I've recently been reviewing a lot of recipes and I've come to the conclusion that people who write cookbooks speak a very foreign language. There are at least ten ways to chop something up, six ways to cook meat, and things that I don't even know how to pronounce. Okay, I am exaggerating a bit, but think about how often you've been looking at a recipe and come across a word like chiffonade, (don't know what that means? No worries, I'll define it later), and wonder what in the world it is. To help those who aren't experts yet (like myself), and those who are, I've found some cooking terms and ingredients that are common in cookbooks and have defined them.

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Al Dente: I see this word all the time and I never knew what it meant, until now. Al dente is a way to cook pasta. It's from an Italian phrase which, when translated, means "to the tooth." So the pasta should be tender but still firm to the bite.

Bard: I saw this word and I liked it, so I included it. To bard means to tie bacon or pork fat over a joint of meat or poultry before it is roasted to prevent it from drying out during cooking.

Blanch: When I hear the word blanch, I think of someone going pale faced, and not surprisingly it means something similar in cooking terms. To blanch means to heat for a short time in boiling water or steam. This technique is used in preparing foods for canning, freezing, or drying. It helps loosen the skins of fruits, vegetables, or nuts.

Brunoise: To be honest, I actually haven't seen this in a recipe, yet. But I was looking up another term and this popped up. Maybe it'll help one of you out there. Brunoise (pronounced Broon-wahz), is a basic knife cut measuring 1/8 inch by 1/8 inch by 1/8 inch.

Carob: I came across a recipe that called for this ingredient. I googled it and found it's similar to chocolate only slightly healthier. It's a chocolate substitute. There are actually two definitions 1) a brown floury powder extracted from the carob bean, used as a substitute for chocolate and 2) a small evergreen Arabian tree that bears long brownish-purple edible pods.

Chiffonade: As promised the definition of this word. For some reason it makes me think of a mix of chiffon and lemonade. Anyway chiffonade is a knife technique used for cutting herbs and leaf vegetables into thin strips or ribbons. So for example if you had a recipe that called for basil leaves, chiffonade, you would roll them into a tube, and carefully cut across the ends of the tube with your knife to produce fine strips.

Cube: This is a cooking term that is probably more common, but it's hard to know the difference between cubing something, dicing something, or mincing something. Apparently there is a distinction. To cube means to cut a solid food into squares of about 1/2" in size or larger.

Dice: To dice means to cut into small squares of 1/8" to 1/4". Basically it's just cutting things into smaller cubes.

Flute: I thought that a flute was an instrument; it's also a cooking term. Flute means to make decorative indentations around the edge of pastries, vegetables, or fruit.

Haricot Verts: This is just the French term for green bean. Haricot verts are slightly longer and thinner than other green beans.

Julienne: Another cutting term! Julienne means to cut meat, vegetables, or fruit into long, very thin strips.

Mince: To mince means to cut or chop food into very small pieces. So this is just cutting things into even smaller cubes.

Pare: This word is common in recipes, but sometimes it can get confused with the term peel (defined below). To pare means to remove the outer peel or skin of a fruit or vegetable with a knife.

Peel: To pull away, strip or cut off the outer covering of a fruit or vegetable (it's basically the same thing as paring)

Render: I have heard this term often, but I never knew what it meant. It means to melt solid fat (e.g. from beef or pork) slowly in the oven.

Sauté: My friend and I were discussing this term, it means to brown or cook meat, fish, vegetables, or fruit in a small amount of fat.

Score: To make shallow slits into the food, usually in a rectangular or diamond pattern.

Steep: To let a food stand for a few minutes in just boiled water to increase flavor and color.

Sweat: To cook gently, usually in butter, a bit of oil, or the food's own juices to soften but not brown the food.

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There you go! A small list of common cooking terms! Hopefully you learned something new!