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Documents for "Food and Cooking":
  • bacon flesh of hogs—especially from the sides, belly, or back—that has been preserved by being salted or pickled and then dried with or without wood smoke. Traditionally, the process consisted of soaking...
  • barbecue [West Indian or South American], in the United States, traditionally an open-air gathering, political or social, in which meats are roasted whole over a pit of embers and food and drink are...
  • beef flesh of cattle prepared for food. It has become one of the chief products of the meatpacking industry and is sold either chilled, frozen, or cured. The leading beef consumers, as well as exporters, are the U.S., the European Union, Brazil, Argentina, and Australia. The carcasses, after...
  • betel masticatory made from slices of betel palm seeds (called betel nuts) smeared onto a betel pepper leaf together with other aromatic flavorings and lime paste and rolled up. The betel palm ( Areca catechu ) and the betel pepper ( Piper betle of the pepper family) are native to and widely cultivated in S Asia, where betel has been chewed since ancient times and is an article of considerable commerce. Betel contains alkaloids that increase the heart...
  • bread food made from grains that have been ground into flour or meal, moistened and kneaded into a dough, and then baked. Many types of bread are leavened, usually with yeast, which induces fermentation...
  • breakfast cereal a food made from grain , commonly eaten in the morning. The oldest type of cereal, known as porridge or gruel, requires cooking in water or milk. The modern breakfast cereals, however, are entirely precooked and eaten in...
  • butter dairy product obtained by churning the fat from milk until it solidifies. In most areas the milk of cows is the basis, but elsewhere that of goats, sheep, and mares has been used. Butter was known...
  • cake originally a small mass of dough baked by turning on a spit; in present usage a dessert made of flour, sugar, eggs, seasonings, usually some leavening and liquid besides the eggs, and shortening...
  • canning process of hermetically sealing cooked food for future use. It is a preservation method, in which prepared food is put in glass jars or metal cans that are hermetically sealed to keep out air and...
  • carbonated beverage an effervescent drink that releases carbon dioxide under conditions of normal atmospheric pressure. Carbonation may occur naturally in spring water that has absorbed carbon dioxide at high...
  • caviar or caviare , the roe (eggs) of various species of sturgeon prepared as a piquant table delicacy. The ovaries of the fish are beaten to loosen the eggs, which are then freed from fat and membrane by being passed through a sieve. The liquid is pressed off,...
  • Cheddar village, Somerset, SW England. It is chiefly a tourist center. Limestone is quarried, and strawberries are grown. Nearby Cheddar Gorge towers c.400 ft (120 m) high, with imposing limestone cliffs...
  • cheese food known from ancient times and consisting of the curd of milk separated from the whey.
  • chewing gum confection consisting usually of chicle , flavorings, and corn syrup and sugar (or artificial sweeteners). Prehistoric people are believed to have chewed resins. Spruce resin was chewed as a thirst quencher by Native Americans, from whom...
  • chili con carne [Span.,=hot peppers with meat], Mexican food popular in the United States and now manufactured and canned commercially. It consists mainly of beef, beans, chilies (see pepper ), garlic, and spices,...
  • chocolate general term for the products of the seeds of the cacao or chocolate tree, used for making beverages or confectionery. The flavor of chocolate depends not only on the quality of the cocoa nibs (the remainder after the seeds are fermented, dried, and...
  • chowder stew of fish or shellfish with potatoes, onions, and pork (usually salt pork), thickened with crumbled hard bread. The name chowder seems to have originated from the French word chaudière (a large heavy pot used by fishermen to cook soups and stews). The name probably was carried to the French Canadian coasts and traveled from there to New England (noted for its clam chowder) and...
  • cigar and cigarette tubular rolls of tobacco designed for smoking. Cigars consist of filler leaves held together by binder leaves and covered with a wrapper leaf, which is rolled spirally around the binder. Cigarettes consist of finely shredded tobacco enclosed...
