and so, i present to you the belle nana sans banane technical dictionary! this list of terms will be updated relatively frequently, to reflect greater understanding gained through lectures, as well as a further expanding vocabulary of tools and techniques through the program.
if you have any questions, would like further clarification, or feel that i've missed the mark on an explanation, feel free to contact me at bellenanasansbanane@gmail.com. thanks!
and without further ado, here's some learnin' for you!
:A:
all purpose (AP) flour: a blend of a variety of flours. approximately 10% protein content. allumette: a particular knife cut, similar to the julienne, but slightly thicker. match-stick sized.
:B:
bain marie: a french double-boiler (using a bowl atop a pot of boiling water). or a method of ensuring even cooking temperatures in an oven (a water bath). the item is placed in a container, which is then placed in a larger container filled with water, to make sure that the item is cooked/baked at the same temperature, instead of burning the bottom/sides, while the middle is left underdone. baked custard: a form of custard, which must be baked, instead of cooked on a stovetop. example: pots de crème, clafoutis.
baking powder: a chemical leavener, which produces carbon dioxide when reacting under specific conditions. a vast over-reduction, but baking powder is essentially baking soda with cornstarch and salt.
baking soda: sodium bicarbonate. another chemical leavener. reacts with acids present in the batter to produce carbon dioxide.
bâton: another knife cut. slightly larger than an allumette, ultimately similarly shaped (think "little stick" instead of matchstick.)
beurrage: the butter portion of a pâton, used for pâte feuiletée. for classic pâte feuilletée, this glorified hunk of butter is folded into the détrempe, to make a pâton, which is then rolled and folded, turned, rolled and folded until ready for use.
blanchir: to become light and pale in color, and increase at least three times in volume.
blind baking: to bake a tart shell without anything in it, either because the finished product will not be baked a second time, or to ensure that the shell is baked all the way through because the finished product will only be going back in the oven for a short period of time.
bread flour: higher protein content flour (12-13%). typically used for bread making, or anything else requiring high gluten development.
brisée: pâte brisée
brunoise: another knife cut. tiny cubes.
:C:
cake flour: lower protein content flour (8%). used for products that do not require high gluten development.caramel: burnt sugar. see dry caramel and/or wet caramel for the different processes of making caramel.
caramelization: the act of burning sugar. not just part of making caramel, but is key to sautéing, as well as flambéing items.
chiffonnade: another knife cut, used for herbs/leaves. layer the leaves on top of one another, roll into a tube, and cut across the tubes, to make strips of the item. ta-da!
choux: a cream puff
compote: fruit stewed or cooked in a syrup
creamed butter method: one method to start a batter/dough is to cream the butter and the sugar together. the final light and fluffy texture is achieved because the granulations of the sugar cut through the fats of the butter, and incorporate air into the mixture, allowing it to blanchir.
crème anglaise: a custard/sauce typically flavored with vanilla. (we haven't worked much with this yet; expect this definition to expand once we do.)
crème chantilly: sweetened whipping cream.
crème chibouste: pastry cream lightened with either whipped cream, or stiffly whipped egg whites. crème st honoré is a chibouste.
crème d'amandes: almond cream
crème fouettée: unsweetened whipped cream
crème légère: crème pâtissière combined with crème fouettée
crème paris brest: a mousseline used to fill a paris-brest.
crème pâtissière: pastry cream. often used as filling, and is frequently used as a base for other pastry creams.
crème st honoré: a crème chibouste used to fill a gâteau st. honoré
cuire à blanc: to blind bake.
custard: essentially a combination of milk/cream and egg yolk. can be a stirred custard, a starch-bound custard, or a baked custard.
cut in butter method: a method to incorporate butter into a dough, without sacrificing the leavening power of butter, when it is cooked and releases steam. literally, cutting in the butter to a flour mixture, chopping up the butter to ensure that it is roughly lentil sized, and evenly incorporated into the mixture.
:D:
détrempe: the dough portion of a pâton. in a traditional pâte feuilletée, it is rolled out, and folded around the beurrage to make a pâton, which is then rolled and folded, turned rolled and folded, until ready for use.dry caramel: caramel made without water. melt the sugar over high heat, bringing it to approximately 340 degrees fahrenheit, until the desired color is reached.
:E:
egg wash: at school: one egg, one yolk, and a pinch of salt. used to promote browning, and as a sealant. must be baked-that's raw egg you're painting onto your product!emulsion: a suspension of two unlike/unmixable substances in one another. for example: when incorporating eggs into a dough, they must be added one at a time in order for the emulsion to happen properly, so that the egg is evenly distributed.
:F:
flambé: to cook over high flame with the addition of alcohol, in order to imbue flavor to the item.flavoring: the act of imparting flavor to an item. can be achieved through substitution, infusion, or extracts/additives.
fondant: soft ball sugar that has been worked on a marble surface until it becomes opaque.
fouettée: whipped
French meringue: aka common meringue. egg whites and sugar that have been whipped to desired peak.
frisage: the act of ensuring that a dough is homogeneous, by scraping it against the work surface. used in the preparation of pâte brisée by hand.
