A Dictionary of Food

polvere di curry

polvere di curry Italy Curry powder polydextrose A bulking agent used in

reduced and low calorie foods polygonum Vietnamese mint

polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan esters See

E432 – 436

polyphenol oxidase The enzyme in plants which causes browning of fruits and vegetables on exposure to air by oxidation of phenolic compounds to melanin pigments. Its effects are being eliminated by genetic engineering of plant varieties.

polyphosphates Complex phosphates of sodium and potassium used mainly to retain added water without exudation in frozen chickens, ham, bacon and other similar meat products, and also as stabilizers and emulsifiers. See also E450(c)

polysaccharide Long chains or branched chains of simple sugars which make up starch, dextrins, cellulose and other carbohydrates of natural origin

Polyscias scutellarium Botanical name

Daun mangkok

polysorbate ( ) The alternative names for polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan esters. See also E432 – 436

polyunsaturated A description of long chains of carbon atoms that occur in fats, oils and fatty acids in which several of the carbon atoms do not have as many hydrogen atoms attached as they could and are therefore connected to neighbouring carbon atoms by double or triple bonds. Hence polyunsaturated fats.

poma Catalonia Apple

pomace The residue after juice or oil has been physically crushed out of fruit. The pomace from oil bearing fruits is often treated by solvent extraction to produce inferior oils.

pombé South Africa Beer produced from sprouted millet seed, an important source of vitamins. Also called Kaffir beer

pomegranate The beige to red fruit of the pomegranate tree, Punica granatum, up to 8 cm in diameter with a hard skin filled with numerous seeds each in a red, juicy, fleshy sac. Sweet varieties are eaten (rather messily) as a dessert. Seeds of the sour pomegranate have a sweet-sour taste and are used as a garnish in the Middle East. The dried, ground seeds, known as anardana, are used as a souring agent and with bread, vegetables and pulses in North India. Also called Chinese apple

pomelo 1. See pummelo 2. Spain Grapefruit pomfret A tropical seawater fish, Pampus argenteus, with a silvery skin and tiny black

spots, found around and used in India, China and Southeast Asia. It has white flesh similar to, but not as tasty as, that of turbot or sole and is cooked in the same ways. There is also a darker variety with a brownish-grey skin found in Indonesia and the Phillipines with an inferior flavour. The Chinese smoke pomfret over tea leaves. Also called Ray’s bream, white butter fish

pomfret cake Pontefract cake

pomme France 1. Apple 2. Potato (NOTE: Abbreviated from pomme de terre.)

pomme de terre France Potato, often abbreviated to pomme, especially with potato dishes

Pommel France An unsalted double-cream cows’ milk cheese similar to Petit-Suisse pommes à l’anglaise France Plain boiled

potatoes

pommes allumettes France Very thin potato chips

pommes amandine France Potatoes made in the same way as croquette potatoes but panéed with flour, egg and nibbed almonds instead of breadcrumbs

pommes Anna France Layers of thinly sliced potatoes, melted butter and seasoning, baked in a straight sided metal dish in the oven in a dish until browned, inverted on a plate and served in slices or wedges (NOTE: The dish for pommes Anna should not be washed.)

pommes boulangère France Roast potatoes pommes dauphine France A mixture of potato croquette mixture and choux pastry (3:1) formed into small cylinders, panéed

and deep-fried

pommes dauphinoises France Sliced potatoes layered in a dish with milk, grated cheese, garlic and butter and cooked in the oven. Egg and cream may be added but the egg tends to scramble. Also called gratin dauphinois

pommes de terre en robe des champs See pommes en robe de chambre

pommes duchesses France Duchesse potatoes

pommes en copeaux France Grated potatoes or potato shavings

pommes en robe de chambre France

Potatoes boiled or steamed in their skins

pommes frites France Potato chips, thinner and crisper than the UK variety

pommes mousselines France Mashed potatoes

pommes pailles France Straw potatoes pommes sauvages France Crab apples

pommes savoyarde France As gratin dauphinois, but substituting stock for cream. Also called gratin savoyard

pommes vapeur France Boiled or steamed potatoes

pomodori di magro alla sarda Italy

Tomatoes stuffed with anchovies, tuna and aubergine flesh and baked

pomodorini Italy Small tomatoes

pomodori ripieni alla novarese Italy

Tomatoes stuffed with rice, onions and cheese, panéed and deep-fried

pomodoro Italy Tomato

pompano A small, oily, round seawater fish of the genus Trachinotus, with a high yellow to green-blue back, a deep belly and deeply forked tail fin from the Mediterranean, Caribbean and southeast USA. It can weigh up to 3 kg but is better at 1 kg and has a sweet-flavoured, rather dry, white flesh. Often cooked en papillote. Prepared like perch.

