Food Lover's Glossary of Culinary Terms Copyright© 1998-2006 by Culinary Software Services, Inc.®

F
Falafel - A Middle Eastern specialty consisting of small, deep-fried croquettes or balls made of highly spiced, ground chickpeas. They are generally tucked inside pita bread, sandwich style, but can also be served as appetizers. A yogurt or tahini-based sauce is often served with falafel.
Farfalle - Bow tie shaped pasta.
Fava Bean - This tan, rather flat bean resembles a very large lima bean. It comes in a large pod which, unless very young, is inedible. Fava beans can be purchased dried, cooked in cans and, infrequently, fresh. If you find fresh fava beans, choose those with pods that are not bulging with beans, which indicates age. Fava beans have a very tough skin, which should be removed by blanching before cooking. They are very popular in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes. They can be cooked in a variety of ways and are often used in soups. Also called faba bean, broad bean and horse bean.
Feijoa - A fruit grown in New Zealand with a thin green skin and a flavor reminiscent of strawberry, banana, and pineapple.
Feijoada - A Brazilian dish very similar to cassoulet, made with black beans. Sausage, bacon, ham, and various cuts of pork are cooked in with the beans. The traditional accompaniments are plain white rice, cooked greens, fresh orange slices, and a very hot sauce, similar to pico de gallo, called molho carioca. Toasted cassava flour is used as a condiment, to be added by each diner. This too is a very substantial dish and needs little else to accompany it.
Fen Berry - Fen Berry is another name for a small variety of cranberry - also known as cram-berry, crawberry, moss-millions, sow-berry, sour-berry, marsh wort, bog-berry and swamp red-berry. It is found in many English recipes.
Fenugreek - A very hard seed grown in the Middle East, which is used as a spice. Its dominant flavor and aroma is recognizable in commercial curry powders.
Fettuccine - Flat narrow pasta noodles less than wide and a bit thicker than tagliatelle.
Ficelle - The French word for string. This is a term used in cooking to describe foods that have been tied to a string and cooked in a broth. This was a practice in villages when a communal pot was used to cook food. The string was used in order to allow the owners to identify and recover their piece of meat. This is generally applied to tough cuts of meat that require long periods of cooking. Yet, some restaurants are using the term to describe a more tender cut of meat that is poached in a rich broth. Beef filet and duck breasts are two good choices for this type of preparation.
Financier - A small cake or cookie that is made with ground nuts and whipped egg whites. These are soft like sponge cake, and have a rich flavor of nuts.
Fines Herbes - A mixture of chopped fresh herbs consisting of tarragon, parsley, chervil and chives. Dried herbs may also be used, but their delicacy is lost.
Finnan Haddie - The Scottish name for smoked haddock.
Five Spice Powder - A dry spice mix used in Chinese cooking consisting of cinnamon, star anise, pepper, clove, and fennel.
Flan - This is a term that may be used to describe two different preparations. The first use of this word is describes an open top tart that is filled with pastry cream and topped with fruit. Flan is used in Spanish and Mexican cooking to describe an egg custard that is baked in a large shallow dish, and flavored with caramel. The dish is inverted when served and the excess caramel is used as a sauce for the flan. The flan may be flavored with orange, anise, cinnamon, or liqueur.
Fleuron - A small crescent shaped pastry made of puff dough that is used to garnish fish dishes and soups.
Florentine - This is used to describe foods that are cooked in the style of Florence. The word is most commonly associated with dishes containing spinach and sometimes a cream sauce. Steak cooked ala Florentine is a large T-bone steak, rubbed with olive oil and garlic, grilled and served with fresh lemon on the side.
Flour - This is the finely ground grain of wheat, corn, rice, oat, rye, or barley. Unless specified, this term refers to wheat flour. Flour is milled from a variety of wheats containing different amounts of protein. The different levels of protein give each flour unique qualities. All-purpose flour is the most commonly used, especially by the domestic market. This flour is milled from both hard and soft wheats, giving it the strength needed in bread baking, but leaving it tender enough for cakes and pastries. Bread flour has a higher protein content so that it may withstand the constant expansion of the cell walls during proofing and baking. Cake flour is milled from soft wheat, thus containing a very low protein content and preventing the development of gluten. Pastry flour is of relatively low protein content, containing just enough to help stabilize the products during leavening. Whole wheat flours are milled from the whole kernel, thus giving it a higher fiber content and a substantial protein content. Semolina is milled from hard durum wheat, being used mainly for commercial baking and pasta production.
