Attachez vos tabliers et préparez-vous à savourer des définitions gastronomiques aussi riches en saveurs que le plat le plus exquis. Dans ce voyage lexical, nous vous invitons à explorer l’univers fascinant et parfois mystérieux de la cuisine à travers les mots qui éveillent les sens et titillent les papilles gustatives.

Ce dictionnaire culinaire est bien plus qu’un simple recueil de termes et de définitions. Il est un festin pour l’esprit, un buffet varié de connaissances qui vous emmènera des marchés animés de Marrakech aux ruelles étroites de Tokyo, en passant par les cuisines familiales où les secrets sont transmis de génération en génération. Chaque mot que vous découvrirez ici est comme un ingrédient unique, apportant sa propre couleur, son arôme et sa texture à l’ensemble de ce festin linguistique.

Dans ces pages, vous trouverez non seulement des définitions précises et claires, mais aussi des récits savoureux sur l’histoire des plats emblématiques, des techniques de cuisine innovantes et des coutumes culinaires fascinantes. Apprenez l’art subtil de marier les épices, découvrez les secrets de la pâtisserie française, et plongez dans l’exploration des vins du monde entier. Que vous soyez un chef étoilé en quête d’inspiration ou un amateur de cuisine curieux, ce dictionnaire est votre guide inestimable dans l’univers infini des délices culinaires.

Alors, que vous soyez passionné par la cuisine ou simplement affamé de nouvelles connaissances, préparez-vous à déguster chaque mot, à savourer chaque définition et à vous perdre dans ce monde délicieusement farfelu du lexique culinaire. 

Lower	Piece of dough (shortcrust, shortbread, etc.) thinned with a rolling pin
Lower	Action d’étaler une pâte à l’aide d’un rouleau à pâtisserie ou d’un laminoir
Offal	Edible parts of slaughtered animals: heart, brain, liver, head, foot, kidney, tenderloins. Duck and goose livers are not included in the "offal" category.
Slaughterhouses	Fins, necks, hearts, livers, gizzards, legs, of poultry or game birds
Shelter	Spread a topping (thick syrup, coulis...) with a brush on the fruits of a pie for example to make it shiny
Aiguillette	Thin slices of chicken fillet
Cranberries	Small red fruits, very sour and acidic, which often accompany game
At the tablecloth	A very slow cooking method for an egg-based preparation, usually in a bain-marie
English style	English cooking: cooking vegetables in boiling salted water
English style	Fish breaded in flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs
Alcoholize	Adding alcohol to a preparation
Missed	Round cake mold with high edges
English	Mixture of beaten eggs, salt and pepper, possibly a little water, a dash of oil, used to bread food
Device	Mixing of the different ingredients constituting the base of a recipe
Shave	Cut the roots, leaves or fans of the vegetables flush
Aromas	Spices and aromatic plants that flavour the dishes
Flavouring	Introduce spices and aromatic plants in a preparation to perfume it
Watering	Pouring juice, sauce or fat on a roast, poultry or dish during cooking
Dry	Said of cooking without adding fat at the start. Bacon or sugar to make a caramel for example
Aspic	Cold savoury or sweet preparation in which gelatine has been added to gel the whole
Attiéké	Couscous of manioc very appreciated in all Africa and in Europe
To the ribbon	A whipped preparation that is "ribboned" when it flows like a ribbon
Sweethearts	Spinal cord of meat animals cooked in a broth (beef, veal, mutton) and then fried with garlic and parsley (amourettes is always written in the plural)