pompano rellena Mexico Pompano stuffed with a mixture of chopped onions and tomatoes sweated in oil, chopped hardboiled eggs, parsley and spices then poached and served with a fish velouté

pompelmo Italy Grapefruit or pummelo pompelmoes Netherlands Grapefruit pompoen Netherlands Pumpkin

pomtannia A plant with yam-like fruit. See also tannia

ponceau 4R A synthetic red food colouring banned in the USA. Also called cochineal red. See also E124

poncirus One of the three important genera of Citrus. Also called trifoliate orange

pondah Indonesia Ubod, palm pith

pone Caribbean, United States A general name for a baked carbohydrate mixture in the Caribbean and southern USA. It is usually unleavened and may be made from cornmeal, sweet potatoes, pumpkin etc. and flavoured or merely salted.

ponkan mandarin The most widely grown mandarin in the world, found in Japan, the Phillipines, India, south China and Brazil. The rind is moderately thick and very loose, the juice content whilst sweet and pleasanttasting is rather low in quantity and the segment walls are somewhat tough. Also called Chinese honey orange, mohali mandari

Pontac ketchup England Ripe elderberries covered with warm boiling vinegar and kept hot in the oven for 3 hours. Juice strained off without pressure and boiled with mace, peppercorns, shallots and salted anchovies (250 g per litre of juice) until the anchovies

pop

have disintegrated, strained and bottled. Also called Pontac sauce

Pontac sauce England A sharp condiment sauce based on elderberries (NOTE: Invented by a Monsieur Pontac of Lombard St. London.)

Pontefract cake A small flat round (up to 2 cm in diameter) liquorice-based sweet usually embossed as though by a seal. Also called pomfret cake

Pont l’Evêque France A soft orange-coloured cows’ milk cheese from Normandy, made in a square about 10 cm on the side and 4 cm deep with a thick brown rind mottled with thin smears of mould. The paste contains a few round holes and has a strong smell and a less strong taste. It has AOC status. Contains 47% water, 27% fat and 20% protein.

Pont Moutier France A soft square-shaped cows’ milk cheese weighing to 2.5 kg. The brown rind had a white bloom and the smooth fragrant and aromatic tasting paste has a few cracks and holes.

ponzu, ponzu-shoyu Japan A dipping sauce, especially for oden or yosenabe and condiment use, made from yuzu juice, soya sauce, mirin, sake and dried bonito flakes (20:20:3:3:1 by volume) with a piece of kombu, all macerated for 24 hours then strained

poong dang Thailand 1. Alum 2. A paste of lime (Calcium hydroxide)

poor boy United States A Cajun sandwich from Louisiana consisting of a French bread stick split lengthwise and filled with a savoury mixture of foods, salads, etc. similar to casse-croûte. It originated in New Orleans in the 19th century when oyster sandwiches were given as charity to the poor. See also hoagie. Also called po boy

poori South Asia A deep-fried chapati. See also puri

poor knights of Windsor England Fingers of bread dipped in egg and milk mixture sometimes flavoured with liqueur or spirits, deep-fried and eaten hot sprinkled with cinnamon and caster sugar. See also pain perdu

poorman orange New Zealand grapefruit poor man’s beefsteak Beefsteak fungus poor man’s caviar A dip made from the flesh

of roasted aubergines processed with garlic and olive oil to a thick purée, seasoned, let down with a little lemon juice and garnished with chopped parsley

poor man’s goose Wales, England Faggot pop Catalonia Octopus

popara

popara Bulgaria A porridge made from bread, butter, cheese and milk, eaten at breakfast popcorn A variety of maize kernels, indurata, which when heated in a closed container are blown up into a soft foamed starch as the bound water turns to steam. Eaten as a

snack with salt, sugar or butter.