  • confectionery delicacies or sweetmeats that have sugar as a principal ingredient, combined with coloring matter and flavoring and often with fruit or nuts. In the United States it is usually called candy, in...
  • cooking the process of using heat to prepare foods for consumption.
  • curry [Malayalam], condiment much used in India and elsewhere in Asia and the Middle East, in combination with rice, meat, and a variety of other dishes. It is compounded of such spices as turmeric,...
  • diet food and drink regularly consumed for nourishment. Nutritionists generally recommend eating a wide variety of foods; however, some groups of people survive on a very limited diet. The traditional...
  • fat substitute substance used to replace dietary fat in the manufacture of foods. Fat substitutes are made in a variety of ways, mostly by manipulating natural food products such as egg whites, whey, and oats...
  • fermented milk whole or skim milk curdled to beverage or custardlike consistency by lactic-acid-producing microorganisms. Many forms of fermented milk were used by early nomadic herders, especially in Asia and S...
  • fiber, dietary bulky part of food that cannot be broken down by enzymes in the small intestine of the digestive system. Almost all natural fiber comes from plants. Although fiber has little nutritional value, it...
  • fish curing Methods of curing fish by drying, salting, smoking, and pickling, or by combinations of these processes have been employed since ancient times. On sailing vessels fish were usually salted down...
  • flour finely ground, usually sifted, meal of grain , such as wheat, rye, corn, rice, or buckwheat. Flour is also made from potatoes, peas, beans, peanuts, etc. Usually it refers to the finely ground and bolted (i.e., sifted through a fine sieve)...
  • foie gras [Fr.,=fat liver], livers of artificially fattened geese. Ducks and chickens are also sometimes used in the making of foie gras. The birds, kept in close coops to prevent exercise, are...
  • food see diet ; frozen foods ; nutrition ; vitamin.
  • food additives substances added to foods by manufacturers to prevent spoilage or to enhance appearance, taste, texture, or nutritive value. By quantity, the most common food additives are flavorings, which...
  • food adulteration act of intentionally debasing the quality of food offered for sale either by the admixture or substitution of inferior substances or by the removal of some valuable ingredient. The Greek and Roman...
  • food preservation methods of preparing food so that it can be stored for future use. Because most foods remain edible for only a brief period of time, people since the earliest ages have experimented with methods...
  • food pyramid or Food Guide Pyramid, diagram used in nutrition education that fits food groups into a triangle and notes that, for a healthful diet, those at the base should be eaten more frequently than those at the top. At the base...
  • frijole [Span. fríjol  ], in Mexico and the Spanish American countries, any cultivated bean of the genus Phaseolus. The term frijole refers to the small, flat, black bean that ranks next to corn in importance in the diet of most Latin American countries. It is probably of South American origin and belongs to the same family as...
  • frozen foods products of the food preservation process of freezing. This process has been employed by people in the Arctic from prehistoric times. Eskimos throw fresh-caught fish on the ice to freeze, and naturally frozen fish have been a trade...
  • ham hind leg of a hog above the hock joint, prepared for food by curing or smoking. Ham is one of the earliest of preserved meats; it is now a leading product of the meatpacking industry. The flavor...
  • hominy [Algonquian], hulled corn with the germ removed and served either ground or whole. The pioneers in North America prepared it by soaking the kernels in weak wood lye until the hulls floated to the...
  • honey sweet, viscid fluid produced by honeybees from the nectar of flowers. The nectar is taken from the flower by the worker bee and is carried in the honey sac back to the hive. It is transformed into...
  • ice cream sweet frozen dessert, made from milk fat and solids, sugar, flavoring, a stabilizer (usually gelatin), and sometimes eggs, fruits, or nuts. The mix is churned at freezing temperature to attain a...
  • jelly and jam gelatinous, sweet food prepared by preserving fresh fruits. Since most fresh fruits contain about 80% water and from 10% to 15% sugar, they are subject to fermentation. They may be preserved by...