Water bath	The delicate cooking of a food in a pan placed in another larger pan filled with boiling water and set over low heat. The bain-marie is used to melt chocolate, to make egg-based sauces (hollandaise, sabayon) or to keep warm a sauce that is afraid of being heated up.
Barder	Wrap a thin slice of bacon around a meat, a poultry, a roast...
Beat	Work energetically with a whisk on a preparation (or device)
Beatilles	Ragoût d’abats et d’abattis avec champignons, lié avec une sauce et utilisé pour la garniture des bouchées à la Reine ou de tourtes. Béatilles s’écrit  toujours au pluriel
Clarified butter	Melted butter then decanted. (See clarifier°)
Maître d'Hôtel Butter	Soft butter mixed with chopped parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper. You can make a sausage out of it, wrap it, put it in the freezer and take slices according to your needs
Handled butter	Creamed butter, mixed with flour in equal quantities. Used for the bindings of sauces
Hazelnut butter	It is a butter put to cook in a pan. As soon as it boils, the butter takes on a nutty color. To use immediately
Ointment butter	It is a butter put at room temperature, it becomes soft and can be worked in pomade
White	Technique de cuisson (préparation): Mélange de farine et d’eau froide ajouté ensuite à de l’eau bouillante citronnée et chinoiser, c’est à dire passer la préparation au chinois. Used to cook artichoke bottoms, certain vegetables and offal to preserve their white appearance and avoid oxidation
White° see c	Cuisson à blanc. Se dit d’une pâte à tarte, salée ou sucrée que l’on cuit avant ajout de l’appareil
Whiten	Plunge vegetables into boiling salted water for a few minutes in order to cook or freeze them later
Whiten	Whisk eggs with sugar until white and fluffy
Whiten	Work softened butter with sugar until mixture turns white
Blonde	Lightly fry a food until it becomes light in color (onion, shallot, flour, vegetable...)
Bouquet garni	Thyme, laurel, celery, green leek and all aromatic plants according to taste, tied up to flavour a dish
Braise	Slow cooking of a vegetable in fat, covered and without adding water
Wishbone	Y-shaped median bone of the sternum of poultry and birds
Brider	Tie up a bird before cooking. Close a stuffed bird with a needle and a kitchen thread
Brunoise	Vegetables cut into small cubes of 1 to 2 mm
Buisson	How to arrange the shrimp in a pyramid shape

Canneler	Make incisions around lemons and other citrus fruits for decoration with a piping tool
Channeler	Tool for removing citrus peel (zester)
Caramelize	Coat a sweet or salty ingredient with caramel
Caramelize	Coat the inside of a mold with a layer of caramel
Caramelize	Brown a vegetable or meat in fat and add a little sugar at the end of cooking to caramelize (onions, endives, meat...)
Carcass	Skeleton of an animal. Poultry carcasses are used to make "poultry stock" or "poultry broth".
Breadcrumbs	Dried bread then mixed. Used to make breadcrumbs
Casting	Eliminate the central gut of shrimps, scampi ... (black filament located on the back of shellfish, which is removed by an incision and avoids a certain bitterness).
Casting	To castrate the crayfish: The tail of the crayfish is made up of 3 "scales" It is enough to take between the fingers that of the medium, to turn towards the right while drawing in order to remove the gut which is likely to bring bitterness during cooking. This must be done before cooking and therefore when the crayfish are still alive...
Heating	Coat a piece of meat or fish with a hot and cold sauce
Lining	Mettre une couche de beurre, de farine ou un papier sulfurisé ou un film alimentaire sur le fond et les parois intérieures d’un moule. Mais aussi des bardes de lard ou une crépine pour confectionner une terrine ou encore des biscuits à la cuillère pour réaliser une charlotte…
Chiffonade	Vegetables or salads cut into thin strips
Chinese	Very fine strainer
Chinoiser	Filtering a liquid by passing it through a chinois
Ciseler	How to cut onion, shallot...in small pieces
Lime	Rub the surface of some fruits and vegetables with lemon to prevent oxidation. Bananas, apples, avocados, artichoke hearts...
Civet	Stew made with the blood of the animal. Originally civet (chives) was added, hence the name
Clarify	Action of making a broth clear by removing the deposit of fat and/or impurities from the surface. To proceed when the broth is cold.
Clarify	A process that separates butter from its whey. To do this, heat the butter over low heat or in the microwave, let it rest, and the whey will settle at the bottom of the container, then simply recover the butter on the surface. The clarified butter does not burn during cooking and allows you to make "delicate" sauces such as hollandaise for example.
Clarify	Action of separating the yolk from the white of an egg
Cloûter	Prick an onion with cloves. It is best to leave the skin on the onion, which will add a lot of color to the dish.
Compote	Cook vegetables or fruits for a long time on a low heat in order to transform them into compote
Crush	The term most often used for tomatoes. It is necessary to remove the seeds and peel the tomato and cut it into small cubes.
Confire	Cook for a long time and keep food in its own fat (pork, goose, duck)
Confire	Preserve various fruit or vegetable preparations in oil, alcohol, vinegar, sugar
Confire	Cook whole fruits for a long time over low heat in a syrup in order to preserve them
Contiser	Gently cut the skin of a poultry or fish to slide in slices of truffle
Coral	Red-orange part of the stomach of crustaceans and scallops
Cord	Sauce arranged around a dish
Horn	Small flexible plastic rectangle used to scrape the bottom of containers when transferring to another dish
Corser	Increase the flavor of a dish by adding spices or reducing the cooking juice
Grout	Thick sauce made by mixing cooked or raw fruits or vegetables
Coverage	Chocolate of cover:
Chiboust cream	In homage to the name of the pastry chef who created the St Honoré, a light pastry cream made with egg whites
Crème fleurette	Liquid cream with 35% of fat. It is ideal for making whipped cream
Strainer	Fatty membrane surrounding the viscera of the pig, in the shape of a net. It is used in cooking to maintain a preparation (pâté, crépinette, paupiettes) and to bring softness to the cooking
Crunch with salt	A way of eating raw vegetables that are dipped in salt (radishes, tomatoes) and often accompanied by buttered bread
Blank cooking°.	Baking a pie crust without filling. We add a piece of parchment paper and/or dry white beans on the bottom of the pie to prevent the pastry from swelling during cooking.
Houndstooth	Container most often made of stainless steel, in the shape of a salad bowl with a round bottom. It is used for all preparations in cooking and pastry making.

