This FAQ may be cited as "The rec.food.cooking FAQ and conversion file
as at
Welcome to the rec.food.cooking FAQ list and conversion helper!
The primary purpose of this document is to help cooks from different countries communicate with one another. The problem is that measurements and terms for food vary from country to country, even if both countries speak English.
However, some confusion cannot be avoided simply by making this list. You can help avoid the confusion by being as specific as possible. Try not to use brand names unless you also mention the generic name of the product. If you use terms like "a can" or "a box", give some indication of how much the package contains, either in weight or volume.
A few handy hints: a kiwi is a bird, the little thing in your grocery store is called a kiwi fruit. Whoever said "A pint's a pound the world around" must have believed the US was on another planet. And cast iron pans and bread machines can evoke some interesting discussion!
If you haven't already done so, now is as good a time as any to read the guide to Net etiquette which is posted to news.announce.newusers regularly. You should be familiar with acronyms like FAQ, FTP and IMHO, as well as know about smileys, followups and when to reply by email to postings.
This FAQ is currently posted to news.answers and rec.food.cooking. All posts to news.answers are archived, and it is possible to retrieve the last posted copy via anonymous FTP from rtfm.mit.edu as /pub/usenet/rec.food.cooking. Those without FTP access should send e-mail to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with "send usenet/news.answers/finding-sources" in the body to find out how to get archived news.answers posts by e-mail.
This FAQ was initially written by Cindy Kandolf, with maintenance and additions in the last year by Amy Gale, with the help of numerous contributions by readers of rec.food.cooking. Credits appear at the end. Each section begins with forty dashes ("-") on a line of their own, then the section number. This should make searching for a specific section easy.
Any questions you have that are not addressed here will surely have many people on rec.food.cooking who are able to answer them - try it, and see.
Comments, corrections and changes to : cooking-faq@vuw.ac.nz
I have received some comments that "That's not right!" for some of these equivalents. If i get several comments for the same item, i will change it. In any case, if in doubt, ask the person who originally posted to recipe what he or she means.
aubergine - US eggplant. (purple, vaguely egg-shaped vegetable) beetroot - US beet Bermuda onion - also called Spanish onion (which see)- a sweet onion. this may vary by region. Another possible alternative is the 1015 onion biscuits - in the UK, same as US cookies, small sweet cakes usually for dessert. In the US, a type of non-yeast bread made of flour, milk, and shortening, usually served with breakfast - small, and similar to what much of the world refers to as `scones'. black treacle - similar to blackstrap molasses brinjal - Indian word for eggplant/aubergine cabanossi - a salami-type sausage popular in Southern Europe capsicum - another name for red/green/yellow bell peppers castor/caster sugar - somewhat finer than US granulated sugar. See 2.5 similar to US superfine sugar chickpeas - also called garbanzo beans, ceci beans Chicken Maryland - in Australia, refers to chicken leg with both thigh and drumstick attatched. In the US, refers to any parts of chicken, crumbed, browned in hot fat, baked and served with cream gravy. Chinese parsley - also called cilantro (which see) and coriander cider - widely varying definition! A drink (almost) always made from pressed apples, to many people but not all it is alcoholic. US usage is typically that `cider' is not alcoholic and `hard cider' is. If in doubt, ask the person who posts the recipe what they mean. cilantro - the leaf of the coriander plant. Also called Chinese/Thai/ Mexican parsley, and green corriander. cockles - clams confectioner's sugar - same as powdered sugar or UK icing sugar cookies - UK biscuits cordial - in the US, a synonym for liqueur in UK, NZ, Australia, a thick syrup (which may or may not contain real fruit) which is diluted to give a non-alcoholic fruit drink cornflour - cornstarch. Used to thicken sauces etc. Usu. made from wheat cornmeal - ground corn (maize). courgette - US zucchini. A long, green squash, looks something like a cucumber. cream of wheat - sometimes called farina dessiccated coconut - dried coconut shreds, similar to US coconut shreds. In the US, coconut is usually sold sweetened, this is not so common in other countries. digestive biscuits - almost the same as US graham crackers. In my experience, graham crackers are sweeter and more likely to come with cinnamon or something similar sprinkled on top. However, digestive biscuits make an excellent "graham cracker" pie crust. donax - clams double cream - somewhat heavier than whipping cream eggplant - UK aubergine (which see) essence - US extract (see entry in part 6) extract - UK essence (see entry in part 6) farina - sometimes called cream of wheat filberts - also called hazelnuts garbanzo beans - also called chickpeas graham crackers - similar to UK digestive biscuits (which see) granulated sugar - somewhat coarser than UK castor/caster sugar. See List 2 green onions - same as spring onions or scallions green shallots- an inaccurate but occasionally used description for spring onions grill - In the UK, the same as US broiler; in the US, a device for cooking food over a charcoal or gas fire, outdoors. Habanero pepper - similar to Scotch bonnet pepper half and half - a mixture of half cream and half whole milk hazelnuts - sometimes called filberts heavy cream - same as whipping cream or UK double cream icing sugar - US confectioner's or powdered sugar. The finest kind. ladyfingers - little finger-shaped sponge cakes, used in, among other things, a popular Italian dessert called Tiramisu. "Ladies' fingers" is the US vegetable okra. lemonade - in the US, a drink made of lemon juice, sugar and water; in the UK, a carbonated drink that doesn't necessarily contain anything closer to a lemon than a bit of citric acid. Sprite (TM) and 7-Up (TM) are examples of what would be called lemonade in many countries. marrow - US summer squash. Also `vegetable marrow'. melon - a family of fruits. All have a thick, hard, inedible rind, sweet meat, and lots of seeds. Common examples: watermelon, cantaloupe molasses - similar to UK treacle pawpaw - papaya, also persimmons in some places, or even a third fruit, Asimina triloba. If I were you I'd check with the recipe author. polenta - same as corn meal, also, a thick porridge made from cornmeal (also known as `cornmeal mush', `mamaliga') powdered sugar - same as confectioner's sugar or UK icing sugar rock melon - cantaloupe scallion - also called spring onion or green onion or scallion Scotch Bonnet pepper - similar to Habanero pepper shallots - not green/spring onion - mall pointed members of the onion family that grow in clusters something like garlic and have a mild, oniony taste. single cream - US light cream Spanish onion - also called Bermuda onion. Large and not as "hot" as standard onions. This nomenclature may vary in some regions Often used to mean "Red Spanish Onion" which is not so much red as purple spring onion - also called scallion or green onion squash - a family of vegetables. All but two have a thick, hard, usually inedible rind, rich-tasting meat, and lots of seeds. A well-known fs not wide-spread example is the pumpkin. There are also things called summer squashes, which have edible rinds, milder meats, and usually fewer seeds. An example of this type is the zucchini or courgette. swede - US rutabaga tomato sauce - in UK/NZ/Australia, a homogeneous dark red sauce containing (typically) tomatoes, sugar, salt, acid, spices, sometimes (blech) apple - much the same thing as US ketchup. In the US, a more heterogeneous concoction, served in and on more foods such as pasta. whipping cream - in US, cream with at least 30% butterfat (cf light cream (18%) and heavy cream (36%)) zucchini - UK courgette (which see)
If a recipe calls for buttermilk or cultured milk, you can make sour milk as a substitute. For each cup you need, take one tablespoon of vinegar or lemonjuice , then add enough milk to make one cup. Don't stir. Let it stand for five minutes before using.
