Cooking Terms Glossary
Learn the language of cooking with our comprehensive glossary of culinary terms.
C
Caramelize
Caramelizing is the slow melting of sugar, or of foods that contain natural sugars, over heat until...
Chop
Chopping is cutting food into small, roughly bite-sized pieces with a knife. The pieces do not need...
Clarify
Clarifying is the process of making a cloudy liquid clear by removing the fat, solids, and other imp...
Coat
Coating means covering the surface of a piece of food evenly with a dry or semi-liquid layer such as...
Coddle
Coddling is cooking food very gently in water kept just below the boiling point, so the water stays...
Compote
A compote is fruit that has been cooked slowly in a sugar syrup, sometimes with added spices, citrus...
Cool
Cooling means letting hot food stand until it is no longer warm to the touch, allowing it to drop to...
Cream
Creaming is beating a solid fat, usually butter, until it becomes soft, smooth, and lightened, and m...
Crumble
Crumbling means breaking food into small, irregular fragments or crumbs with your fingers, a fork, o...
Cube
Cubing is cutting solid food into cube-shaped pieces, generally about half an inch or larger on each...
Cut in
Cutting in is the technique of working a cold solid fat, such as butter or shortening, into dry ingr...