Focaccio - An Italian flatbread made with pizza or bread dough, that can be baked plain or topped with onions, zucchini, eggplant, cheese, or whatever you choose.
Foie Gras - This literally means goose liver, but the term is used to describe the fattened liver of both duck and geese. The birds are force fed a rich mixture to help expedite this process. These livers are praised for their delicate flavor and rich, buttery texture. The largest production of commercial foie gras is done in France and Israel. The US will only allow this product to be imported in a cooked stage, either canned, vacuum-sealed, or frozen. These are inferior products and will never highlight the true delicacy of foie gras. But fresh foie gras is now available from breeders in the US. These foie gras are very fine specimens, but a very high price goes along with them. Foie gras is prepared in a vast number of ways, though one should remember to keep these as simple as possible to avoid masking the flavor of this treasure.
Fondant - This is an icing made of sugar syrup and glucose, which is cooked to a specific temperature and then kneaded to a smooth, soft paste. This paste can then be colored or flavored and used as an icing for cakes and petit fours.
Fondue - There are several different types of fondue, the most notable of which is cheese fondue. This is a Swiss specialty in which cheese is melted with wine, eggs, and seasonings and served with bread and fresh vegetables. Fondue Bourguignonne is a pot of hot oil into which the diners will cook strips of meat and dip them into an array of sauces on the table. Similar to this is fondue Chinois where the hot oil is replaced by a rich chicken or meat broth. The meat, and fish too, are then cooked in this stock and dipped in sauces. The Japanese have a dish called shabu shabu, which is similar to this type of fondue. Named for the swishing sound that the meat makes in the broth, this dish is also served with vegetables and noodles in to be eaten along with the meat. A chocolate fondue is a chocolate bath, flavored with liqueur and eaten with bread and fruit, like fresh berries. These are all dishes eaten as much for their social qualities as their culinary grandeur. Their popularity in the US has diminished over the last 15 years, only being seen in ski resorts and at private dinner parties.
Fonduta - An Italian style fondue made of Fontina cheese and served over toast or polenta. Exceptional with truffles.
Fougasse - A flatbread from France that was once served sweetened with sugar and orange water. It is now more commonly seen as a bread eaten with savory dishes. In this case, the dough is brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with herbs or salt before baking.
Foyot - This is a variation of a bearnaise sauce with the addition of a well reduced meat glaze.
Frangipane - A pastry cream made of butter, eggs, flour, and finely ground almonds or macaroons. Modern versions will use a combination of cornstarch and flour. The nuts must be very finely ground for this to be successful. This type of raw cream is baked in the pastry shell or crepe. Frangipane is also the name for a type of panada used in making forcemeats.
Fricassee - A stew prepared without the initial browning of the meat. Though chicken is the most common form of this type of stew, fish, vegetables, and other meats are prepared in this manner.
Frittata - An Italian open-faced omelet.
Fritter - Food that has been dipped in batter and deep fried or saut‚ed. These may consist of vegetables, meat, fish, shellfish, or fruit. The food may be dipped in the batter or mixed with the batter and dropped into the hot fat to form little balls. Japanese tempura fried foods are a type of fritter, though this term is not applied to it.
Fritto Misto - An Italian mixed fried platter, similar to the Japanese tempura platter. A mixture of vegetables, meat, and fish are dipped in a light batter and quickly deep fried to prevent a saturation of grease into the food.
Fruit Pectin - A substance found naturally in fruits such as apples, quince, and all citrus fruits. Pectins ability to gel liquids makes it a key ingredient in jelly and jam making. You can purchase pectin in powder or liquid form, or use high pectin fruits in the recipe.
Fugu - Japanese for swellfish; globefish; blowfish; ballonfish; puffer. Fugu is caught in winter only, and it is eaten as chiri-nabe (hotpot) or fugu-sashi (raw fugu, sliced paper-thin). Only licensed fugu chefs are allowed to prepare this fish in Japan, since it contains a deadly poison.
Fumet - An aromatic broth made for use in soups and sauces. The flavor of a fumet is usually concentrated on one item, though multiple ingredients may be used. The stock is then reduced to concentrate this flavor. Fish and vegetable broths are more commonly called fumets, but meat may also be used.
Fusilli - Spiral shaped pasta. Some versions are shaped like a spring. Other versions are shaped like a twisted spiral.