Darne	Thick slice cut transversely in a big fish (hake, salmon, tuna)
Debride	After cooking, remove the strings that hold a bird together
Decanting	Remove meat pieces from a sauce and set aside in another container
Decanting	To decant a clarified butter is to remove the whey (see clarifying°)
Decanting	Decanting a wine:
Deconstruct	Removing shells from crustaceans
Decoat	Add cold water to a cooking sugar or jam to lower the degree of cooking
Deglaze	Add a liquid (wine, water, poultry or veal stock...) to the caramelized juices at the bottom of a container.
Disgorge	Salting a raw vegetable to make it give back its vegetation water (example: cucumber)
Disgorge	The action of soaking a meat in salted or vinegar water to remove impurities (e.g. beef tongue and certain offal or shellfish)
Degrease	Removing excess fat from a piece of meat
Degrease	To eliminate with a spoon the grease which was formed on the surface of a broth, a sauce...
Degrease	Remove the fat from the bottom of a pan or casserole dish that has been used to brown a food or meat before continuing cooking
Deny	Removing the nervous parts of a fresh meat or foie gras
Stoning	Remove the pit (cherries, plums, olives...)
Skinning	Separate, with a knife, the different pieces of a large piece of butchery
Stripping	To tear off the skin of rabbits, hares, eels, soles...
Stripping	Skimming/degreasing
Dice	Cutting of fruits or vegetables in small squares
Drying	Work a dough on the fire until the water evaporates (cabbage dough for example)
Relax	Make a preparation more fluid by adding a liquid
Develop	A dough containing yeast that is allowed to "grow" at room temperature. It will develop and increase in volume
Gilding	Fry meat or vegetables until golden brown
Gilding	Mixture of egg yolk and water, applied with a brush on a dough before cooking to bring a nice color to the preparation
Dresser	Arrange a dish harmoniously on the serving plates
Duxelle	Very thinly sliced button mushrooms, browned in butter with chopped shallots

Ebarber	Remove fins from fish. Remove beards from mussels
Scaling	Removing fish scales
Ecaler	Removing the shells from hard-boiled eggs
Skimming	Remove the scum from the surface of a syrup, jam, sauce or broth using a skimmer
Leaf removal	Remove the cooked flesh from a fish or poultry between the fingers Remove the leaves from an aromatic plant
Tapering	Cut the almonds and dried fruit into thin strips
Drain	Remove water from food by pouring it through a colander, strainer or spinner (salad)
Egrener	Detach the grains from a bunch, from an ear of corn
Chop	Cut into slices of varying size (onion, shallot, etc.)
Pruning	Remove the skin. Said of almonds, tomatoes...
Stuffing	Transformation of starch when it comes into contact with a hot liquid
Piece cutter	Metal or plastic shape used to cut pasta. It can be plain or fluted
Emulsify	Mix a fat (butter, oil, sauce) with an egg yolk, mustard or an ingredient that will bind the preparation
Bake	Place a ready-to-bake dish in an oven that has been heated to the right temperature
Enrobing	Covering food evenly with a sauce or topping
Peel	Removing the skin from a food
Equeuter	Remove the tail from the fruit after washing and draining
Climbing	Slicing a meat or a vegetable in a transversal way
Study	Place leavened dough in a proofer for fermentation
Study	Gently stew certain preparations
Evider	Remove the central part of some fruits (apples, pears...)

