Hospitality HSC Study Guide - Methods of Cookery

Convection

The process by which food is heated by a moving heat source, such as the hot air in an oven, or even the motion of boiling water in a pot. Boiling differs from this method as it depends on the latent heat of vaporisation.

Conduction

the process of heat being transferred between objects through direct contact, and it's the most common type of heat transfer. For example, in cooking the burners on stoves will conduct heat energy to the bottom of a pan sitting on top of it. From there, the pan conducts heat to its contents.

Radiation

the process where heat and light waves strike and penetrate your food. As such, there is no direct contact between the heat source and the cooking food. There are two main radiant heat cooking methods: infrared and microwave radiation.

Wet Method

use water, liquid or steam to transfer heat to food. Common moist-heat cooking methods include: poaching, simmering, boiling, braising, stewing, pot roasting, steaming and en papillote.

Dry Method

roasting, baking, barbecuing, broiling, grilling, sautéing, panfrying, stir-frying, and deep fat frying. (Deep fat frying is sometimes considered a category of its own.) A. Roasting and baking methods are conducted by cooking food uncovered in an oven (dry heat) with little or no liquid added.

Bain Marie

also known as a water bath or double boiler, a type of heated bath, is a piece of equipment used in science, industry, and cooking to heat materials gently or to keep materials warm over a period of time.

En Papillote

a cooking method where ingredients - often including fish - are placed in a bag made of parchment paper before being baked in an oven. The packet can also contain veggies, butter, fresh herbs, a slice of lemon, etc.

Blind baking

preparing your pie crust in the pan, leaving it to chill, then filling it with crumpled parchment paper and pie weights of your choice. The weights stop the crust from fully puffing while in the oven

Preheat

the process of letting it get hot before you place your food inside. Simply turn on the oven and set the desired temperature. Your oven should display the internal temperature to tell you when it is preheated

Farinaceous

dishes made from pasta, noodles, rice, polenta or gnocchi. Farinaceous commodities are highly nutritious and provide energy and dietary fibre and they include starchy flours, cereals, pulses, starchy vegetables and even parts of trees

Court Bouillion

a quickly-cooked broth used for poaching other foods, most commonly fish or seafood. It is also sometimes used for poaching vegetables, eggs, sweetbreads, cockscombs, and delicate meats

Simmer

(of water or food that is being heated) stay just below boiling point while bubbling gently.

Blanch

a cooking process in which a food, usually a vegetable or fruit, is scalded in boiling water, removed after a brief timed interval, and finally plunged into iced water or placed under cold running water to halt the cooking process.

Refreshing

To rinse freshly cooked fruit or vegetables in cold running water. Refreshing helps to preserve the colour and texture of the food and also stops the cooking process immediately

Spider

a type of skimmer prevalent in East Asian cuisine in the form of a wide shallow wire-mesh basket with a long handle, used for removing hot food from a liquid or skimming foam off when making broths.

Chinois

a conical sieve with an extremely fine mesh. It is used to strain custards, purees, soups, and sauces, producing a very smooth texture.

Mirepoix

the combination of diced onion, carrots, and celery, gently cooked in fat

Marinade

soaking foods in a seasoned, often acidic, liquid before cooking. The origin of the word alludes to the use of brine in the pickling process, which led to the technique of adding flavor by immersion in liquid.

Larding

threading strips of meat through the meat and as the meat cooks the fat melts from the inside to keep it moist. By coating the strips of fat in herbs or spices before being threaded through the meat larding can also be used as a method to add extra flavour.

Trussing

the technique of tying your chicken snugly with kitchen twine so that the wings and legs stay close to the body

Sauteing

a method of cooking that uses a relatively small amount of oil or fat in a shallow pan over relatively high heat.

Gratinating

to cook with a covering of buttered crumbs or grated cheese until a crust or crisp surface forms.

Shallow poaching

cooked with a combination of steam and simmering liquid. The food is partially submerged in liquid, which often contains an acid, such as wine or lemon juice, and the pan is covered to capture the steam released by the liquid during cooking.

Deep poaching

similar to shallow poaching, but the product is fully submerged. The pot used for deep poaching should hold the food, liquid, and aromatics comfortably. There should also be enough space so the surface can be skimmed throughout cooking.

Water Soluble Vitamins

carried to the body's tissues but are not stored in the body. They are found in many plant and animal foods and in dietary supplements and must be taken in daily. Vitamin C and members of the vitamin B complex are water-soluble.

Carry over cooking

occurs when you remove ingredients from a heat source, but the cooking doesn't stop. Instead, the exterior temperature of the item releases its heat in two directions.

Netting

to form and shape a variety of meat and poultry products during meat processing, resulting in a pleasing look and consistent shape. Netting is a good substitute for butcher's twine since it shrinks as the meat cooks and cures, eliminating the need to tighten the twine.

Degree of doneness

rare, medium rare, medium, medium well or well done. These are the degrees of doneness, and they're determined by your beef's colour, juiciness and internal temperature when cooked.

Pan frying

a form of frying food characterized by the use of minimal cooking oil or fat (compared to shallow frying or deep frying), typically using just enough to lubricate the pan.

Stir frying

a cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred or tossed in a wok.

Wok

A wok is a deep round-bottomed cooking pan of Chinese origin. It is believed to be derived from the South Asian karahi.

Seasoning the pan

coating the surface of cookware with fat which is heated in order to produce a corrosion resistant layer of polymerized fat. It is required for raw cast-iron cookware and carbon steel, which otherwise rust rapidly in use, but is also used for many other types of cookware

Direct streaming

boiling water continuously, causing it to vaporize into steam; the steam then carries heat to the nearby food, thus cooking the food

Indirect streaming

food is placed between the heat source - never directly above lit gas burners or charcoal. Remember, indirect cooking is a no-peek cooking method -- every time you lift the lid, heat escapes and can increase cooking time.

High pressure steaming

the process of cooking food under high pressure steam and water or a water-based cooking liquid, in a sealed vessel known as a pressure cooker

Roux

a cooked mixture of equal parts flour and fat. When flour is cooked in fat, the fat coats the flour's starch granules. This helps keep lumps from forming when the roux is combined with liquid such as milk or stock, yielding a silky-smooth, uniform sauce.

Bouilabaisse

a highly seasoned fish stew made with at least two kinds of fish

Brown stew

stew in which meat, vegetables, and flour are fried together before stewing

White stew

stew in which the ingredients are not fried first