Improve your cookery vocabulary

Ugandans have become multicultural and have come to love and appreciate such diverse food as Italian, Mediterranean, and Continental and increasingly going into the kitchen and preparing first rate gourmet meals for friends and family.
Marinade This is a process that enhances the tenderness and flavour of meats by generally soaking them in a mixture of oil, wine, vinegar and seasoning. Marinades are not just confined to meats and poultry or fish. For that matter they are some wonderful vegetable marinades that we shall discuss in the future. The other thing to remember is that there are also dry marinades.

Meringue A mixture of egg white and sugar that is either spooned on top of a pudding, or else piped into shapes and then baked in a very cool oven.

Moussaka A Mediterranean dish that contains meat can be a mixture of minced pork and lamb or just beef, aubergine, onions, garlic, topped with a white sauce and cheese on top.
Mousse Perhaps unbeknownst to many in Uganda and while many of you may be familiar with chocolate au mousse, besides sweet mousses, there are such savory mousses such as seafood mousse, cucumber mousse, avocado mousse, jellied chicken mousse and a plethora of others that are both challenging and worthwhile making and eating.
Paella A traditional Spanish dish that contains rice, saffron, chicken, shrimps, sausages, clams et al. Usually cooked in a paellero in its absence you can get by very nicely with a generous casserole that has a lid.
Paprika Hungarian piri piri powder
Parboil To boil for only half the recommended time.
Pasta Made from flour and water and then formed in various shapes. Many believe that it was an invention from the Chinese. A distinct probability that I am not inclined to dispute.
Pate A savory meat, poultry or game meat usually done in a pasty encasing that is served cold.
Pipe To form a mixture that is placed in what is known as a piping bag fitted with a tube. These come in various sizes and shapes.
Piquant Usually ascribed to a sauce that has extra zest and brings out the best of bland and lacklustre meats as well as leftovers.

Pith The white and bitter layer found beneath the skin of citrus fruits.
Poaching In the past people confined this wonderful moist-heat cooking mainly with eggs. Today poached fish is increasingly to be found on menus in some of the better dinning establishments. The principle of poaching never deviates viz. the heat source must always be liquid that is constantly kept just below the boiling point.

Puree Food that has been churned through a food processor or a blender and then usually added to sauces.
Quiche An open face savory tart that is encrusted within a rich pie dough and has a filling ranging from onions, leeks, bacon, cheese et al. They are excellent served as hors d’oeuvres baked in tiny tarts no bigger than the lining of a muffin pan. Always served lukewarm they make a hefty brunch.
Ragout A meat and vegetable stew
Ratatouille A vegetable entrée made from green pepper, aubergines, tomatoes, garlic, onions, courgettes, et al.
Reduce This process is used when one wishes to intensify a flavor in a sauce, broth or a sauce that is evaporated over high heat.

Rice paper An edible paper that is used to line baking trays for a maracaroon.
Sauté. Literally means in French ‘to jump.’ Usually thin strips of meat; poultry or vegetables are pan fried in an open pan that is kept in rapid motion over high heat.

Savarin A yeast cake baked in a ring mould and soaked in a sugar syrup flavored with a liqueur.
Scald To heat a liquid such as milk (must always be homogenised and pasteurized) to just under boiling point.
Score. To make incisions into the surface of say a whole fish.

Seasoned flour A combination of salt, pepper, and dried herbs such as thyme, tarragon, basil that is mixed with in flour and then used to coat meat or fish or even vegetables just before (usually) frying.
Sifting Sometimes referred to as sieving this is merely passing foods through a sieve in order to remove lumps.
Singe To scorch over the surface of say a chicken with direct heat.

Simmering Cooking food in liquid that is kept just below the boiling point. Do not despair if you are using a sigiri or jiko, as soon as whatever your cooking has reached the boiling temperature then remove from the heat and heap some ashes over the heat and the temperature will quickly drop and be maintained at the desired temperature. BTW once water has reached the boiling point of 212 degrees Fahrenheit it will never go beyond that point. It is merely a waste of precious gas, electricity or charcoal.
Skewer Metal or bamboo objects, or even small local broomsticks that are used to secure meats or chicken for a Barbie.

Sousing Preserving meat or poultry in brine or vinegar.
Spit A revolving metal skewer on to which meat or poultry or even game has been secured and cooked over direct heat. The spit may be motorised or else rotatated by hand.
Strudel Thin pieces of pastry that are filled with either a sweet or savoury filling and then formed into rolls and baked in an oven.

Stuffing A stuffing for meats or poultry/game that can be in any form such as rice, bread, sausage, seafood, apple and prune, tangerine or pineapple et al.
Trussing. Tying any type of poultry/game or a joint of meat into an orderly shape, all the more if they have been stuffed, before baking in an oven.
Whip To beat say egg whites to froth.
Whisk To beat in quick motion using a wire whisk.

AND Z IS FOR…
Zest The outer skin of citrus fruits (the rind) such as lemon, orange that is used to flavour food or cakes.