Cooking Terms Glossary

Learn the language of cooking with our comprehensive glossary of culinary terms.

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Sauteing is cooking food quickly in a small amount of hot fat over fairly high heat, keeping the pie...

Scalding has two related meanings in cooking. Most often it means heating milk or cream until it is...

Scoring is cutting shallow slits into the surface of a food, often in a crosshatch or diamond patter...

Searing is browning the surface of food, usually meat, very quickly over intense heat so a deeply co...

Shredding is cutting or tearing food into long, thin strips. You can do it with the large holes of a...

Simmering is cooking food in liquid kept just below the boiling point, where small bubbles rise gent...

Slivering means cutting food into long, thin, narrow slices or slender pieces. It is a delicate cut...

Steaming cooks food with the hot vapor from boiling water rather than in the water itself. The food...

Steeping is letting an ingredient sit in hot liquid, off the heat, so its flavor, color, or aroma se...

Stewing is cooking food slowly by simmering it in enough liquid to cover it, usually for a long time...

Stirring is moving ingredients around in a bowl or pan, usually with a circular motion using a spoon...

Stir-frying is a fast, high-heat method of cooking small, uniform pieces of food in a little oil whi...