Shaping	Action to give a shape to a dough, a preparation. Example: to shape bread rolls
Pheasant	Hanging a game animal in a cool place for several days until it takes on a very strong smell. Is done less and less
Stuffing	Preparation made from chopped food (meat, vegetables), seasoned and sometimes bound with an egg, which is used to garnish the inside of a poultry, a roast or to make a pâté
Stuffing	Filling the inside of a fruit, vegetable, meat or fish with a filling
Net	Said of a few drops of lemon, vinegar or oil. Any liquid brought in small quantities
Net	The most delicate part of an animal (fillet of sole, beef, poultry)
Thread	Lever les filets d’un poisson à l’aide d’un couteau à lame flexible (couteau dont le nom est » filet de sole »)
Filming	Cover a dish or food with cling film to protect it before placing it in the refrigerator
Flame	Sprinkle a preparation with a heated alcohol and ignite it.
Flame	Quickly pass under a flame a piece of poultry or game to remove the fluff
Fleurer	Sprinkle flour on a work surface or pastry case to prevent sticking
Fleurons	Small crescent-shaped motifs made of puff pastry to decorate dishes
Go for it	Line a pie pan with a layer of dough
Fountain	Cooked with flour in order to add all the ingredients necessary for the recipe in the center
Search	Strain a semi-liquid preparation. Press strongly with a pestle to extract the maximum of juices
Frémir	Bring a liquid to a low boil
Frying	Cooking technique that consists of immersing a food in an oil bath
Fumet	Juice prepared with fish heads and bones, moistened with white wine and accompanied by diced carrots, garlic, onion and spices. The filtered juice (fumet) is used as a base for many sauces accompanying the fish

Ganache	Preparation based on butter chocolate and/or cream
Gastric	Said of a preparation based on sugar, white vinegar, cooked until a blond caramel is obtained. It is the base of sweet and sour sauces
Jig	Leg of big game
Meat ice cream	unbound fund reduced to a minimum by evaporation
Glaze	Covering a dessert with chocolate icing
Glaze	Cuire des aliments avec de l’eau et du beurre. A blanc, sans coloration et à brun, avec coloration. A la fin de la cuisson, le liquide doit être complétement évaporé et le légume est enrobé et bien brillant. Cette cuisson s’adapte bien aux jeunes carottes, navets et petits oignons
Glaze	Browning the surface of a baked meat by basting it with its cooking juice
Glaze	Colorer à la salamandre (gril) la surface d’une sauce ou d’une crème
Dowel	Tongues cut on the bias in sole fillets
Grease	Brush butter or oil on a pan, plate or dish
Gratinate	Sprinkle cheese or breadcrumbs over a preparation and place under the grill to brown the surface
Toast	Exposing food (meat, poultry, fish, vegetables) directly under the oven grill
Toast	Toasting bread in the toaster or under the broiler

Dress	Trimming, scaling, gutting and washing a fish
Dress	Flaming, trimming, gutting, trimming of poultry or game birds
Chop	Cut into small pieces with a knife or electric food processor
Historier	Signifie décorer. En cuisine ce terme se rapporte souvent à la découpe du citron ou d’un agrume ou encore d’une tomate en « dents de loup »

Imbiber	To wet to make penetrate a liquid (syrup, alcohol, liquor, milk?) in various preparations in order to bring softness and to perfume (example: to wet a sponge cake of rum)
Incise	Make shallow incisions on the surface of a fish or on the fatty part of a duck breast to facilitate cooking
Incorporate	Adding an ingredient to a preparation (an appliance)
Infuse	To put an aromatic substance in boiling water to perfume it

Jabot	A pocket formed by the swelling of the bird's esophagus in which food remains before passing into the stomach. Also called "gave".
Julienne	Vegetables cut into strands.