  • lard hog's fat melted and strained from the tissues, an important byproduct of the meatpacking industry. The highest grade, leaf lard, is from the fat around the kidneys; the next best is from the back,...
  • leaven agent used to raise bread or other flour foods. Physical leavens include water vapor, which is released as steam at high temperatures (as in popovers), and air, which is incorporated by beating...
  • malt a grain (usually barley ) steeped in water, partially germinated, then dried and cured. It is used in brewing to convert cereal starches to sugars by means of the enzymes (chiefly diastase) produced...
  • margarine manufactured substitute for butter. It consists of a blend of vegetable oils or meat fats (or a combination of both) mixed with milk and salt. It was developed in the late 1860s by the French...
  • marmalade [Port.,=quince preparation], thick preserve of fruit pulp, originally made from quinces ( marmelos ) and known in England from the 15th cent. Marmalade has a jellylike consistency and a slightly bitter flavor, caused by including the rind of some tart fruit such as the Seville orange or the...
  • meat term for the flesh of animals used for food, especially that of cattle, sheep, lambs, and swine, as distinct from game, poultry, and fish; sometimes it is inclusive of all animal flesh. The chief...
  • milk liquid secreted by the mammary glands of female mammals as food for their young. The milk of the cow is most widely used by humans, but the milk of the mare, goat, ewe, buffalo, camel, ass, zebra, reindeer, llama, and yak is also used...
  • milling mechanical grinding of wheat or other grains to produce flour. Milling separates the fine, mealy parts of grain from the fibrous bran covering. In prehistoric times grain was crushed between two...
  • molasses sugar byproduct, the brownish liquid residue left after heat crystallization of sucrose (commercial sugar) in the process of refining. Molasses contains chiefly the uncrystallizable sugars as well...
  • mutton flesh of mature sheep prepared as food (as opposed to the flesh of young sheep, which is known as lamb). Mutton is deep red with firm, white fat. In Middle Eastern countries it is a staple meat,...
  • olive oil pale yellow to greenish oil obtained from the pulp of olives by separating the liquids from solids. Olive oil was used in the ancient world for lighting, in the preparation of food, and as an...
  • organic food food raised without chemicals and processed without additives. Under standards adopted by the U.S. Agriculture Dept. (USDA) in 2000 and fully effective in 2002, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides...
  • packaging containment and packing prior to sale with the primary purpose of facilitating the purchase and use of a product. Before 1800 packaging was restricted almost entirely to containment for shipping,...
  • pancake thin, flat cake, made of batter and baked on a griddle or fried in a pan. Pancakes, probably the oldest form of bread, are known in different forms throughout the world. The relative ease of baking...
  • pasta generic name for thin pieces of hardened, unleavened dough that are molded into various shapes and boiled, not baked. Pasta is commonly associated with Italian cuisine, though similar wheat flour...
  • pastry general name for baked articles of food made of paste or having paste as a necessary ingredient. The name is also used for the paste itself. The essential elements of paste are flour, liquid...
  • pemmican a travel food of the Native North American. Slices of lean venison or buffalo meat were sun dried, pounded to a paste, and packed with melted fat in rawhide bags. Dried currants or wild berries...
  • pickle general term for fruits or vegetables preserved in vinegar or brine, usually with spices or sugar or both. Vegetables commonly pickled include the beet, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, olive,...
  • picnic social gathering at which each participant generally brings food to be shared. The Picnic Society was formed in London early in the 19th cent. by a group of fashionable people for purposes of...
  • pie meat, fish, fowl, fruit, or vegetables baked with a crust of pastry , or pastry shells filled with custard or pudding. The pies of the Romans, especially at banquets in the days of the empire, were often elaborate concoctions, such as the showpieces in which were...