The minimum milk fat content by weight for various types of cream: (UK) (US) Clotted Cream 55% Double Cream 48% Heavy Cream 36% Whipping Cream 35% 30% Whipped Cream 35% Single Cream 18% (=Light Cream) Half Cream 12%1 UK pint is about 6 dl 1 UK liquid oz is 0.96 US liquid oz. a "stick" of butter or margarine weighs 4 oz and is 1/2 cup US. each 1/4 cup or half stick butter or margarine in US recipes weighs about 50 g. there are 8 tablespoons in 1/4 pound butterFor the definition of a specific dairy product, see section 6.
Quark (aka quarg) Will all be added when I can find or determine some good definitions. If you have one/some, I will be grateful.
2.4 Starches
UK corn flour is the same as US cornstarch. Potato flour, despite its name, is a starch, and cannot be substituted for regular flour. It often can be substituted for corn starch and vice versa.Cornmeal or polenta is not the same thing as cornstarch or cornflour! What one can buy labelled `polenta' really looks no different to cornmeal though, so hey, lets not panic too much.
Polenta is commonly used to describe cornmeal porridge but may also be used to mean plain cornmeal. Beware.
If you don't have cornstarch/corn flour, you can use twice the amount of all-purpose/plain flour. However, unless whatever you're adding it to is allowed to boil, the result will taste starchy.
2.5 Sugar and other sweeteners
UK castor/caster sugar is somewhat finer than US granulated sugar. There is a product in the US called superfine sugar, which is about the same as UK castor/caster sugar. Usually, you can use granulated sugar in recipes calling for castor/caster sugar and vice versa, but i've gotten reports of times this didn't work so well! As usual, give the recipe a trial run with the substitute some time when it doesn't need to be perfect.Corn syrup is common in the US but not always elsewhere. Sugar (golden) syrup can be substituted.
Corn syrup comes in two flavours - dark and light. Light corn syrup is just sweet, dark has a mild molasses flavour. Some people have substituted dark corn syrup for golden syrup in ANZAC biscuits and found it sucessful. A common US brand is Karo
Golden syrup is a thick, golden brown (fancy that) byproduct of cane sugar refining. The taste is mostly sweet, although there is a slight acidic, metallic component. Lyle's is a common brand spoken about in rec.food.cooking, the New Zealand brandname is Chelsea.
If desperate, a plain sugar syrup may be a possible substitute, boil 2 parts sugar, 1 part water. This could be messy. You may want to thin it out with water. Again, you may want to try this out on your own before making something for a special occassion.
2.6 Fats
Shortening is solid, white fat made from hydrogenated vegetable oil. (A popular brand name is Crisco, and many people call all shortening Crisco.) It is common in the US, tougher to find in some other parts of the globe. In my experience, you can usually but not always substitute butter or margarine for shortening. The result will have a slightly different texture and a more buttery taste (which in the case of, say, chocolate chip cookies seems to be an advantage!). Sometimes this doesn't work too well. Not to sound like a broken record but - try it out before an important occasion.Copha is a solid fat derived from coconuts, it is fairly saturated and used in recipes where it is melted, combined with other ingredients and left to set.
Lard can be successfully substituted in some recipes, for example it makes very flaky pastry.
Deep frying requires fats/oils with heat-tolerant properties. Butter and margaring, for example, are right out, as are lard and olive oil. Corn and peanut oils are both good.
2.7 Chocolates
If you don't have unsweetened baking chocolate, substitute three tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder plus one tablespoon of fat (preferably oil) for each one ounce square.US dark chocolate is the same as UK plain chocolate, that is, the darkest and least sweet of the chocolates intended for eating (also called bittersweet). What is called milk chocolate in the UK is called milk chocolate in the US, too, but many people simply refer to it as "chocolate". The stuff called "semi-sweet chocolate" by some folks is the US dark or UK plain. "Bitter chocolate" is, apparently, the UK term for high quality plain chocolate.
Some manufacturers apparently distinguish between "sweet dark," "semi-sweet" and "bittersweet" (Sarotti is one), but they seem to be minor variations on a theme.