pope A freshwater fish similar to the perch. Also called ruffe

pope’s apricot Plumcot

pope’s eye 1. England The small circle of fat in the centre of a leg of lamb or pork 2. Scotland Prime rump steak

pope’s nose The equivalent of the parson’s nose on a duck or goose

popets Catalonia Baby octopi used for tapas popone Italy Melon

popover 1. England A small individual Yorkshire pudding, often flavoured with grated cheese, chopped onions, bacon and herbs or in a sweet version with chopped fruit and sugar 2. United States A quickly made type of muffin using a Yorkshire pudding batter baked in the oven

poppa Italy Udder

poppadom South Asia A thin round pancake made from a lentil flour batter which is occasionally spiced, deep-fried until crisp and served as an appetizer or accompaniment to Indian food. Sometimes the lentil flour is mixed with or substituted by rice or potato flour. Also called papadum, papadam, pappadam, pappadum, puppadom, papads

popper United States A type of pan used to prepare popcorn

poppy seed The ripe seeds of an annual poppy, Papaver somniferum and P. rhoeas, which vary in colour from cream through to almost black according to origin. They have a slightly nutty aroma and flavour and are often sprinkled on bread and cakes or crushed with honey or sugar to make pastry fillings. Used with other spices in Indian cooking.

poppy seed oil A light odourless oil with a faint almond taste from the first cold pressing of poppy seeds. Used for salads.

poppy seed paste Roasted and ground poppy seeds formed into a paste much used in Turkish cooking

pop tart United States A thin pastry turnover with various fillings which can be heated in a pop-up toaster or in the oven

porbeagle shark A member, Lamna nasus, of the shark family which grows to 4 m and is common in the Atlantic. It makes good eating and is often larded and grilled as steaks.

porc France Pig or pork porcella Catalonia Suckling pig

porché France A Breton dish of stewed pigs’ ears and trotters

porchetta Italy Sucking pig

porcini Italy Ceps, usually sliced and dried porco Portugal Pork

porc salé France Salt pork

porgy Various deep-bodied seawater fishes of the genus Calamus, especially Pagrus pagrus with long spiny dorsal fins chiefly found in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean and similar to bream. They have delicate, moist, sweet flesh but many bones.

pork The flesh of the pig

pork belly Meat from the underside of the abdominal and chest cavity of the pig equivalent to breast of lamb and consisting of alternating layers of fat and lean muscle. Used in sausages, pâtés and terrines or may be cooked as a dish in its own right. Also called belly pork

pork chop A transverse slice from a loin of pork

pork crackling Crackling porker See pig

pork fat Fat from the pig is graded according to hardness and has many uses in sausages, terrines, pâtés and other items. Back fat tends to be the hardest and belly fat the softest. Lard is rendered pork fat and is traditionally used in pastry and in the cooking of eastern France. It contains about 49% saturated, 42% monounsaturated and 9% polyunsaturated fat.

pork fillet Tenderloin of pork

pork grades United States Grades of pork in the US are 1, 2, 3 and cull, in descending order of quality

pork herbs The principal herbs used with pork are chervil, coriander, fennel, lovage, marjoram, rosemary, sage, savory and thyme

porkkana Finland Carrot

pork oaties England Cold cooked pork, onion, apple and breadcrumbs (2:1:1:1) are minced together, seasoned and flavoured with dried sage then brought together with beaten egg and formed into small flat cakes which are panéed with oatmeal and fried in pork dripping for 6 minutes a side

pörkölt Hungary 1. Roasted 2. A thick braised stew with very little added water made with fried meat, poultry or game pieces, tomatoes, green sweet peppers, onions, paprika and seasoning, served with boiled potatoes or rice, green salad and/or pickled cucumbers

pork pie United Kingdom A raised pork pie similar to a Melton Mowbray pie but the cooked pork is in cubes and/or minced and whole hard-boiled eggs are sometimes included in the filling of the larger ones

pork sausage The most common sausage of English-speaking countries, made from ground pork, flavourings, extenders and binders filled into casings and linked. Quantities of extenders depend on the price and local laws. In the UK many suspect extenders which legally count as meat such as drinde, MRM, etc. are incorporated in the cheaper versions, together with a high proportion of rusk and cereal fillers. UK sausages are usually flavoured with sage, cayenne pepper and possibly cloves, ginger, nutmeg or mace. USA sausages are normally flavoured with cardamom, coriander and nutmeg.

