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Glossary Selection
Potato chips | |||
 | Potato chips or (British English or Hiberno-English: crisps) are slim slices of potatoes deep fried or baked until crisp. They serve as an appetizer or snack. Commercial varieties are packaged for sale, usually in bags. The simplest chips are simply cooked and salted, but manufacturers can add a wide variety of seasonings (mostly made using MSG and herbs or spices). Potato chips are an important part of the snack food market in English-speaking countries. | ||
Potage | |||
| Soup is a savoury liquid food that is made by boiling ingredients, such as meat, vegetables and beans in stock or hot water, until the flavor is extracted, forming a broth. Boiling was not a common cooking technique until the invention of waterproof containers about 5,000 years ago. | |||
Potable | |||
| Drinking water is water that is intended to be drunk by humans. Water of sufficient quality to serve as drinking water is called potable water whether it is used as such or not. Although most fresh water sources are drinkable by humans, they can be a disease vector or cause long-term health problems if they do not meet certain water quality guidelines. | |||
Raclette | |||
 | Raclette is a dish consumed in Switzerland and France, consisting of cheese melted and scraped off the round onto potatoes, sliced meats, pickles, and other vegetables. | ||
Radicchio | |||
 | Radicchio (Cichorium intybus, Asteraceae) is a leaf chicory, sometimes known as Italian chicory. It is grown as a leaf vegetable which usually has white-veined red leaves. It has a bitter and spicy taste, which mellows when it is grilled or roasted. It can also be used to add color and zest to salads. | ||
Radish | |||
 | The radish is a root vegetable of the Brassicaceae family.The most popular part for eating is the napiform taproot, although the entire plant is edible and the tops can be used as a leaf vegetable. The skin comes in a variety of colours. Most commonly known is the round, red-skinned variety. Other varieties may have a pink, white or grey-black skin. A large, round yellow-skinned variety has a subtle taste of lemon. | ||
Ragu | |||
| Ragú (with a ú) is a brand of Italian-style sauce brand first sold in 1946—one of many consumer brands in the portfolio of Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch food giant. The company is most well known for selling jar packaged pasta sauce, but other products include pizza sauce. Ragù (with a ù) is an Italian term for a meat based sauce. The word derives from the the French ragoûter (to revive the taste). Typical Italian ragù include the ragù bolognese (sometimes known as Bolognese sauce) and the Neapolitan ragù. A ragù is usually made by adding meat to a soffritto (a partially-fried mixture of chopped onions, celery, carrots, seasonings, etc.) and then simmering it for a long time with tomato sauce. (A soffritto is similar to the French concept of the mirepoix.) Outside Italy, ragù are very popular in Sweden, Greece, Japan, and the United States. | |||
Raisin | |||
 | Raisins are dried grapes. Raisins can be eaten raw or used in cooking and baking. Raisins are very sweet due to the high concentration of their sugars, and if they are stored for a long period the sugar crystallises inside the fruit. This makes the fruit gritty, but does not affect their usability. To decrystalise raisins, they can be soaked in liquid (alcohol, fruit juice, or boiling water) for a short period, dissolving the sugar. In the United States, the term 'raisin' refers to any form of dried grape. California raisins – both the sun-dried dark naturals and the goldens – are made by drying Thompson Seedless grapes; dark naturals are sun dried, while goldens are treated with sulphur then flame dried. Another variety of seedless grape, the Black Corinth, is also sun dried to produce Zante currants, mini raisins that are much darker in colour and have a tart, tangy flavour. In Australia and other countries specific varieties are given separate names. In particular, in Australia raisins are largest, sultanas are intermediate, while currants are smallest. Alternately, sultanas are assumed to come from white/green grapes while raisins are believed to be produced from the red counterparts. | ||
Raita | |||
| Raita is an Indian condiment based on yogurt. The yogurt is mixed with diced cucumber, cumin, garlic, mint, cayenne pepper, as well as other vegetables if desired. The mixture is served chilled. Raita has a cooling effect on the palate which makes it particularly useful as an accompaniment to hot curries. | |||
Rakkyo | |||
| A type of Japanese pickles shallot. | |||