Chocolate chips are not necessarily a substitute for bar chocolates, because the chips have something added to them to slow down melting.
2.8 Meats
If a recipe calls for spatchcocks, you can use cornish game hens
3 US/UK/metric conversions
My sources give credit to Caroline Knight (cdfk@otter.hpl.hp.com) as the original source of these tables.Where needed, the conversion used is 1kg = 2.2lb
Here are some tables I've tried to compile using a variety of sources. Corrections and additions welcomed!
3.1 Oven Temperatures
An approximate conversion chart(P):- Electric Gas mark Description Fahrenheit Centigrade 225 F 110 C 1/4 Very cool 250 F 130 C 1/2 275 F 140 C 1 cool 300 F 150 C 2 325 F 170 C 3 very moderate 350 F 180 C 4 moderate 375 F 190 C 5 400 F 200 C 6 moderately hot 425 F 220 C 7 hot 450 F 230 C 8 475 F 240 C 9 very hot
3.2 Food Equivalences
Sometimes the sources did not agree... I've given both:-) (Letters in brackets refer to books in section 11.2)3.2.1 Flours
British measure American equivalent flour - white plain/strong/ sifted flour - all-purpose/ self-raising/unbleached unbleached white 4oz(P) 1 cup 5oz(K) wholemeal/stoneground whole wheat 6oz(K) 1 cup cornflour cornstarch 4 1/2 oz (P) 1 cup 5.3 oz (K) yellow corn meal/polenta coarse corn meal/polenta 6 oz(P) 1 cup rye flour rye flour 6 oz(P) 1 cup
3.2.2 Cereals
british american
pearl barley pearl barley 7 oz(P) 1 cup rice/bulgar wheat/millet/wheat rice/bulgar wheat/millet/wheat berries 7 oz(K) 1 cup semolina/ground rice/tapioca semolina/ground rice/tapioca 6 oz(P) 1 cup fresh soft breadcrumbs/ fresh soft breadcrumbs/ cake crumbs cake crumbs 2 oz(P) 1 cup dried breadcrumbs dried breadcrumbs 4 oz(P) 1 cup porridge oats rolled oats 3 1/2 oz(P) 1 cup3.2.3 Sugars
light/dark soft brown sugar light/dark brown sugar 8 oz(P) 1 cup (firmly packed) castor/caster/granulated sugar granulated sugar 7 1/2 oz(P) 1 cup icing sugar sifted confectioners' sugar 4 1/2 oz(P) 1 cup
3.2.4 Fats and cheeses
butter, margarine, cooking butter, shortening, lard, fat, lard, dripping drippings - solid or melted 1 oz(P) 2 tablespoons 8 oz(P) 1 cup grated cheese - cheddar type grated cheese - cheddar type 4 oz(P) 1 cup 1 lb(K) 4 - 5 cups (packed)
3.2.5 Vegetables and fruit
onion onion 1 small to med 1 cup chopped shelled peas shelled peas 4 oz(P) 3/4 cup cooked sweet corn cooked sweet corn 4 oz(P) 1 cup celery celery 4 sticks 1 cup (chopped) chopped tomatoes chopped tomatoes 7 oz(P) 1 cup button mushrooms button mushrooms 3-4 oz(P) 1 cup chopped pickled beetroot chopped pickled beetroot 2 oz(P) 1/3 cup black/redcurrants/bilberries black/redcurrants/bilberries 4 oz(P) 1 cup raspberries/strawberries raspberries/strawberries 5 oz(P) 1 cup Dried beans: black/lentils/chick peas/pinto/ black/lentils/chick peas/pinto/ white white 3 1/2 oz(K) 1/2 cup
3.2.6 Dried fruit and nuts, etc
currants/sultanas/raisins/ currants/sultanas/raisins/ chopped candied peel chopped candied peel 5-6 oz(P) 1 cup 2 oz(K - raisins) 1/3 cup glace cherries candied cherries 8 oz(P) 1 cup sesame seeds sesame seeds 3 1/2 oz 3/4 cup whole shelled almonds whole shelled almonds 5 oz(P) 1 cup ground almonds ground almonds 4 oz(P) 1 cup chopped nuts chopped nuts 2 oz(K) 1/3 to 1/2 cup Nut butters: peanut/almond/cashew etc peanut/almond/cashew etc 8 oz(K) 1 cup
3.2.7 Preserves
clear honey/golden syrup/ clear honey/golden syrup/ molasses/black treacle molasses/black treacle 12 oz(P) 1 cup maple/corn syrup maple/corn syrup 11 oz(P) 1 cup jam/marmalade/jelly jam/marmalade/jelly 5-6 oz(P) 1/2 cup
3.3 American Liquid Measures
1 pint 450 ml ( 16 fl oz) (RD) 1 cup 225 ml ( 8 fl oz) (RD & K) 1 tablespoon 16 ml (1/2 fl oz) (K)
3.4 British Liquid Measures
I have got conflicting tables showing these:- 1 pint 570 ml ( 20 fl oz) (RD) 1 breakfast cup ( 10 fl oz) 1/2 pint (S) 1 tea cup 1/3 pint (S) 8 tablespoons 1/4 pint (S) BUT 8 * 15 * 4 = 480 fl oz which is short of a pint! 1 tablespoon 15 ml (RD) 1 dessertspoon 10 ml (RD) 1 teaspoon 5 ml (RD) 1/3 tablespoon (S) And from "Mastering the art of French cooking". Penguin UK, issue 1961 UK UK oz Metric ml US oz 1 quart 40 1140 38.5 1 pint 20 570 1 cup 10 1 gill 5 1 fluid oz 1 28.4 0.96 1 tbl 5/8 (1/16 cup) 17.8? 1 dsp 1/3 10 1 tsp 1/6 5
3.5 British Short Cuts (S)
Cheese (grated) 1 oz = 4 level tablespoons Cocoa or chocolate powder 1 oz = 3 level tablespoons Coconut (desicated) 1 oz = 4 level tablespoons Flour (unsifted) 1 oz = 3 level tablespoons Sugar (castor/caster) 1 oz = 2 level tablespoons (granulated) 1 oz = 2 level tablespoons (icing) 1 oz = 2 1/2 level tablespoons Syrup (golden) 1 oz = 1 level tablespoons
