The name “brownies” first appeared in the 1896 Boston Cooking School Cookbook, where it describes molasses cakes baked in small tins. The first known recipe for brownies was published in … [more]
Mirepoix is the French term for a combination of onions, carrots and celery. Sometimes ham or bacon is added. Other ingredients such as leeks, parsnips, garlic, tomatoes, shallots, mushrooms, peppers … [more]
In the UK, Cooking Salt is what is sometimes called “Pickling Salt” in the U.S. It is an additive-free salt like kosher, but, it is fine-grain salt. A note about additive-free salts: they are … [more]
Apparently this is an old Yiddish term for oats. During World War II, Hobernegroten soup was a soup made of vegtable based stock thickened with oat cakes. [more]
Peanut butter was first introduced in 1904 at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, although it had been sold as a medical nutritional supplement in St. Louis, Missouri for about 15 years. The modern, … [more]
Prosciutto cotto is Italian for cooked ham and refers to cured ham taken from the pig’s hindquarters. Traditionally it is eaten as thin slices wrapped around breadsticks or melon. It can also be … [more]
A liquid variant for adding smoke flavor to foods that have not been barbequed. Liquid smoke is made by burning hard wood chips popular with barbequing and condensing the smoke into liquid form. [more]
Made famous by a Jewish baker in Vienna in 1680s who presented them to the king in honor of his victory over the Turks. The bagel derives its name from the Yiddish word bugel, which describes a round … [more]
A leavening agent that consists of two parts bicarbonate of soda and one part cream of tartar mixed with a starch such as flour. Commonly used in baking, baking powder was invented in America in the … [more]
Clarified butter (also know as drawn butter) is butter with the milk solids separated and the water content evaporated. The remainder is a clear yellow butterfat that can be heated to much higher … [more]
A close relative of ginger, galangal is an important and popular ingredient in the foods of Indonesia and Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand. The flavor is similar to ginger, but more flowery, … [more]
Invented in Europe and commonplace in Canada, air chilling has just started to become popular in the United States. From the cook’s point of view air chilled chickens taste far superior to water … [more]
Simple syrup is as simple as it’s name. Simply speaking it is sugar dissolved in water. To prepare, combine two parts sugar to one part water in a saucepan. Stir over a low heat until the sugar … [more]
This anise-flavored step-child of absinthe has a number of variations and names based upon both region and slight alterations in the manufacturers’ recipes. A pastis is typically served in two … [more]
Distilled herbs (like cinnamon and nutmeg), roots and, sometimes, tree bark, that are called on in a number of cocktail recipes like the Old fashioned or a basic martini . Some people drink bitters … [more]
A poplar Italin dish originating from Naples. In it’s simplest form it consists of a thin slab of bread dough spread with a thick tomato sauce, covered with Mozzarella cheese, seasoned with … [more]
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