Here are some cooking terms that you will find in every cookbook but may not be familiar with.
Arborio rice - a short-grain, stubby type of rice origionnally from Italy and named after a town in the Po Valley. With a higher startch content than most of rices, properly cooked Arborio rice is creamy but firm and chewy.
all purpose flour - a blend of high and low protein flours. The manufacturers blend the flour so that there is enough gluten in it to make a reasonable (often excellent) loaf of bread but not so much that you will end up with a chewy birthday cake. This is why they call it "all purpose:" it is good to use in a variety of baked goods.
al dente (al-Den-tay) In Italian the phrase means "to the tooth"and is a term used to describe the correct degree of doneness when cooking pasta and vegetables. The food should have a slight resistance when biting into it, but should not be soft or overdone or have a hard center
bard To tie some type of fat (bacon or fatback) around what you are cooking to prevent it from drying out while roasting. Often used with fowl or extremely lean meats, barding bastes the meat while it is cooking, thus keeping it moist.
baste To spoon, brush, or squirt a liquid ( meat drippings, stock, barbecue sauce, melted butter) on food while it cooks to prevent drying out and to add flavor.
A Cooking Vocabulary Quiz for your enjoyment.
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