The Unofficial Hogwarts Cookbook for Kids- Common Recipe Terms

by Cindi Sutter, Founder & Editor Spirited Table® — All content excerpted from The Unofficial Hogwarts Cookbook for Kids by Alana Al-Hatlani. Copyright © 2021 Ulysses Press. Reprinted with permission from Ulysses Press. New York, NY. All rights reserved.

The Author, Alana Al-Hatlani, provides you with the descriptions for each of these cooking and recipe terms. It’s a great reminder for cooks, young and old.

Al dente: Cooked until firm—not crunchy and not too soft.

Bake: To cook food in an oven using dry heat.

Baste: To add moisture to food while you’re cooking it so it doesn’t dry out.

Beat: To stir very fast until a mixture becomes smooth. You can do this with a spoon, whisk, or mixer.

Blanch: To boil fruit or veggies for a short amount of time to seal in color and flavor.

Boil: To cook in water that has reached 212°F.

Braise: To brown first, then simmer food over low heat in a small amount of liquid. The pan should be covered. This results in tender meat.

Broil: To cook on a rack under direct heat. You can do this in an oven.

Brown: To cook on high heat to add darker color to the food.

Caramelize: To heat sugar until it melts and turns into a syrup. The syrup can look golden, brown, or even dark brown.

Chop: To cut food into small pieces (think: the thickness of a pencil). If your recipe says “finely chopped,” cut pieces to half the thickness of a pencil.

Cream: To beat ingredients together until smooth.

Cube: To cut food into pieces that are around 1/2-inch wide.

Dash: 1/8 teaspoon.

Dice: To cut food into very small pieces, around 1/8-inch wide. Sometimes dice and chop are used interchangeably, but in general, dice means smaller pieces than chop.

Dredge: To coat uncooked food in breadcrumbs, flour, or some other mixture.

Dust: To lightly cover a dessert with powdered sugar or to dust a surface or dough with flour before rolling.

Fold: To gently use a spatula to mix light ingredients (like beaten egg whites) into heavy ingredients. The point of folding is to try to keep as much air in the mixture as possible.

Glaze: To coat food in sauce, icing, or other glossy liquids.

Grate: To rub food against a serrated tool, resulting in shredded bits.

Knead: To mix dough together using your hands or a mixer.

Mince: To cut ingredients into teeny tiny pieces.

Pinch: 1/16 teaspoon.

Poach: To cook over low heat, with liquid just barely simmering.

Roast: To cook meat or veggies in dry heat in an oven.

Sauté: Also called pan fry, sauté means to cook food using a small amount of oil over high heat.

Shred: To cut food into narrow strips. You can use a knife or a grater to do this.

Simmer: To cook a liquid to just below the boiling point. You’ll see bubbles forming, but they aren’t bursting on the surface.

Slice: To cut ingredients into thin, similar-sized pieces.

Stew: To cook ingredients in liquid, usually in a covered pan on low heat.

To taste: To season a dish, usually with salt and pepper, until it tastes right to you. Not too salty and not too bland!

Whip: To incorporate air into a mixture using a whisk or a mixer.

Whisk: To incorporate air into a mixture, or to combine dry ingredients until smooth, using a fork or a whisk.

Zest: To grate the outer peel of a citrus fruit.