3.6 General Conversion Tables
Some general tables for volume and weight conversions (mostly by Cindy Kandolf)3.6.1 International Liquid Measurements
standard cup tablespoon teaspoon Canada 250ml 15ml 5ml Australia 250ml ** 20ml ** 5ml New Zealand 250ml 15ml 5ml UK 250ml 15ml 5ml
3.6.2 Weight
1 ounce = 28.4 g (can usually be rounded to 25 or 30) 1 pound = 454 g 1 kg = 2.2 pounds
3.6.3 US Liquid Measurements
1 liter = 1.057 quarts 2.1 pints 1 quart = 0.95 liter 1 gallon= 3.8 liters 1/8 cup = 2 tablespoons 1/4 cup = 4 tablespoons 1/3 " = 0.8 dl 1/2 " = 1.2 dl 2/3 " = 1.6 dl 3/4 " = 1.75 dl 7/8 " = 2.1 dl 1 cup = 2.4 dl 1 dl = 2/5 cup = 6 to 7 tablespoons
3.6.4 Miscellaneous
Metric Cups Grams Ounces (approx) (approx) 1 cup butter 250 8 3/4 1 cup biscuit (cookie) crumbs 110 3 3/4 1 cup breadcrumbs, soft 60 2 1 cup breadcrumbs, dry 125 4 1/2 1 cup cheese, grated 125 4 1/2 1 cup cocoa 110 3 3/4 1 cup cornflour (cornstarch) 125 4 1/2 1 cup cornflakes 30 1 1 cup rice bubbles (rice crispies) 30 1 1 cup coconut, desiccated (flaked) 95 3 1/4 1 cup dried split peas, lentils 200 7 1 cup dried fruit 160 5 3/4 1 cup dates, chopped 150 5 1/4 1 cup flour, plain, self-rising 125 4 1/2 1 cup flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) 135 4 3/4 1 cup golden syrup, honey, glucose 360 12 3/4 1 cup jam 330 11 1/2 1 cup nuts, chopped 125 4 1/2 1 cup oats, rolled 90 3 1/4 1 cup rice, short grain 210 7 1/2 1 cup rice, long grain 200 7 1 cup salt, or crystal sugar 250 8 3/4 1 cup castor sugar (superfine) 220 7 3/4 1 cup soft brown sugar, firmly packed 170 6 1 cup icing sugar (confectioners') 150 5 1 cup = 250 mls
Metric spoons Grams Ounces 1 level tablespoon peanut butter 20 2/3 1 level tablespoon baking powder, bicarb soda, cream of tartar, gelatine, rice, sago 15 1/2 1 level tablespoon cocoa, cornflour, custard powder, nuts 10 1/2 1 level tablelspoon golden syrup, treacle, honey, glucose 30 1 1 level tablespoon sugar, salt 20 2/3 1 level tablespoon yeast, compressed 20 2/3 1 tablespoon = 20 mls 1 teaspoon = 5 mls
In Modern China, this went with kilograms and stuff. To make the transition easier for the average people. They invented a new kind of catty. 1 catty = 0.5 kilo ( = 1.1 pound )
However, old books from Hong Kong and Taiwan still uses the old catty = 600 grams.
P = Marguerite Patten from "Cookery in Colour"
RD = Forward to British edition of "The Rotation Diet"
S = Ursula Sedgwick from "My Fun-to-cook-book"
rec.crafts.brewing
alt.food
alt.food.fat-free
alt.bacchus
alt.food.mcdonalds (an oxymoron if ever I heard one)
alt.food.coca-cola (mmmm....coca cola...)
alt.food.chocolate
alt.food.taco.bell
alt.creative-cook
alt.creative-cooking
There are a number of holes in the story, and no one has ever brought forth any evidence that it really happened. (If you want to argue that you know someone who knows someone who this really happened to, take it over to alt.folklore.urban, where they will proceed to have you for breakfast if you have no evidence.) More importantly, it has been posted more than enough times by now. Some people have tried the recipe and pronounced it good, but it ain't Mrs. Field's. If you would like the recipe, ask for someone to mail it to you.
It has been pointed out to me that the recipe is in the standard source distribution for GNU Emacs. If your site has that source, look in the "etc" directory for a file named COOKIES. Most importantly, please DO NOT post it any more. There is also a Mrs Fields cookbook, published by Time-Life. This has recipes, but not the exact ones for the ones sold in the stores, as those recipes are not well suited to home baking
This sort of question seems to pop up a lot about buffalo wings (chicken wings in a spicy sauce)...
Aji (singular form) is what the Peruvians call chile peppers. The species in particular is capsicum baccatum, and the derivation of the name is somewhat odd. When Columbus started this whole confusing thing with Indians and peppers that weren't what he thought they were, the Arawak people of the Bahamas called their capsicums "aji." Columbus packed them back to Spain, the Portuguese took them around the world, and within a hundred years peppers had been distributed to China, Japan, India, Turkey, and back through the Balkans to Europe.
allspice, mixed spice and five-spice
Allspice is the dried, unripe berry of a small tree. It is available ground or in seed form, & used in a variety of dishes such as pickles, casseroles, cakes & puddings. Also known as Jamaica Pepper.
