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Velouté is one of the five classical mother sauces, prepared by thickening a light stock with a blond roux. Mayonnaise, vinaigrette and pesto are cold sauces or emulsions and are not counted among the mother sauces.
Julienne is the standard cut that yields thin matchsticks about 1.5 mm square and 4–5 cm long. It is used for vegetables that will be quickly stir-fried or served raw in salads.
Steaming cooks food with steam at atmospheric pressure, so the food is never submerged and retains more water-soluble nutrients. Poaching and braising are moist methods that use liquid, and grilling is a dry-heat method.
The traditional mirepoix ratio is 2 parts onion to 1 part carrot and 1 part celery by weight. This combination gives sweetness, colour and aroma to stocks and sauces.
Egg-white proteins begin to coagulate around 60 °C and yolk proteins around 65–70 °C, so a stirred custard must be heated gently and stirred constantly to thicken without scrambling.
After death, ATP is depleted and actin and myosin filaments bind irreversibly, shortening the muscle and making the meat tough until ageing or cooking relaxes it.
A white roux is cooked just long enough to remove the raw starch taste without browning, so it is used for white sauces such as béchamel and velouté.
Refreshing, also called shocking, stops carry-over cooking after blanching and sets the bright green colour of vegetables. The cold water rapidly lowers the temperature of the food.
A broken hollandaise can be rescued by whisking in a small amount of warm water, which cools the sauce slightly and allows the egg yolk to re-emulsify the butterfat.
As-purchased weight equals edible-portion weight divided by one minus the trim loss, that is 1 ÷ 0.75 = 1.33 kg. The extra weight covers the 25% removed during cleaning and trimming.
Brown stock is made from bones and mirepoix that are roasted to a deep brown before simmering, which gives the stock its colour and rich flavour. White stock uses unroasted bones, fish stock uses fish frames and a short cooking time, and vegetable stock contains no bones at all.
Grilling applies direct radiant heat to the food surface without water, so it is a dry-heat method. Poaching and steaming use moist heat, while braising is a combination method that uses both dry and moist heat.
Durum wheat semolina is the traditional pasta flour because its hard, high-protein grains give pasta a firm bite and a characteristic golden colour. Rice, maize and gram flours lack the gluten network needed for conventional wheat pasta.
A liaison is a mixture of egg yolk and cream that is tempered into a sauce near the end of cooking to add richness and a light thickening. Beurre manié and roux also thicken sauces, but they are not the classical egg-and-cream liaison.
Small dice is the cut that yields cubes of about 6 mm, sitting between the finer brunoise and the larger medium dice. Brunoise is about 3 mm, medium dice is about 12 mm, and paysanne is cut into thin flat shapes rather than cubes.
The creaming method aerates fat and sugar by beating them until pale and fluffy, and the trapped air helps the cake rise during baking. Rubbing-in uses cold fat cut into flour, whisking aerates eggs without fat, and the melting method uses melted fat.
Tempering raises the temperature of the eggs gradually by whisking in a small amount of hot liquid before the eggs are combined with the rest of the hot mixture. This prevents the egg proteins from coagulating into lumps.
Brief blanching before freezing inactivates enzymes that would otherwise cause colour loss, off-flavours and texture breakdown during frozen storage. Over-blanching should be avoided because it makes the vegetables too soft.
Anthocyanins are water-soluble pigments responsible for red, purple and blue colours in many fruits and vegetables. They are pH-sensitive and shift towards blue-green in alkaline conditions, which is why red cabbage can change colour when cooked with an alkaline ingredient.
When wheat flour is mixed with water, glutenin and gliadin hydrate and link together to form gluten, the elastic network that gives bread dough its strength and extensibility. Casein and lactalbumin are milk proteins, and collagen and elastin are connective-tissue proteins.
Mornay sauce is a béchamel derivative enriched with grated cheese, classically Gruyère and Parmesan. The cheese is melted into the hot béchamel off the boil so that the sauce stays smooth rather than stringy. Soubise and Lyonnaise are onion-based derivatives, while Béarnaise belongs to the hollandaise family.
Deglazing means adding a liquid such as stock, wine or water to a hot pan and stirring to dissolve the caramelised meat and vegetable deposits. These browned bits carry concentrated flavour and become the base of a pan sauce or gravy. Skimming removes fat but does not dissolve the fond.
Duxelles is a finely chopped mixture of mushrooms cooked with shallots, butter and often herbs until dry. It is used as a stuffing, garnish or filling in classical French cookery. Tomatoes, spinach and leeks may appear in other preparations but do not define duxelles.
Collagen is the main structural protein of connective tissue and slowly hydrolyses into gelatin when heated in a moist environment. This conversion softens tough cuts and gives braised dishes a rich, slightly sticky mouthfeel. Myosin and actin are contractile muscle proteins, while albumin is a soluble protein found in blood and egg white.
In the sponge method, whole eggs or egg whites are whipped with sugar until they hold air, and the flour is then folded in gently to preserve the foam. The trapped air expands in the oven and gives the cake its lift. Creaming relies on fat and sugar, rubbing-in is used for pastries, and one-stage mixing combines ingredients without whipping a foam.
Chlorophyll contains a magnesium atom at its centre. In an acidic cooking medium, hydrogen replaces the magnesium, forming pheophytin, which looks olive-green or grey-green. Anthocyanins are red-purple pigments, carotenoids are yellow-orange, and betalains occur in beetroot and some other plants.
Apple browning is mainly enzymatic, caused by polyphenol oxidase acting on phenolic compounds when the cut surface meets oxygen. Lemon juice lowers the surface pH and supplies ascorbic acid, which slows the enzyme and reduces the coloured products. Warm water, salt and warm open storage do not effectively control the reaction.