Laminate	Stretch a dough with a rolling machine to obtain the desired thickness
Rolling mill	Apparatus for rolling out a dough
Larder	Using a larder, push strips of bacon into a piece of meat
Bacon	Pieces of bacon cut into small sticks
Sourdough	A ball of bread dough containing fresh yeast that has been "developed" and then introduced to the bread dough to seed it and make a leavened bread or pie crust
Lift	Gently remove fillets from poultry or fish with a knife
Link	Operation intended to give consistency to a liquid by adding flour, cream, egg...
Link	Action of thickening a sauce by adding cream, egg, cornstarch, roux...
Limoner	Remove the bloody parts and skins of certain offal (brains, sweetbreads, lamb, etc.) under a stream of water
Smooth	Spread the surface of a dessert or cream with a spatula
Smooth	Whisk a sauce or cream vigorously to make it smooth
Shine	Brush clarified butter, jelly or a topping on the surface of a dish to make it shiny
Luter	Souder le couvercle d’une cocotte avec une bande de pâte « morte » (farine+ eau) dans le but de la rendre hermétique pour une cuisson sans évaporation. Ce procédé est surtout utilisé pour cuisiner le Baeckoeffe alsacien qui demande plusieurs heures de cuisson
Freeze-dried	Dehydrated food at very low temperature, under air vacuum

Macerate	Consists in soaking a food in a liquid (alcohol, oil, lemon juice, wine...) for a longer or shorter period of time in order to flavour or preserve it
Maïzena	Corn flour used instead of wheat flour to thicken a sauce
Mandolin	Kitchen utensil for slicing vegetables
Marinade	Liquid with added herbs in which meat or fish will soak for a few hours
Mariner	Dipping a food in a marinade in order to flavour it
Mark	To start cooking a food by browning it on all sides. Usually before placing it in the oven to finish cooking
Massé	Said of a sugar syrup that has crystallized
Matelote	Fish stew cooked in red wine
Mesclun	Mix of several varieties of salads
Miniature	Crushed pepper
Migaine	Mixture of eggs and cream that is put on a quiche
Mirepoix	Légumes taillés en dés de 1 à 2 cm
Monder	The act of peeling a fruit or vegetable. Term used most often for tomatoes. Plunge them into boiling water, refresh them in cold water and peel them easily
Mount with butter	Add small cubes of cold butter to a sauce
Wet	Adding a liquid to a preparation

Nacrer	Action of making translucent the raw rice coated in oil or butter in the cooking of rice pilaf
Tablecloth	Fruit-based jelly (apricots, red fruits) used to give a brilliant finish to fruit tarts, babas
Tablecloth	Covering a preparation with sauce or cream

Panad	Basic dough used to make choux pastry. It is essentially composed of water, butter and flour
Paner	Cover a food with breadcrumbs after having passed it in an "anglaise" (beaten egg, salted, peppered and possibly with water)
Breadcrumbs	Crushed dry bread crumbs
Papillote	Wrap a preparation in aluminum foil or parchment paper for baking
Parer	To remove the inedible or non-presentable parts of a food. To trim a poultry, a meat, a fish...
Ornaments	Waste or parts detracting from the presentation
Paste	Piece of bread dough not detailed
Peel it off	Peel a citrus fruit by removing the peel and the whitish part to leave only the "raw" fruit
Persillade	A mixture of oil, vinegar (salt and pepper) and finely chopped parsley, which is used in the composition of a vinaigrette
Persillade	Finely chopped parsley
Persillée	Meat that has fatty infiltrations that add a lot of softness to the cooking process
Piler	Grind, reduce to powder with a pestle (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts...)
Pestle	Wooden or porcelain handle which allows to crush, grind or reduce in pomade aromatic plants (basil...) in a mortar
Pestle	Lower part of the thigh of poultry
Quilting	Use a fork to poke many small holes in a piece of dough so that it does not puff up during baking
Pistols	Covering chocolate chips.
Pluches	Leaves at the end of the stems of certain aromatic plants (chervil, parsley...)
Pocher	Cooking food in water or liquid below boiling temperature
Point	A small amount of a condiment.
Push	Action of making a dough swell and develop which contains yeast
Well	Synonymous with fountain, this term is often used when a hole is dug in the center of a pile of flour to add ingredients, but also, by children, when they dig a hole in the center of mashed potatoes to add sauce...
Puncher	To wet, to soak a cookie or a sponge cake with an alcoholic syrup