Mixed spice is a classic mixture generally containing caraway, allspice, coriander, cumin, nutmeg & ginger, although cinnamon & other spices can be added. It is used with fruit & in cakes. (In America 'Pumpkin Pie Spice' is very similar).
Five-spice powder is a blend of star anise, cinnamon, cloves, fennel & Szechuan pepper. It is used in Chinese cooking
bagels
Chewy bread with a hole in the middle - round, and 3-4 inches in diameter. The origin is Russian-Jewish. Can come with many types of toppings on it. Dough is boiled then baked with toppings such as onion, garlic, poppy seeds etc. Flavours can also be kneaded into the dough. On the east coast usually used as a breakfast bread but can also be used as a sandwich bread. A well known combination is bagels with cream cheese and lox (brine-cured salmon).
broccolrabe
A green bitter vegetable unless harvested young. Looks like broccoli but has skinnier stalks. The leaves, stems and florets are eaten. Really good sauteed with garlic and olive oil and served over pasta.
clotted cream
Traditionally served with tea and scones; a 55% (min) milkfat product made by heating shallow pans of milk to about 82 degrees C, holding them at this temperature for about an hour and then skimming off the yellow wrinkled cream crust that forms.
conch
A Mollusk Gastropod - "Strombus" - Abundant in US only off Florida Keys, where it is illegal to take. (has been for 10? years now). Most now comes from Caribbean islands such as Turks and Caicos, Trinidad, or Honduras. One Conch steak typically weighs 1/5 to 1/3 lb appx. These sell for prices ranging from $4.99 - $6.99 per pound. These steaks are taken home, beaten with device such as a rolling pin, (to tenderize) then cubed for conch salad or conch fritters. (BTW when in Florida & Caribbean pronounce it "Conk" or they all laugh at you and double the price).
couscous
Couscous is the separated grain of the wheat plant. When dried and milled, it becomes semolina flour, which is what pasta is made out of. However, as a grain, it makes a terrific rice substitute that has the advantage of being more flavorful (nutty with an interesting texture as long as it is not over cooked) as well as about five times quicker to make than rice.
creme fraiche
Pasteurised cream to which a lactic bacteria culture has been added. Used in French cooking, it is thick and slightly acidic without actually being sour.
escargot
snails. They can be terrestrial, freshwater or marine. Escargot is the common name for the land gastropod mollusk. The edible snails of France have a single shell that is tan and white, and 1 to 2 inches diameter. This is what you see for sale at the gourmet food market for some outrageous price.
essence/extract
While the words may be used interchangeably US-UK all essences are extracts, but extracts are not all essences. A stock is a water extract of food. Other solvents (edible) may be oil, ethyl alcohol,as in wine or whiskey, or water. Wine and beer are vegetable or fruit stocks. A common oil extract is of cayenne pepper, used in Asian cooking (yulada). Oils and water essences are becoming popular as sauce substitutes. A common water essence is vegetable stock. A broth is more concentrated, as in beef broth, or boullion. Beef tea is shin beef cubes and water sealed in a jar and cooked in a water bath for 12-24 hours. Most common are alcohol extracts, like vanilla. Not possible to have a water extract of vanilla(natural bean) but vanillin(chemical synth) is water sol. There are also em ulsions lemon pulp and lemon oil and purees (often made with sugar) Oils, such as orange or lemon rind (zest) oil, may be extracted by storing in sugar in seal ed container. Distilled oils are not extracts or essences. Attar of rose (for perfume) is lard extracted rose petal oil.
fava/broad beans
Favas as a green vegetable are popular in Europe. In the North, e.g. Britain and Holland they are called 'broad beans' and grown as a summer crop, planted in early spring, and in Italy they are planted in fall and harvested in January, and also planted in January and eaten in April and May. They are grown for animal forage in Italy as well. They come in various sizes, but in general they are large and flat.
feija~o
Portugese for beans, the default is black beans. Not to be confused with:
feijoa
A waxy green fruit about 3" long. Although it is not a guava you may know it as a Pineapple Guava. Feijoa sellowiana is an evergreen shrub, growing to 10-16 ft. It thrives in subtropical regions but is hardy & once established will tolerate moderate frosts. They are either eaten raw (with or without the skin) or made into jellies, sauces & chutneys.
galanga
Used in Thai cooking, galanga is a rhizome similar to ginger in many ways. Tom ka gai (chicken in coconut milk soup) uses galanga, chicken, green chiles, lemon grass and lime juice as well as coconut milk.
grits
Usually a breakfast item in the US Southern region. Made from the kernel of corn. When corn has been soaked in lye and the casing has been removed it becomes Hominy. The lye is rinsed out very well and the corn is left to harden. Then the swollen hominy is ground up to the texture of tiny pellets. When boiled with water, millk and butter it becomes a cereal similar to cream of wheat. It's used as a side dish for a good old fashioned Southern breakfast. Sometimes you can make it with cheese and garlic for a casserole.
hard rolls
A sandwich type of roll that is a little crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. Can be made with poppy seeds or sesame seeds or plain. Often called a Kaiser roll
harissa
Harissa is a paste of chilis and garlic used to enhance North African food (and is fairly popular in other parts of the Mideast, though it is probably of Berber origin). It is fairly similar to the Indonesian sauce called sambal olek.
hing
Also known as asafoetida, and devil's dung. A light brown resin sometimes used as a substitute for garlic ands onions, or in its own right and not as a substitute for anything, it can be found in Indian groceries. Claimed properties : laxative, aphrodisiac, colic cure. A required ingredient in the Indian Tadkaa - the small amount of oil used to roast mustard seeds and similar other ingredients before adding them to the main dish.
hundreds and thousands
also known as sprinkles or as nonpareils : small round balls of multicoloured sugar used as toppings on cakes and desserts.