Fish stock, often called fumet, is made from fish bones, trimmings and aromatics and is simmered briefly because prolonged cooking can make it bitter and cloudy. The short extraction time preserves a clean, delicate flavour. Beef, chicken and vegetable stocks are normally simmered for much longer periods.
Starch-thickened sauces depend on swollen starch granules forming a network that holds water. Vigorous boiling for too long can rupture and shear this network, releasing water and making the sauce thin. Gentle simmering after gelatinisation is safer than hard boiling.
The sauce needs both fat removal and flavour concentration. Removing the meat first prevents overcooking while the sauce is skimmed and reduced, and the meat is then returned only to warm through. Adding roux, water or butter without reducing the liquid does not correct a weak, greasy braising sauce.
Chiffonade is a slicing technique in which leafy herbs or greens are stacked, rolled tightly, and cut crosswise into thin ribbons. The other cuts produce dice, flat slices, or rough aromatic pieces rather than fine shreds.
Poaching keeps the liquid at roughly 70–85°C, below a boil, so small bubbles appear and the food cooks gently. Boiling, steaming, and deep-frying use very different heat-transfer media and temperatures.
A white roux should be cooked just long enough to remove the raw flour taste, then hot milk is added gradually while whisking. Gradual addition and constant agitation separate the flour particles and produce a smooth sauce.
Egg proteins set within a narrow temperature range and can curdle if overheated. A water bath moderates the heat reaching the custard, giving a smooth, even set rather than a curdled or grainy texture.
Cut potatoes darken because the enzyme polyphenol oxidase reacts with oxygen. Cold water limits oxygen contact and rinses surface starch, which helps prevent browning and reduces stickiness during cooking.
A broken emulsion can be re-formed by creating a fresh base and slowly incorporating the split sauce. Rapid boiling or adding cold fat without control will usually worsen the split, while straining removes the fat that gives the sauce its body.
Glucose is the monosaccharide that cells can use directly for ATP production, and the brain and red blood cells depend heavily on blood glucose under normal conditions. Starch and glycogen are storage polysaccharides that must first be broken down to glucose. Cellulose is not digested by human enzymes and provides dietary fibre rather than immediate energy.
Vitamin C is required for collagen synthesis and acts as an antioxidant; deficiency causes scurvy, with bleeding gums, poor wound healing, and capillary fragility. Beriberi is caused by thiamine deficiency, pellagra by niacin deficiency, and rickets by vitamin D deficiency.
Iron is a component of the haem group of haemoglobin, which binds oxygen in red blood cells; iron deficiency leads to anaemia. Calcium is mainly needed for bones and teeth, iodine for thyroid hormones, and zinc for enzyme activity and immune function.
Cereals such as rice are limiting in lysine, while pulses such as dal are limiting in methionine; eaten together, each supplies the amino acid the other lacks. This complementary pattern raises the overall protein quality of the meal. The combination does not mainly add fat or vitamin C, nor does it lower energy content.
Low-acid canned foods need a botulinum cook, typically about 121°C under pressure, to inactivate heat-resistant Clostridium botulinum spores. Pasteurisation kills many vegetative cells but not these spores, and refrigeration or drying alone does not make low-acid canned food commercially sterile.
A critical control point (CCP) is a specific step where control is essential to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a significant food safety hazard to an acceptable level. Critical limits are the measurable values that must be met at a CCP; hazard analysis identifies hazards, and verification confirms that the HACCP plan is working.
Water-soluble vitamins such as vitamin C and thiamine leach into cooking water and are destroyed by prolonged heat, so using little water and a short cooking time preserves them best. Steaming exposes vegetables to steam rather than a large volume of water, reducing leaching. Boiling in plenty of water, prolonged stewing, and repeated reheating cause greater losses.
Fat yields about 9 kcal per gram, whereas carbohydrate and protein each yield about 4 kcal per gram. Dietary fibre is largely indigestible and contributes little or no usable energy, although some fermentable fibre produces short-chain fatty acids. Therefore fat is the most energy-dense macronutrient.
Soluble fibre forms a gel in the gut and can bind bile acids, reducing cholesterol absorption and lowering blood cholesterol. Human enzymes cannot digest cellulose or other fibre, so fibre is not a liver energy store. Insoluble fibre adds bulk and helps prevent constipation rather than being digested. Fibre generally slows glucose absorption and lowers, not raises, the glycaemic response.
Clostridium botulinum is an anaerobic spore-former that can grow in low-acid canned foods and produce a powerful neurotoxin; gas production can cause can swelling. Lactobacillus and Saccharomyces are mainly involved in fermentation and spoilage under different conditions, while Aspergillus is a mould requiring oxygen. Proper commercial sterilisation prevents this hazard.
Milk, curd and paneer provide calcium in a form that is well absorbed and are the mainstay of calcium intake in most Indian vegetarian diets. Cereals, refined oils and sugars contain little usable calcium, so they cannot meet the requirement.
Egg albumin is used as the reference protein because it supplies all nine essential amino acids in proportions that closely match human needs. Cereal proteins such as gluten, rice protein and zein are limited in lysine or tryptophan.
Vitamin A is required by the retina for rhodopsin, and its deficiency causes night blindness and xerophthalmia, including dry thickened conjunctiva. Vitamin D, K and thiamine deficiencies produce different signs such as rickets, bleeding and beriberi.
Energy = (10 × 4) + (5 × 4) + (5 × 9) = 40 + 20 + 45 = 105 kcal. Atwater factors assign 4 kcal/g to carbohydrate and protein and 9 kcal/g to fat.