Food and Wine

To heat sugar until it liquefies and become a clear caramel syrup ranging in color from golden to dark brown. Fruits and vegetables with natural sugars can be caramelized by sauteeing roasting or grilling giving them a sweet flavor and golden glaze.

To create small V-shaped grooves over the surface of fruits or vegetables for decorative purposes using a channel knife. The fruit or vegetable is then sliced creating a decorative border on the slices.

A domestic fowl kept for its eggs or meat especially a young one.

To slice into very thin strips or shreds. Literally translated from French the term means 'made of rags'.

To cut food into bite-size pieces using a knife. A food processor may also be used to chop food. Chopped food is more coarsely cut than minced food.

A marine bivalve mollusk with shells of equal size.

To remove sediment from a cloudy liquid thereby making it clear. To clarify liquids such as stock egg whites and/or eggshells are commonly added and simmered for approximately 15 minutes. The egg whites attract and trap particles from the liquid. After cooling strain the mixture through a cloth-lined sieve to remove residue. To clarify rendered fat add hot water and boil for about 15 minutes. The mixture should then be strained through several layers of cheesecloth and chilled. The resulting layer of fat should be completely clear of residue.

Clarified butter is butter that has been heated slowly so that its milk solids separate and sink and can be discarded. The resulting clear liquid can be used at a higher cooking temperature and will not go rancid as quickly as unclarified butter.

A crustacean with a broad carapace stalked eyes and five pairs of legs the first pair of which are modified as pincers. Crabs are abundant on many shores especially in the tropics where some have become adapted to life on land.

An arthropod of the large mainly aquatic group Crustacea such as a crab lobster shrimp or barnacle.

To treat food by one of several methods for preservation purposes. Examples are smoking pickling - in an acid base corning - with acid and salt and salt curing - which removes water.