key limes
fruit, about the size of golf balls, and round. The fruits are pale yellow-green, the juice is yellow and very tart, more so than standard limes. Grow in Florida, the Keys and other tropical places in the Caribbean. Used in Key Lime Pie, with egg yolks and condensed milk and in a Sunset Key with amaretto.
malanga
the word used in the Spanish-speaking parts of the Caribbean for Taro root (or a close relative of Taro.) It is prepared by either boiling and mashing like potatos, or slicing and frying into chips. It is also used in soups as a thickening agent.
masa harina
Masa is a paste made by soaking maize in lime and then grinding it up. Masa harina is the flour made by drying and powdering masa. It is used in mexican cooking for items such as corn tortillas. The literal meaning is "dough flour".
mascarpone
A soft Italian cheese (similar to cream cheese). An important ingredient in Tiramisu.
mirin
sweetened sake (Japanese rice wine)
nutella
A thick smooth paste made from chocolate and hazelnuts. Doesn't seem to be particularly easy/cheap to come by in much of the US, but in many countries it is inexpensive and common. Can be spread on plain biscuits (cookies), bread, toast, pancakes, or just eaten from the jar.
pavlova
A dessert (invented in NZ, not Australia :-) The main ingredients are sugar and eggwhite. A pavlova has crisp meringue outside and soft marshmallow inside, and has approximately the dimensions of a deep dessert cake. Commonly pavlovas are topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit, especially kiwifruit, passion fruit or strawberries.
periwinkles
These small relatives of the whelk are "Littorina littorea". Popular in Europe but not in US. Northern (New England) "winkles" are a different species from those found in the Gulf of Mexico
poutine
French fries with cheese curds and gravy.
rocky mountain oysters
You don't want to know. You do want to know? No, no, really, you don't. Oh, okay, okay. Lamb or cattle testicles, breaded and deep fried (like oysters, I guess)
sambal ulek (sambal oelek)
This is from _The Encyclopedia of Asian Cooking_, general ed. Jeni Wright, published in the USA 1984 by Exeter Books.
sambal ulek [Indonesia] Used as an accompaniment and in cooking. Made by crushing fresh red chillis with a little salt: Remove the seeds from the chillis, chop finely, then crush with salt using a pestle and mortar. Three chillis will make about 1 tablespoon sambal ulek. also available redy-prepared in small jars from Oriental stores and some delicatessens.
santen/coconut milk
This is from _The Encyclopedia of Asian Cooking_, general ed. Jeni Wright, published in the USA 1984 by Exeter Books.
santen [Malaysia] see coconut milk.
Coconut milk [India/Malaysia/Thailand/Vietnam] Known as narial ka dooth in India, santen in Indonesia and Malaysia. Best made from fresh coconuts: Grate the flesh of 1 coconut into a bowl, pour on 600 ml/1 pint/2-1/2 cups boiling water, then leave to stand for about 30 minutes. Squeeze the flesh, then strain before using. This quantitiy will make a thick coconut milk, add more or less water as required. Desiccated (shredded) coconut can be used instead of fresh coconut: Use 350g/12 oz./4 cups to 600 ml/1 pint/2-1/2 cups boiling water. Use freshly made coconut milk within 24 hours. Canned coconut milk is also available.
scrapple
Scrapple is boiled, ground leftover pieces of pig, together with cornmeal and spices. Good scrapple, particularly served with a spicy tomato catsup, is food for the gods. Bad scrapple, especially with too little cornmeal, with too much grease, or undercooked, is an abomination in the eyes of the horde.
scungilli
Also a Mollusk Gastropod - "Buccinidae" - found in more temperate waters than conch, with a darker meat and stronger flavor, perhaps less "sweet". This is more properly known as "whelk". These are generally removed from their shell and sold already steamed and ready to eat. The meat is kind of a circular meat, about 1 to 2 inches in diameter, perhaps 10 to 20 of these in a pound. I used to buy these at markets in Long Island all the time. Price about same as conch.
seltzer
plain soda water
tamari
Tamari is a type of soy sauce, usually used in Japanese food. You can easily substitute with Chinese Light Soy or regular Japanese soy sauce. tangelo Citrus fruit cross of a tangerine and a pomelo. Larger than a mandarin and a little smaller than an average-size orange. Skin colour is a bright tangerine and they mature during the late mandarin season. Mandarins, Tangerines or Oranges may be used instead.
terasi
This is from _The Encyclopedia of Asian Cooking_, general ed. Jeni Wright, published in the USA 1984 by Exeter Books.
terasi [Malaysia] Also known as balachan/blacan (Malaysia), kapi (Thailand) and ngapi (Burma). A kind of pungent shrimp paste, used in very small quantities. Depending on the recipe in which it is used, it can be crushed with spices to make a paste which is then sauteed in oil. Alternatively, it may be grilled (broiled) or fried first, then added to other ingredients.
twiglets
Twiglets are little stick-like things about 2 inches long and a quarterinch wide. They have a fairly dense texture (I mean, they aren't akin to cheesy puffs and puffy snacks of that sort). They call themselves 'original long stick savoury snacks.' Ingredients are wholemeal, vegetable fat, yeast extract, salt, cheese, wheat starch, pepper. You can't taste the cheese, I was surprised to read it on the label. The crucial ingredient is of course yeast extract, which is what gives Marmite its taste. Nothing else on the label is remotely relevant, except the fact that twiglets have 4 calories each (as if you could eat just one...). They're very nice. If you're searching for low-fat substitutes for crisps [potato chips], they have 11.4g of fat per 100g, which isn't much as these things go.