Grid	Use a knife to mark certain preparations to improve presentation
Grid	Marking a meat on the bars of a grill to obtain a grid pattern

Saddle	Part from the bottom of the ribs to the joints of the thighs of hares and rabbits
Refresh	Cool a food under running water or in a container of ice water. Most often a green vegetable to preserve its color
Stiffen	Sauté meat without browning to firm up the fibres
Reduce	Concentrate the flavors of a sauce or juice by letting it cook uncovered for a long time
Check	Enhance the flavor of a dish by adding spices
Go to	Emulsify a sauce whose elements have dissociated, using a mixer for example
Book	During a recipe, put aside a preparation or a food item for later use
Back to	Sauté a food in a little fat
Frying	Frying a food in a fatty substance by coloring it
Field dress	Cooking potatoes in their skins. Start in cold salted water
Rondeau	Round cooking vessel with low vertical walls and a lid
Roasting	Cooking meat in an oven or on a spit
Rouelles	Round slices cut into the onion
Rouelles	Thick slices or large rounds
Reddish white	Mixture of flour and butter in equal proportions and moistened with water or broth without coloring
Roux	Mix flour and butter over low heat. As soon as it is colored, add water or broth
Russian	Round saucepan with straight and high edges, with a tail and a lid

Sabayon	Very light sweet or salty sauce made from egg yolk that is cooked in a bain-marie with the addition of a liquid (alcohol, broth)
Sandblasting	Action of working with the fingertips flour and butter to make a shortbread dough
Bleeding	Killing an animal by draining its blood
Enter	Fry meat over high heat
Salamander	Professional appliance for grilling preparations
Salmis	Roasted game stew cooked in red wine
Salpicon	Vegetables, fruits, fish, meat cut into small cubes
Strapping	Set an appliance in a blender or ice cream maker until it solidifies
Sangler	Action of transforming a liquid, a cream, a syrup into ice
Jump	Fry small pieces of meat, fish or vegetables in fat quickly
Saddle	Piece from the bottom of the ribs to the thigh of some animals (deer, doe, lamb...)
Tighten	Action of beating whites very vigorously to make them very firm
Whistles	Leek slices cut on a bevel
Singer	Sprinkle flour on cooking meat to bind the sauce
Top	Flowering extremity of some plants (in cooking of aromatic plants)
Suer	Fry a food in a fatty substance at low heat and without colouring
Supreme	Fleshy part of the wing of a bird, commonly called "poultry breast".

Prune	General term for cutting
Screening	Pass an ingredient through a sieve to remove lumps (sauce, flour...)
So much for so much	Expression often used in pastry making. Means that each ingredient must have the same weight
Upholstery	Put a layer of butter, flour or parchment paper on the bottom and inside of a pan
Tempering	Bring to room temperature a cooked preparation or a product coming out of the refrigerator (cheese, egg...)
Toast	Slice of bread, toasted or not...
Roasting	Place spices or dried fruits (pine nuts) in a hot dry pan to enhance their taste
Tourer	Puff pastry folding technique
Turn	Action de donner une forme à certains légumes pour améliorer la présentation (petit artichaut violet)
Work	Vigorously mix a device
Dip	Soak savarins or babas in syrup
Dip	Rehydrate dried vegetables by placing them in a container with cold water 24 hours before use
Cutting	Cut certain vegetables into large pieces of the same size (carrots, leeks, etc.)
Turbiner	Set an ice cream maker in an ice cream maker or turbine
Turbine	Apparatus for glazing a preparation

Venaison	Big piece of game (stag, doe, boar...)
Vergeoise	Brown sugar
Verjus	Green grape juice. Its acidity allows it to be used instead of vinegar
Green-cooked	Degree of cooking of duck in blood

Zest	Outer skin of a citrus fruit, without the white part and removed with a zester, a grater or a knife
Ziste	White membrane under the peel, with a very bitter taste