:G:
gluten: a lovely little protein whose development controls the structure of the finished product. created when glutenin and gliadin react with water, one can control the presence of gluten thereafter through maximizing or minimizing the perfect conditions for gluten development. for example, in our tarts unit, we were careful to use cold water, and not to over-mix the doughs, because that would cause too much gluten development. however, in our pâte à choux unit, we used warm water and really mixed the doughs, in order to get the most gluten bang for our buck.:H:
:I:
Italian meringue: a cooked meringue made with sugar that is cooked to soft ball stage (238 degrees Fahrenheit) and then incorporated into previously whipped egg whites, and then the two are whipped to the desired peak. this meringue is very versatile. :J:
julienne: the knife skills keep going! cutting the item into thin, match-stick sized pieces. similar to the allumette, but slightly thinner.:K:
knife skill: key to any successful gastronomical exploit, culinary and pastry alike. good cuts aren't just pretty to look at, but are essential to even cooking times, even product distribution, and more. a must for any aspiring chef. :L:
leavening: the act or process by which a leavening agent causes fermentation and expansion of a dough or batter. can be achieved through mechanical, chemical, or natural leavening.:M:
macédoine: another knife cut. a small cube dice, slightly larger than a brunoise.meringue: sugar and egg whites at its most basic. three types exist: French, Italian, and Swiss.
mise en place (MEP): the set up for any recipe. it literally means "put in place" in French, and is so key to the organization and prep for a recipe. a proper MEP allows for the recipe to be put together seamlessly, without having to stop and measure out each item as you add it in. frequently, you don't have time to do so once the recipe has started, because of time and temperature constraints, so the old adage holds true: proper preparation prevents poor performance!
mousseline: pastry cream with butter. a crème paris-brest is a praline (caramelized nuts&sugar) mousseline.
:N:
nappage: we often use apricot nappage as a finishing touch for fruit tarts and the like. it seals the moisture in the nappaged item, and provides a glossy finish. how fancy.nappant: when an item, a custard for example, covers the back of a spoon, and a line drawn against the spoon through that item holds its shape.
:O:
:P:
pastry cream: if i refer to crème pâtissière and then follow that with pastry cream, it's the same thing. crème pâtissière is translated as pastry cream, and it's a lot easier to type.pâte brisée: literally "broken dough". this is a light, flaky tart dough made with the cut-in butter method.
pâte à choux: cream puff dough. made by creating a roux, cooking it on a stovetop, and then incorporating eggs into the mixture (off of the stovetop). high gluten development is key for pâte à choux to work.
pâte à glacer: one of the only items in this "pâte" category (that i can think of) that is not a dough. this is a chocolate glaze that is made without cocoa butter, substituting it for hydrogenated oil. for an example of its usage, it is the chocolate topping on éclairs.
pâte à linzer: linzer dough. a very short (in terms of gluten development), crumbly dough, that is used for the linzer torte, and linzer cookies.
pâte feuilletée: literally leaved (as in leaves, not the act of leaving) dough. this refers to all of the layers created by rolling out, folding, and turning the pâton. used for mille-feuilles (again, a leaf/layer reference: lit. translated as "thousand leaves").
pâte sablée: "sandy" dough. a shortbread dough that can be made with either the creamed or cut-in butter methods.
pâte sucrée: literally "sugary dough". a sweeter tart dough than pâte brisée. made with the creamed butter method, and has a cookie like texture.
pâton: the "package" of the beurrage and détrempe together, which is rolled out, folded, and turned to make pâte feuilletée.
poach: a technique used to add/infuse flavor, drawing out moisture, allowing the item to reabsorb sugar and whatever flavors are present in the poaching liquid. 180 degrees Fahrenheit is the perfect poaching temperature.
protein content: important information to know about your flours, to best control or optimize for gluten development. the higher protein content, the more opportunity for gluten development. organized in order of least to greatest protein content: cake flour, all-purpose (AP) flour, bread flour.
:Q:
:R:
roux: a cooked mixture of flour, and fat. used as a base for pâte à choux, or as a thickener for sauces. :S:
sablage: involved in the cut-in butter method. this is the act of cutting in the butter and making sure that it is cut into lentil-sized pieces. the butter shouldn't be left in large hunks, but it should still be its own entity in the mixture. the ideal texture is sort of sandy--hence sablage! this term is related to the word sable, which means sand in french.sauté: browning food in a very (500 degrees Fahrenheit or so) hot pan, retaining flavor and moisture.
simple syrup: sugar and water! doesn't get easier than that.
starch-bound custard: a stirred custard that has the addition of a starch, which helps hold it together. it must be cooked atop the stove, after reaching its boiling point, for a minimum of two minutes, to fully cook the starch and to neutralize the alpha-amylase enzyme in the eggs. if the enzyme is not neutralized, it will turn what originally seems to be a beautiful custard into a soupy mess, because it will break down the starches that bind the custard together. example: crème pâtissière.
stirred custard: a custard that is cooked on a stovetop, and stirred while this happens. example: crème anglaise.
suprême: the process of cutting wedges from citrus fruits, without the membrane.
sweat: not perspiration after physical exertion, but the technique of releasing moisture from an item without browning. flavors and oils come out during this process as well.
Swiss meringue: yes, another meringue. this is made by bringing egg whites and sugar to 130 degrees Fahrenheit with a bain marie. this is a very quick process, be careful not to burn your meringue on the stove! once that happens, whip the mixture to your desired peak. if you do not have a thermometer, to test whether the egg whites and sugar are ready, test to see if you can feel sugar granulations still. if yes, keep going. if not, you're done!
:T:
tart: a baked dish typically made of a pastry base, and topped with fruit.temper: to bring two unlike items to the same temperature.
torte: a flourless cake. not to be confused with the term tart, or tort.
:U:
:V:
:W:
wet caramel: a caramel prepared with the addition of water to the sugar, placed over high heat until desired color is reached. :X:
:Y:
:Z:
