboard door, handy when recipes have you bewitched, bothered and bewildered.

How much and what size?

Just how much is a pinch, a sprig, a dollop? Fortunately, most dishes are forgiving when inexact measurements are given (exception: baking), but here are a few guidelines to help you decide how much is enough.

Dollop: A little blob of a soft food, such as a mounded spoon of whipped cream plopped on a piece of pie, as an edible garnish.

Knob: A rounded nugget of a harder food, such as "a 2-inch knob of fresh ginger," to be sliced or grated.

Scant: Slightly less than the full amount. For a scant teaspoon, fill the measuring teaspoon with spice or salt, level the top, then shake a bit off before adding to a dish.

Splash: A dash of a liquid; some chefs place a thumb over half of a bottle's opening and give the bottle a quick inverted turn, so only a few teaspoons are spread over a surface, such as a splash of Grand Marnier showered over strawberry halves. You might use more liquid if deglazing a pan because much will evaporate with heat.

Lengthwise vs. crosswise: Simple, but people get confused. Crosswise is across the length; lengthwise is along the length.

Is this the right thingy?

Today's cooks are more familiar with a food processor, microwave and KitchenAid than with hand tools. What are all those little widgets for, anyway? And what are they called? Just so you're in the know, since they do come in handy, here are some explanations of the more common utensils.

Paring knife, chef's knife: The little one (paring) is for peeling, slicing and other small tasks; the big chef's knife is for chopping and slicing.

Bain marie: A water bath, used to ensure gentle cooking of delicate food such as custards. Ramekins or baking dishes are set in a larger pan of simmering water and cooked in the oven or on the range top.

Rubber spatula, offset spatula, metal spatula: Rubber is for mixing, offset is for spreading frostings and fillings, metal is for flipping and turning.

Double boiler: Uses the same gentler-cooking principle as the bain marie. Simmering water is in the bottom pan, without allowing it to touch the top pan; food, such as chocolate or a delicate sauce, sits in the top pan to prevent scorching that can occur from direct heat.

Nonreactive pan: Any pan, such as stainless steel, that doesn't react when acidic ingredients (such as tomato sauce, lemon juice) are added, causing the pan to change color or pit; reactive pans include aluminum, cast iron and unlined copper.

Dry vs. liquid measuring cups: Both these tools measure volume, but liquid measuring cups have pour spouts for convenience, and, more importantly, they're clear so you can see the level of the liquid (do this at eye level) for accuracy. Dry measuring cups allow you to fill the appropriate cup size and level off the ingredients, again for accuracy.

Getting ready

Cooks, rev up your knives. Or your beaters. Or your zesters. These terms refer to how you prepare ingredients or how you put them together before you crank up the heat.

Dice, cube, julienne, chop: Tiny dice (also called brunoise) and larger dice or cubes — these cuts aim for even shapes. Julienne — made by cutting thin slices, then cutting the slices into matchsticks. Chopped — don't bother with getting even shapes.

Chiffonade: Very thin strips of a leafy herb or vegetable, such as basil or spinach. Roll the leaves, then slice into ribbons of desired width.

Cream: To mix together ingredients, such as butter and sugar, often with an electric mixer, until thoroughly blended, smoother and lighter.

Zest: The colored exterior peel of citrus, minus the bitter white pith underneath. Pared zest is made with a paring knife or vegetable peeler; twists, with a channel knife; grated zest, with a zester or grater.

Cut in: To break cold fat into fine chunks as you blend into a dry flour mixture, often using a wire pastry blender, two table knives crosswise in opposite directions or food processor, to create a flaky dough.

Fold: With a rubber spatula, to very gently integrate two mixtures without beating, in order to preserve the volume. You carefully cut down through one side of the mixture and then roll your spatula over, turning the bowl with each stroke, to "fold" the two together.

Soft peaks vs. stiff peaks: Usually refers to whipped egg whites or cream. Soft peaks curl over when the beaters are brought straight up from the bowl; stiff peaks stand straight up when the beaters are brought up.

Blind bake: To partially bake a single pie crust before adding the filling, by first laying in a piece of parchment paper, then filling with either dried beans (which can be reused but not eaten) or commercial pie "weights."

Egg wash: A beaten whole egg or yolk, sometimes mixed with a little milk or cream, that's brushed onto bread or pastries before baking to give a glossy finish and to aid browning.

Emulsify: To bind oil and water (or other water-based liquid such as vinegar or juice) into a creamy mixture by whisking or blending. To get a stable emulsion, an ingredient such as mustard or an egg yolk can be used.

Macerate: To soak a food (usually fruit) in a liquid (often a liqueur), which infuses it with flavor, such as berries macerated in brandy. Fruit also can be macerated by sprinkling with sugar to draw out the juices and soften the texture.

Marinate: To steep food in a seasoned liquid (marinade) to add flavor. Some cooks think marinating tenderizes, but research has shown that to be a myth (though some yogurt-based marinades or others with highly enzymatic ingredients can tenderize the surface of meat or poultry).

Separate, separated: To divide an egg yolk from the white. In sauces, the fat can separate out from the other ingredients, leaving droplets or pools of oily liquid visible. Mayonnaise will separate if you try to add too much oil because emulsion "breaks" and separates.

Divided: In a recipe, short for "divided usage." For example, if a recipe ingredient list says "3 cups milk, divided," it may call for mixing in "2 cups milk" at a first reference, and later will say, "add remaining 1 cup milk" or "remaining milk."

Turning up the heat

Didn't we once learn these in home ec? No, wait. They killed home ec years ago. Here are a few must-know terms.

Blanching and shocking: To plunge foods into boiling water for a few seconds, then immediately into ice water to stop the cooking (shocking). The blanching sets the color (for things such as snow peas or broccoli) and can loosen the skins of tomatoes and peaches for easier peeling. Blanching also is used on certain food before freezing, such as corn on the cob, to kill enzymes that could cause the food's texture or flavor to deteriorate.

Parboil: To partially cook foods by boiling, so they can be added later to a dish at the proper doneness, such as carrot slices to a stir-fry at the last minute, so they're not too hard or soft.

Simmer vs. boil: Simmering is cooking at a lower temperature than boiling; small bubbles break at the surface, which can be stirred down. Boiling takes place over higher heat until large bubbles, which can't be stirred down, continuously break at the surface.

Braise: A two-part cooking method in which food is browned in a little fat, then finished in flavorful liquid in a covered pot, either on the stovetop or in the oven. Vegetables and seafood can be braised, but the classic use is for tougher cuts of meat and poultry, such as short ribs. This slow cooking method breaks down connective tissue, resulting in fork-tender meat.

Sauté: To cook in a small amount of fat in a shallow pan over lively heat, usually with the intention of browning the outside of the food. Browning isn't always the goal, however; onions are often sautéed "until translucent," when they soften and turn from an opaque to a semi-transparent white.

Sear: To aggressively brown the exterior of food, often meat, sometimes first dusted in flour, over medium-high or high heat. It's a myth that searing "seals in juices," but the browning adds flavor to the dish.

Deglaze: To add liquid to a hot pan to dissolve the crusty bits of meat and juices left behind from sauteing. Broth or wine is often the liquid; the deglazed juices can be used as the base of a sauce.

Reduce: To boil until a liquid is reduced through evaporation to concentrate flavor and thicken the body. A recipe may specify the degree, such as "reduce by half," or "reduce to a glaze."

Al dente: "To the tooth," in Italian; a descriptor for the precise doneness for pasta: not overly soft nor chalky but still with a slight resistance.