I (Amy) tried my first twiglets recently. Yes, the predominant flavour is the yeast extract, but you also begin to get black pepper buildup if you eat too many in a row. Reasonably reasonable, but I won't be buying any more any time soon.
unsalted butter
What it says, butter without the 1.5 - 2% added salt that `normal' butter has. Often recommended for cooking. Many people prefer he taste of unsalted butter. In areas with high quality dairy products the use of unsalted butter where it is called for may not be so important, since the salt is not so likely to be covering the taste of a low-quality product.
vegemite/marmite
Not the same thing, but similar enough to not deserve separate entries. A thick brown paste made mostly from yeast extract, most commonly spread thinly on toast or sandwiches. The taste is mostly salt plus yeast. Despite the occasional rumor, neither contains any meat.
Electric woks can be used for table-side cooking but they do not seem practical for real cooking. With their thermostat, they go on and off, on and off... the idea is to get the wok hot and keep it hot. Electric woks never seem to get hot enough and stay hot for most uses.
A wok right out of the box will have a coating of machine oil to prevent it from rusting. Wash the wok in hot water with soap. This is the LAST time you should ever use soap in your wok. Next, it's a good idea to boil some water in your new wok for 15-20 minutes to get it really clean.
Seasoning a brand new wok involves heating the wok with some oil in it, letting it cool, and repeating the procedure, say, three times. Heat the wok over high heat, then add a couple tablespoons of peanut oil and spread it around with a paper towel, being careful not to burn yourself. Stop when the oil begins to smoke, and let it cool. Add more oil if needed, and repeat a couple of times.
For actual cooking, put your wok over the burner on high for a few minutes before cooking. To see if it is ready to cook in, put a few drops of water into the wok and they should dance around and evaporate almost immediately. Have *all* the food you need to cook, chopped and ready. Next, add some peanut oil and swirl around to coat the bottom. The oil will start to smoke a little. Immediately start adding the ingredients for the meal you are cooking.
Clean the wok with hot water and some form of scrubbing tool. The bamboo things they sometimes include actually work or one can use a nylon scrubbing pad (no brillo, SOS, or equivalent). After the wok is cleaned, put it back on the burner for a few minutes to heat it up and evaporate any moistu e. Then, add a little oil to it and rub it around with a paper towel to keep it shiny and from rusting with any moisture it may attract in between uses.
Another thing, when you are done cooking in the wok, put some water in it to soak while you eat. Cleanup takes just a few work with a nylon scrubbing pad and some hot water.
Taking good care of your cookware only requires a few minutes of time and makes it much easier to use and cleanup. Food doesn't stick to a well seasoned wok. If it starts to stick, scrub it well with something like an S.O.S. pad and re-season.
After a successful large-scale exchange orchestrated earlier this year by David Wilkinson in the UK, it has been suggested that ongoing requests for food exchange partners be posted as follows :
* EXCHANGE should be the first word in the Subject: line. This allows people who aren't interested to use whatever facilities their newsreader allows to avoid posts on this subject.
* Posts should indicate what you have and what you want. For example "I have Cherry Ripe bars, does anyone want to swap for Peanut Butter M&Ms" or "I'm from France and I'd like to swap regional foods with someone from the USA" (perhaps followed by a representative list of regional foods).
If you want to swap food with someone, either post your own request or reply to somebody else's.
OR try to pick up on the occasional postings people make offering to do one round of a large scale orchestration.
And now, some hints :
* Overseas postage can get VERY expensive, VERY fast. You will probably want to send all but the very tiniest of packages by surface mail. This takes weeks and weeks and so the perishability of the food items you send will need to be taken into account.
* Some countries have stringent import restrictions. Fresh foods and anything that might harbour insects, for example, are not likely to get into some countries, also viable seeds are not welcomed in countries such as New Zealand.
* Some ideas on packaging anything that is not remarkably sturdy - use a rigid outer box of some sort - wrap anything containing liquid in its own plastic bag, disasters happen - if there are heavy things packed with fragile things, remember to anchor them (maybe with tape) - use some sort of packing material (I use newspaper) to cushion the effect of any bumps - pick the smallest box that your things will fit into - coffee canisters work well to send cookies in - toilet paper tubes are good space fillers, you can slao put small things inside them
* Postage really is a killer. I can't emphasise this one enough
* Good and Bad Travellers (please contribute!):
- Good Nut Breads Spices Nuts Anything Dried - Bad Glass (usually) - heavy (= expensive) and breakable - with careful packing it's ok Oily Things. Wrap these well, or else they will weaken their part of the box