pork scratchings See scratchings

pork vindaloo A dish of lean pork, cubed, piquéed, rubbed with a paste of dry-roasted coriander and cumin seeds plus cardamom seeds, cinnamon, cloves, black peppercorns, turmeric, onion salt, ground ginger and cayenne pepper to taste, all well pounded, then marinated in vinegar or vinegar and water (1:1) with bay leaves for 24 hours. The meat and its marinade are then simmered slowly with mustard seeds fried in ghee until tender, adding water as required.

poron Finland Reindeer

poronkäristys Finland Very thin slices of braised reindeer

poronkieli Finland Reindeer tongue poronliha Finland Reindeer meat poronpaisti Finland Reindeer steak

Porphyra tenera Botanical name Nori Porphyra umbilicalis Botanical name Nori porpore Italy Murex, the shellfish

porridge A kind of gruel made by boiling porridge oats with water or milk or mixtures of both and salt until the desired consistency is reached. Eaten as a breakfast dish with sweetening and milk or cream. The name is also used for oatmeal, maize, etc. boiled to the same consistency with water.

porridge oats The breakfast cereal produced by heating either pinhead oatmeal or whole oats with steam as they are passed through rollers to flatten them. The pinhead oatmeal produces the normal porridge oats, whilst the whole oats produce oat flakes which can be used in muesli. Also called rolled oats

porro Italy Leek

porsaankyljys Finland Pork chops

portugaise, à la

port A fortified wine from Portugal made by stopping the fermentation of full-bodied grape juice with brandy before all the sugar has been fermented to alcohol. Used as a flavouring in sauces and served with melon.

Port-du-Salut France The original Port-Salut cheese made by the Trappist monks of Port du Salut monastery at Entrammes. The name was sold to commercial cheese makers in the late 1940’s.

porter cake Ireland A chemically raised basic cake mixture flavoured with mixed spice and grated lemon zest with 3 parts dried vine fruits to 2 parts flour, brought together with a dark stout and all ingredients whisked together for a few minutes and baked at 170°C until cooked (NOTE: From Northern Ireland)

porterhouse steak A steak without bone cut from the large end of the short loin of beef possibly including some of the sirloin and including the fillet. It is usually about 5 cm thick and will easily feed 2 people. Grilled or fried.

portion control The establishment of standards in a catering establishment for the size, weight or number of each item served portion size The weight or number of each

item in one serving

Portland-style mackerel England Seasoned and floured mackerel, grilled until golden brown and served with a sweetened coulis of gooseberries flavoured with a little nutmeg portmanteau lamb chops England Lamb loin chops pocketed from the skin side to the bone and filled with a cooled and seasoned cooked mixture of finely chopped chicken liver and mushrooms, sealed with a stick, panéed and baked in melted butter at 200°C

until brown on both sides

Portnockle shortbread Scotland A less buttery shortbread made from flour, margarine, sugar, rice flour, and butter (12:8:5:5:4) rolled out to 5 mm, cut into rounds and baked at 180°C for 15 to 20 minutes

porto, sauce France Port-wine sauce Port-Salut France A semi-hard mild-flavoured

cows’ milk cheese from the west of France. Made in large rounds (up to 2 kg) with an orange rind. Used as a dessert cheese.

portugaise, à la France 1. A method of cooking vegetables similar to à la grecque, using a cooking medium consisting of water, olive oil, skinned and deseeded tomatoes, chopped onion, tomato purée, garlic, parsley, bay leaf, thyme and seasoning, served hot or cold 2. In the Portuguese style, i.e. including onions, tomatoes and garlic

portugaise, crème

portugaise, crème France Crème de tomate, cream of tomato soup, garnished with plain boiled rice

portugaise, sauce France A type of espagnole sauce made with fresh tomatoes instead of tomato purée

Portugiesische Auster Germany Portuguese oyster

Portuguese boiled dinner See cozido à portuguesa

Portuguese cabbage A smooth-leaved, bluegreen cabbage, Brassica oleracea var. tronchuda, from Portugal used in their national dish caldo verde. Kale or Savoy cabbage may be substituted. Also called

