Culinary Explanations for the New Menu (Glossary)

GLOSSARY of Culinary terms;

Bordelaise sauce; red wine sauce with garlic, shallots & bone marrow.

Bresaola; is air-dried salted beefeye that has been aged about 2-3 months until it becomes hard and a dark red, almost purple colour. It is lean, has a sweet, musty smell and is tender. It originated in Valtellina, a valley in the Alps of northern Italy.

Capers; are the salted and pickled immature flower bud. The grown mature fruit of the caper shrub is also used, and prepared similarly to the buds to be used as caper berries

Celeriac; is a member of the celery family, a tuberous brown-skinned root with white flesh that has a very earthy, more pungent celery.

Ciabatta; Italian bread that is formed into an oval or rounded rectangular shape loaf. Baked with a hard crust, and contains a soft-textured, open to dense crumb. It makes excellent sandwiches and it also is great for dipping in a high quality extra virgin olive oil and Balsamic vinegar.

Creme Fraiche;  is cream made from pasteurised cows’ milk to which lactic acid has been added, giving it a flavour that’s slightly sharp and tangy but not sour.

Gorgonzola; is a blue veined Italian cheese, made from unskimmed cow’s milk. It can be buttery or firm, crumbly and quite salty, with a ‘bite’ from its blue veining.

Granita; is a semi-frozen dessert of sugar, water, and flavorings often scraped like shavings of ice.

Haloumi; is a soft or semi-hard cheese originally from Cyprus. It has a salty flavour, made from either sheep or goats’ milk.

Harissa; is a Tunisian hot red paste made from chilli peppers. It can be used as a condiment or, most commonly, as an ingredient. It’s also found in other North African cuisines like Morocco and Algeria.

Hummus; is a dip or spread made of ground chickpeas, sesame tahini, lemon juice, and garlic.

Manzanilla; is a small to medium size oval shaped green/brown olive, produced in Spain, California and Australia. When mature the colour is deep bluish-black. It is brine-cured and has firm textured meat with a slight almond flavour and may be a little bitter or smoky tasting. Also known as a Manzanillo or the Spanish olive.

Pancetta; is the Italian word for bacon. It is pork belly that has been salt cured, salted and spiced and dried for about three months.

Panko; are Japanese white bread crumbs that are airier and coarser than Western bread crumbs.

Pecorino; a hard Italian sheep’s milk cheese, salty in flavour.

Prosciutto; is the Italian word for ham. In English the word refers only to dry-cured ham. It is salted with sea salt for two months then washed and hung to dry for upto 3 years.

Rainbow chard; is like silver beet or Swiss chard it has the most amazing coloured stems with green leaves.

Remoulade; is a mayonnaise based sauce, flavoured with ingredients.

Salmon Pearls; are the roe from salmon, roe being eggs.

Sashimi; is thinly sliced, raw seafood, served with soy.

Silken tofu; is coagulated fresh soy milk pressed in a mold. Silken being one of the softest types of tofu, there being many.

Sweetbreads; are the thymus gland of young lambs or veal. Highly prized by chefs and connoisseurs for their mild flavor and velvety texture. They are the most versatile of offal meats and can be prepared using virtually any cooking method.

Tortino; Italian name for a flan or tart, mine is made with filo pastry to produce a delicate dish baked like an ultra thin pizza.

Vitello Tonnato; A classic summer dish from Italy, sliced cold cooked veal with a tuna fish sauce similar to mayonnaise.

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