If you have ever watched a cooking show on TV, a YouTube video, or read a cookbook, you have come across a lot of terms related to cooking. Some are pretty straight forward, and some are more obscure. Many of them are French words that may or may not make sense. A little research, actually watching a video or TV show, or taking a class will give you a pretty good idea of what many of these terms mean. In fact, if you have cooked a few meals, you have probably been doing many of these things without realizing you were doing something that actually has a fancy term for it.
What Does it Mean to Sear a Piece of Meat?
Often when someone talks of searing meat, they are talking about a steak. Okay. So how do I sear a steak, and what does that mean? Basically, searing a piece of meat, or anything else for that matter is rapidly cooking just the outside layer in order to form a sort of crust. That traps the meat’s natural juices inside and prevents the meat from drying out. A common method for steaks, thicker pieces of fish such as salmon, and even something as simple as pork chops, is to use a heavy skillet. I, and many others, prefer cast iron for this. You need to get the skillet good and hot. Once it is hot, you put your cut of meat in there and let it cook for the specified time on each side. That forms a crust and traps the juices inside the meat. Then you can grill, broil, whatever. It keeps the cut of meat from drying out as it cooks…and it does give it a really good flavor. Here’s another kind of neat fact. You do not have to heat your skillet on the stove, sear your steak, and then go out to the grill. You can heat your skillet on the grill, sear the steak, move the skillet out of the way, and put your steak onto the grill. It saves running back and forth. However, your skillet does have to be good and hot before you put that steak in there. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I do like a good steak.
Braising, Sauteeing, Stewing, Steaming, Simmering…What?
There are a lot of terms used that can be somewhat confusing. Usually, cookbooks have a glossary in the back that explain what some of these terms mean. A good way to see what they mean is to go to YouTube and watch someone cook something. Most of the stuff I have watched does a good job of explaining what these terms mean. Here is another crazy idea. Turn on your computer, go to Google, and enter the cooking term into the search bar. You’ll likely find thousands of descriptions, definitions, and examples of what each one means. Now, doing it correctly might take a little practice. But once you figure it out, that’s one more tool in your toolbox.
Slicing, Dicing, Julienne, Chop, Mince…What Does it all Mean?
Depending on what you are making, there are any number of ways to cut, slice, or chop the ingredients. Of course, every method has some fancy term associated with it. In reality, none of them are all that complicated. As I said before, look in the glossary of your favorite cookbook, search it on Google or YouTube, or even watch some of the cooking stuff on TV. Once you figure out what the terms mean, you can impress your friends with your skills and new vocabulary.
How Do I Know If I am Doing It Right?
When it comes to some of the cooking techniques, you will know if you did it wrong as it will smell burnt, it will look burnt, or you’ll just get “that feeling” that this isn’t right. But how do you know if it is right? Well, here is my opinion. Like I said, I am definitely not a chef. But I do cook pretty well. If it is right, as far as I am concerned, it tastes good. Can I cook a steak like Gordon Ramsey? Probably not. Can I cook a steak that tastes amazing, is juicy and tender, and is worth the effort? Oh yes I can. And so can you.
All These Terms, and So Little Time
My advice to beginners and even experienced cooks is to look up what all of the various terms mean. I think you’ll find that you actually have been doing many of them for a while. It sounds kind of neat to be able to use the fancy terms, but if you can do those things without knowing the exact terms, that is what is important…unless you want to be an actual chef. Then you probably need to know exactly what they mean, and how to actually use them. Does that mean the rest of us are kind of “hacks”? Maybe. But who cares? If it tastes good, then you did it the right way.