Braganza cabbage, Galician cabbage, couve gallego, couve tronchuda

Portuguese oyster A variety of oyster,

Crassostrea angulata, once popular as the farmed European oyster now displaced by the Pacific or Japanese variety. It is elongated in shape and up to 17 cm long. It is best used in cooked dishes.

portulaca Summer purslane

Portulaca oleracea Botanical name Summer purslane

port-wine jelly United Kingdom A gelatinebased sweetened jelly flavoured with port and spices, moulded, cooled, demoulded and served with whipped cream

port-wine sauce As Madeira sauce, but substituting port

poshekhonski, poshekhonskij Russia A hard scalded-curd cows’ milk cheese with a hard dry rind and containing small irregular holes. Contains 41% water, 26% fat and 26% protein.

posset 1. England An old English dessert made from a rich egg custard flavoured with sherry, lemon and sometimes almonds 2. United Kingdom A hot, spiced and sweetened milk drink mixed with ale or wine

possum See opossum

posta de carne Portugal A slice, not a steak, of beef

postej Denmark Pâté or paste

postnyi farshirovonnyi baklazhana Russia

Pulped aubergine flesh mixed with fried onions and tomatoes, chopped hard-boiled eggs, parsley and seasoning, stuffed into aubergine skins, two sandwiched together and baked in a little water and lard

postre Spain Dessert course postres Catalonia Dessert

postres de músic Catalonia A bowl of mixed nuts and dried fruit

pot 1. A deep ceramic or metal cylindrical container with a lid and two handles used on the stove for slow cooking of stews, etc. 2. A

cylindrical container usually of ceramic or glass in which food is placed for serving or storage as in potted meat or jams, etc. 3. General term for crockery (pots)

pot, to To put food into jars or ramekins and seal with molten butter, fat, greased paper, etc. for presentation at the table or so as to preserve it for a long or short time

potable Safe to drink

potage 1. France A light soup or broth 2. England A meat or vegetable stock with added paysanne-cut vegetables, e.g. minestrone

potage à la bressane France Pumpkin soup potage à l’albigeoise France A soup from Albi based on beef stock with a selection from preserved goose, calves’ feet, ham,

sausage and various vegetables

potage bonne femme France Leek and potato soup finished with cream and butter. Some recipes add carrot but this spoils the colour.

potage de tomates France Tomato soup potage paysanne France Paysanne-cut

mixed vegetables sweated in butter without colour until tender, white stock and a bouquet garni added, seasoned, simmered and skimmed for 20 minutes, peas and diamond cut green beans added and the whole simmered until all cooked. Also called mixed vegetable soup

pota i tripa Catalonia Lambs’ trotters cooked with tripe

potaje Spain A thick soup or stew potassium An important mineral essential for

health, especially to maintain the fluid balance in the body and the correct working of muscles and nerves. Found in all plant and animal cells.

potassium acetate E261, the potassium salt of acetic acid used as a preservative and firming agent

potassium bisulphite See E228

potassium bromate A flour improver and bleaching agent

potassium carbonate See E501 potassium chloride See E508 potassium gluconate See E577

potassium hydrogen carbonate See E501 potassium hydrogen L-glutamate See E622 potassium hydrogen tartrate See cream of

tartar

potassium hydroxide See E525 potassium lactate See E326 potassium nitrate See saltpetre

potassium nitrite E249, the potassium salt of nitrous acid used in curing mixtures to preserve meat and maintain the pink colour

potassium sorbate See E202 potassium sulphate See E515 potassium tartrate See cream of tartar potatis Sweden Potatoes

potatiskaka med ost Sweden Cheese potato cakes made from a mixture of grated potatoes and onions, half fried in butter, mixed with grated Gruyère cheese, brought together in the frying pan and fried until browned, turned over, refried and topped with slices of Gruyère cheese which should just melt. Also called Käserösti

potatismos Sweden Mashed potatoes potatis och purjolöksoppa Sweden Potato

and leek soup, the same as potage bonne femme

potato One of the commonest and most versatile of vegetables which is the swollen tip of an underground stem of the plant