  • pine nut or piñon , edible seed of various species of pine trees. Among the North American species that bear such edible seeds are the nut pines or piñons, Pinus edulis and P. monophylla, and the Digger pine, P. sabiniana, named after the Diggers of California. The nuts have a thin red-brown shell and range in size from about 3/4 in. (1.91 cm) to about 1 1/2 in. (3.75 cm). Pine nuts, or Indian nuts, were an important food for some early Native Americans and are still harvested in quantity both for food and for trading. They are picked from the ground,...
  • pipe smoking The habit of smoking various substances probably arose independently in different parts of the world. Herodotus in the 5th cent. BC describes the Scythians as inhaling the fumes of burning leaves...
  • poi slightly fermented, sticky food paste eaten in the Pacific islands, usually accompanied with meat, fish, or vegetables. It is made by grinding or pounding the roasted, peeled roots of the taro.
  • pork flesh of swine prepared as food, one of the principal commodities of the meatpacking industry. Pork has long been a staple food in most of the world, although religious taboos have limited its use, especially among Jews and Muslims. It is sold either as fresh meat or as ham , bacon , sausage , lard , or a variety of other products. The fresh pork and the choicest cured products are taken from smooth carcasses weighing from 240 to 400 lb (110-180 kg). Fresh pork is sold either chilled or...
  • pudding Early writers on cookery class puddings and dumplings together. The earliest puddings were boiled in a bag or cloth. Later they were placed in a buttered bowl, covered with a cloth, and steamed...
  • raisin dried fruit of certain varieties of grapevines bearing grapes with a high content of sugar and solid flesh. Although the fruit is sometimes artificially dehydrated, it is usually sun-dried. The culture of grapes for the production of raisins is limited to...
  • sago [Malay], edible starch extracted from the pithlike center of several E Asian palms (chiefly Metroxylon sagu ) or sometimes of cycads. The starch is an important item in the diet in some parts of E Asia and is exported for use in foods (e.g., puddings) and for stiffening textiles. Sago is obtained by grinding the stem content of...
  • sandwich a piece of meat or other food placed between two slices of bread. Although food in this form has long been used, the term sandwich originated in the 18th cent. It is named for John Montagu, the 4th...
  • sauce seasoning or flavoring composition, usually in liquid or semiliquid form, used as an appetizing accompaniment for meat, fish, vegetables, and desserts. Sauces, an important feature of quality...
  • sausage food consisting of finely chopped meat mixed with seasonings and, often, other ingredients, all encased in a thin membrane. Although sausages were made by the ancient Greeks and Romans, they were...
  • snuff preparation of pulverized tobacco used by sniffing it into the nostrils, chewing it, or placing it between the gums and the cheek. The blended tobacco from which it is made is often aged for two or...
  • soup liquid food in which different kinds of solid food have been cooked, e.g., meat, fish, fowl, vegetables, cereals, or fruit. Many soups are peculiar to certain localities, e.g., the pot-au-feu of...
  • spice aromatic vegetable product used as a flavoring or condiment. The term was formerly applied also to pungent or aromatic foods (e.g., gingerbread and currants), to ingredients of incense or perfume...
  • sweetbread The thymus gland (known as throat sweetbread) and the pancreas (stomach sweetbread), especially of the calf and lamb (although beef sweetbreads are sometimes eaten), are considered delicacies and...
  • tapioca widely used starchy food, obtained from the fleshy root of the bitter cassava. Tapioca is sold in flake or flour form and as the pellet pearl tapioca. Tapioca flour is widely used in place of wheat flour in regions where it is grown, e.g., South and Central America, Africa,...
  • veal flesh of a calf from two to three months old weighing usually less than 300 lb (135 kg). The locomotion of the veal calves is often restricted, and they are fed a real or synthetic milk that is...
  • vegetarianism theory and practice of eating only fruits and vegetables, thus excluding animal flesh, fish, or fowl and often butter, eggs, and milk. In a strict vegetarian, or vegan, diet (i.e., one that...
  • venison [O.Fr.,=hunting], term formerly applied to the flesh of any wild beast or game hunted and used for food but now restricted to the flesh of members of the deer family. The meat is best if the animal...
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