rec.food.recipes is being archived at several FTP sites : Currently updated sites: * ftp://ftp.neosoft.com in /pub/rec.food.recipes (login as `anonymous') maintainer : Stephanie da Silva (arielle@taronga.com) This is the official rec.food.recipes archive. * ftp://ftp.halcyon.com/pub/recipes Some older (often not currently being updated) archive sites: * ftp://gatekeeper.dec.com/pub/recipes alt.gourmand files * ftp://mthvax.cs.miami.edu/recipes rec.food.recipes under a previous moderatorship * ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/usenet/rec.food.recipes/recipes mthvax mirror * ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/rec.food.recipes another mthvax mirror * ftp://ils.nwu.edu/pub/sourdough FAQs and mailing list archives * ftp://rahul.net/pub/artemis/fatfree/FAQ Fat Free recipe FAQ
* ftp://suphys.physics.su.oz.au/mar/callahans/cookbook.asc Callahan's cookbook - from alt.callahans * ftp://oak.oakland.edu/pub/msdos/food Recipe Software * ftp://ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de/pub/rec/cooking/fatfree/ Fat Free Recipe Archive * ftp://microlib.cc.utexas.edu/pub/sourdough Sourdough recipe directory * ftp://ils.nwu.edu/pub/sourdough/ NWU's Sourdough archives * ftp://ftp.geod.emr.ca/pub/Vegetarian/Recipes/CADAdmin/ Vegetarian and fat free recipes * ftp://wpi.wpi.edu/recipes Indian recipes gopher * gopher://calypso.oit.unc.edu/7waissrc%3a/ref.d/indexes.d/recipes. src WAIS database of recipes * gopher://calypso.oit.unc.edu/7waissrc%3a/ref.d/indexes.d/usenet- cookbook.src WAIS database of Usenet Cookbook * gopher://ftp.std.com/11/nonprofits/veg-info Information on Vegetarianism * gopher://ftp.std.com/11/obi/book/HM.recipes/TheRecipes Recipes * gopher://gdim.geod.emr.ca/11/Vegetarian%20Info/ A healthy vegetable diet * gopher://gopher.millsaps.edu/11GOPHER_ROOT_FOODSERV%3a%5brecipes%5d Millsaps College recipes * gopher://gopher.msstate.edu/11/Interests/Food MS State recipes * gopher://infopath.ucsd.edu/11/san_diego/guide San Diego Restaurant Guide * gopher://isumvs.iastate.edu/7%7edb.RESTAURANTS/ix.STATE%20?CA California Restaurant Guide * gopher://mudhoney.micro.umn.edu:70+/7waissrc%3a/WAISes/Everything /recipes Recipes Search * gopher://spinaltap.micro.umn.edu/11/fun/Recipes UMN Recipes * gopher://umbc4.umbc.edu/11/Menus%20for%20local%20food%20sources Golden Gate Local Food Menus www hypertext This list was getting too long and cumbersome for a plain-text format. The way I have chosen to deal with this is to set up a WWW page with all the food-related links I know about. This page is arranged by subject and the URL is: A list of Food and Cooking Sites If you have additions to this list, please email them to me. Some of the sites I previously knew of did not respond in various ways, I took those off the list. The page I made contains all the sites I am aware of, including gopher, wais and ftp sites.
The other wonderful people are : carolynd@sail.labs.tek.com ekman@netcom.com rs7x+@andrew.cmu.edu jane@cse.lbl.gov arielle@taronga.com (Stephanie da Silva) jonog@g2syd.genasys.com.au anita@devvax.mincom.oz.au sbookey@ep.ieee.org(Seth Bookey) ccd@ccdadfa.cc.adfa.oz.au pmmuggli@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu chu@acsu.buffalo.edu cdfk@otter.hpl.hp.com dudek@ksr.com aem@symbiosis.ahp.com wald@theory.lcs.mit.edu harvey@indyvax.iupui.edu ed@pa.dec.com ndkj@vax5.cit.cornell.edu carolynd@sail.labs.tek.com otten@icase.edu ekman@netcom.com loosemore-sandra@cs.yale.edu rs7x+@andrew.cmu.edu kts@michael.udev.cdc.com jane@cse.lbl.gov leander@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu mworley@mathcs.emory.edu cduff@sugar.NeoSoft.COM cjs@netcom.com lvirden@cas.org (Larry W. Virden) hammond@niwot.scd.ucar.EDU (Steve Hammond) dfw@thumper.bellcore.com (Doris Woods) gibbsm@ll.mit.edu (MargAret D Gibbs) rickert@cco.caltech.edu (Keith Warren Rickert) Simon KershawJoel Offenberg grant@oj.rsmas.miami.edu (Grant Basham) lmak@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (louisa.l.mak) twain@carson.u.washington.edu (Barbara Hlavin) hz225wu@unidui.uni-duisburg.de (Micaela Pantke) sfisher@megatest.com (Scott Fisher) byrne@rcf.rsmas.miami.edu (Charlie Byrne) jmk5u@Virginia.EDU cc@dcs.edinburgh.ac.uk bae@gpu.utcc.utoronto.ca (Beverly Erlebacher) rlwilliams@gallua.gallaudet.edu (Skip) hwalden@science-store.chem.wayne.edu (Heather Walden) mcenter@amoco.com (Mike Center, PSC) kevin@eye.com (Kevin Stokker) steven@surya.cs.ucla.edu (Steven Berson) eric.decker@canrem.com (Eric Decker) peteo@ford.wpd.sgi.com (Peter Orelup) sk10003@cus.cam.ac.uk (Scott Kleinman) David Casseres Ted.Taylor@p4214.f104.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Ted Taylor) george@dfds.ml.com (George Minkovsky) Alison@moose.demon.co.uk (Alison Scott) jae@world.std.com (Jon A Edelston) conrad@qpsx.oz.au (Conrad Drake) nadel@attatash.aero.org (Miriam Nadel) patricia@cs.utexas.edu (Patricia M. Burson) betsey@columbia.edu (Elizabeth Fike) leah@smith.chi.il.us (Leah Smith) steve@unipalm.co.uk (Steve Ladlow) STEVE "Sudheer Apte" Diane Ferrell, Leslie Basel (rec.food.preservation FAQ maintainers) 11.2 Bibliography
This is a new section composed of the acknowledgements reviously sprinkled through the text. More information on these books ill be welcomed. 1) "Trolldom in the Kitchen" Pat Bjaaland and Melody Favish2) "Larousse Gastronomique" ISBN 0 7493 0316 6
3) "Still Life with Menu" (K) Mollie Katzen
4) "Cookery in Colour" (P) Marguerite Patten
5) "The Rotation Diet" (RD)
6) "My Fun-to-cook-book" (S) Ursula Sedgwick
amyl@kauri.vuw.ac.nz"If the world were an orange it would be like much too small, y'know?" - neil
news:AMYL.95May10142838@kauri.vuw.ac.nz
Caroline Knight HPLabs Bristol UK cdfk@hplb.hpl.hp.comTel: 0177 92 28040 Fax: 0177 922 8972