Solanum tuberosum, used as a store of starch to support the growth of new stems from the eyes. The two main types are floury and waxy, distinguished by the cohesiveness of the tissues. Waxy potatoes are less dense than floury and will float in a brine of 1 part salt to 11 parts water. Stem end blackening due to the reaction of compounds in the potato with iron during cooking can be minimized by boiling with acidulated water (0.5 tsp of cream of tartar per pint). Common varieties of waxy potatoes in the UK are Arran Comet, Ulster Sceptre, Maris Bard, Pentland Javelin, Alcmaria and Romano and of floury potatoes, Desirée, Estima, Home Guard, Kerrs Pink, King Edward, Maris Peer, Maris Piper, Pentland Dell, and Pentland Squire.

potato and turnip soup See Freneuse, purée potato cakes England A northern speciality of floury potatoes, mashed with salt and butter and enough plain flour worked in to make a stiff dough, rolled, cut in shapes, floured, fried on a griddle and served hot with butter.

Also called potato scones potato chips See chips potato crisps See crisps

potato croquettes Mashed potato with butter, milk, seasoning and possibly eggs, formed into small cylinders and deep-fried

potato dumplings Dumplings made from potatoes, e.g. Kartoffelklösse

potato flour Fécule

potato latkes Jewish potato pancakes made with grated raw potatoes, chopped onions, eggs, flour and seasoning, fried until crisp potato masher A flat perforated metal or plastic circle or oval with an upright handle used to mash cooked potatoes by forcing them through the perforations with an up

and down movement

poteter stappe

potato peeler See peeler

potato ricer A two part potato masher consisting of a receptacle for the boiled potatoes with a fine perforated plate at the base and a solid plate on a lever which forces the potatoes through the perforations. Rather like an oversize garlic press.

potato salad Cooked waxy potatoes, diced and bound together with mayonnaise and sometimes with a little chopped onion and parsley or other herb

potato sausage Sweden Beef, fat pork, cold cooked potatoes and onions, all minced, seasoned, and flavoured with mace, ginger and sage, packed into thin hog casings and cooked by boiling

potato scones England Potato cakes

potato skins The skins of baked potatoes after the cooked potato has been removed for e.g. duchesse potatoes. They are often served with a filling or deep-fried until crisp. potato snow United States Riced cooked

potato, not mixed or treated in any way potato soup See Parmentier, purée potato starch Fécule

potato yam Aerial yam

pot au feu France A traditional French stew of meat or poultry sealed in fat and braised or simmered in stock with a variety of vegetables. The broth and the meat are often served separately.

pot barley Dehusked whole-grain barley with no other treatment. Requires long soaking and cooking to soften. Used for soups and stews. Also called Scotch barley

pot cheese United States Cottage cheese

potée France A thick soup containing sausage, salt pork or streaky bacon, cabbage, potatoes, onions and possibly beans, lentils and other vegetables, seasoned and flavoured with nutmeg and bay. Sometimes reduced to a stew or hotpot.

potée champenoise France A thick soup or stew made with salt belly of pork, ham, haricot beans and vegetables. The liquid is served as soup and the meat and vegetables as a main course dish.

pote gallego Spain A thick stew of pork, bacon, beans and cabbage, from Galicia poten dato Wales Floury potatoes boiled until soft then mixed with a little flour, sugar, spice, currants, butter, an egg and enough milk to give a soft consistency. Baked in the

oven at around 180°C.

Poterium sanguisorba Botanical name Salad burnet

poteter Norway Potatoes

poteter stappe Norway Mashed potatoes

potetkaker

potetkaker Norway Potato cakes made from fried mashed potatoes

potetstappe Norway Mashed potatoes

pot herbs Leaves or stems of green plants used as vegetables or culinary herbs

potica Balkans A walnut strudel from Slovenia known as povitica in Croatia

potiron France Pumpkin potje Belgium, France Pâté

potjiekos South Africa A mixture of meat, vegetables and spices cooked very slowly in a large cast iron pot. The original dish dates from the 16th century and is probably Dutch.

