Wordsmith – Food for thought
There’s seemingly an endless amount of cookery programmes on British T.V. today. But do you always understand the terms they use ? Here’s a tasty sample to test your gastonomic wordpower …
| Vocabulary Ratings | ||
| 14-15 correct | ………………….. | excellent |
| 12-13 correct | ………………….. | good |
| 9-11 correct | ………………….. | fair |
(1) ceviche {sirveesh} n A: hot liqueur. B: marinated starter. C: raw vegetable.B: citrus-marinated seafood appetiser. “The shrimp in lime juice produced a fine ceviche.” Spanish escabeche (marinade).
|
(2) aioli {eye-owelee} n A: chopped potatoes. B: butter chicken. C: garlic mayonnaise.C: garlic mayonnaise. “The chips with aioli disappeared in seconds.” Provencal French ai (garlic) and oli (oil).
|
(3) tagine {tahzheen} n A: stringy meat. B: north African dish. C: honey glaze.B: North African stew dish. “Tagines are popular in Morocco.” Arabic tajine (clay pot).
|
(4) flageolet {flazh-eau-lay} n A: kidney bean. B: cold soup. C: beaten egg.A: kidney bean. “Jack planted plenty of flageolets.” Latin phaseolus (bean).
|
(5) goujon n A: meat medallion. B: fruit chunk. C: deep-fried strip.C: deep-fried strip of fish or chicken.’The halibut goujons staved off his hunger.” French gouger (to gouge).
|
(6) eau de vie n A: brandy. B: egg white. C: distilled water.A: spirits, especially brandy. “The eau de vie stopped his hands shaking.” French eau de Vie (water of life).
|
(7) flambé A: dipped in sugar. B: covered with pie crust. C: heated to burn off spirits.C: cover food with spirits and burn off. “Firsttip: never flambe with petrol.” French flamber (burn).
|
(8) pulque {pullkay} n A: spun sugar. B: Mexican drink. C: cooked lettuce.B: Mexican drink made from fermented sap. “The pulque chaser was a bad idea.” Nahuatl puliuhki (decomposed).
|
(9) daube n A: stew. B: thick sauce. C: steak.A: braised meat stew. “The daube was wine-based.” Latin dealbare (whitewash).
|
(10) lachryma Christi n A: salty water. B: peach juice. C: Italian wine.C: wine grown on Mount Vesuvius. “Pliny sipped lachryma Christi as Etna erupted.” Latin lachryma Christi (Christ’s tear).
|
(11) fricandeau {frick-ohn-doh} n A: meat slice. B: egg whisk. C: water jug.A: a slice of meat, often veal, from the leg. “The fricandeau was drenched in cider.” French.
|
(12) coulis n A: iced lemon. B: fruit puree. C: sorbet.B: Fruit puree thin enough to pour. “The coulis lapped gently round the ice-cream dome.” French couler (flow).
|
(13) lees n A: nettle juice. B: wine dregs. C: fermented milk.B: wine sediment. “He drank the bottle down to the lees”. Middle English lie (dregs).
|
(14) rösti n A: beehive oven. B: saltgarnish. C: fried potatoes.C: Swiss fried potato dish. “When in training, Federer avoids rosti.” German rosti (fried potatoes).
|
(15) tapenade {tap-uhn-ard} n A: olive paste. B: liver pate. C: digestif.A: chopped olives, anchovies and capers in olive oil. “Tapenade on bread is a simple starter.” Provencal French taperio (caper).
|