potlikker United States Pot liquor

pot liquor United States The liquid in which vegetables have been cooked or blanched. May be used as a basis for vegetarian soups especially if not salted and the same water used for several batches. Also called potlikker

potli samosa South Asia An Indian pasty filled with shrimps in a cumin and cardamomflavoured yoghurt sauce

pot luck Whatever food is available for eating when arriving somewhere unannounced, thus to take pot luck

pot marigold See marigold

pot marjoram A type of marjoram, Origanum onites, which originated in Sicily and has a much stronger flavour than sweet marjoram. Also called French marjoram

potpie United States A dish of meat and vegetables in a rich gravy baked in a deep dish and covered with pie crust to finish

pot-roast, to To cook meat which has been sealed in hot fat in a covered pan or casserole with a little fat and a small amount of liquid or vegetables over a low heat for a considerable time

pottage Broth containing mashed vegetables and chopped up pieces of meat to make a thick substantial meal in itself. Originally any food served in a pottager, a kind of medieval dish.

pottager The dish in which pottage was served made of metal, earthenware or wood potted char An old English delicacy made from char, a freshwater fish still available in the Lake District. Popular as a breakfast dish in the 19th century. It is made from unwashed skinned and bone fillets of char, rubbed with a mixture of ground pepper, allspice, mace, cloves and nutmeg (2:1:4:1:2), baked with butter for 5 hours at 120°C, drained, pressed into pots and

covered with some of the melted butter. potted fish As potted meat with fish

substituted for meat

potted hough Scotland A Scottish brawn made from shin and knuckle of beef, peppercorns and seasoning, simmered until tender, bones removed and the liquid reduced until setting consistency

potted meat 1. Cooked meat either reduced to a paste or chopped into pieces, placed in a container and sealed with molten fat or clarified butter. Commercial varieties contain preservatives. 2. Shin beef, cooked until tender with calves foot, herbs and seasonings, bones removed, meat coarsely chopped, mixed with reduced cooking liquor and allowed to set in a pot

potted shrimps England Cooked and peeled whole shrimps placed in a container and covered with molten clarified butter. Popular in the north of England.

potwarak Balkans Duck, browned then braised on a bed of sweated sliced onions, mixed with chopped sauerkraut, peppercorns and a little of the liquid from the sauerkraut. When cooked, sliced and served on the sauerkraut.

pouce pied France Barnacle pouding France Pudding

pouding au pain France Bread pudding pouding de cabinet France Cabinet pudding pouding de Noël France Christmas pudding

(UK)

pouding diplomate France Diplomat pudding pouding Nesselrode France Sweetened chestnut purée, combined with egg custard, raisins and currants, flavoured with maraschino liqueur, half frozen, cream folded in then placed in a mould, cooled, demoulded and served with maraschino-

flavoured custard

poudre de colombo Central America, France

A mixture of garlic, deseeded red chillies, turmeric, coriander seeds and mustard pounded together to make a paste. It originated in the French Caribbean and is used to make colombo, a type of curry.

poudre de curry France Curry powder pouile dudon Caribbean Chicken stew with

garlic, onions, sweet peppers, caramelized sugar, coconut oil, spices and seasoning. Served with rice and pigeon peas.

poularde France A large fattened chicken between 1.5 and 2 kg

poularde demi-deuil France Poached chicken masked with suprême sauce and surrounded with tartlets containing a salpicon of braised calves’ or lambs’ sweetbreads bound with suprême sauce each topped with a slice of truffle

poule France A boiling fowl suitable for stewing, slow braising or stock

poule-au-pot France Stewed chicken and vegetables served with the reduced cooking liquor

poulet France Chicken usually between 3 and 8 months old. Suitable for 2 to 4 portions depending on size. Roasted, grilled or sautéed.

poulet à la crapaudine France Spatchcock poulet au vinaigre France A Lyonnaise dish of chicken and shallots cooked in wine

vinegar and finished with cream

poulet de grain France Corn-fed and freerange chicken

poulet moambé Central Africa This very popular chicken dish from the Congo river area is similar to muamba de galinha. Under its alternative name of ‘poulet nyembwe’ it is considered to be the national dish of Gabon in West Africa.

poulet noir France A superior variety of chicken with black feathers and a delicious slightly gamey flavour

poulet nyembwe West Africa Poulet moambé poulet sauté Marengo France A classic dish reputed to have been cooked by Napoleon’s chef after the battle of Marengo from what could be found quickly, i.e. a cock, wild mushrooms, crayfish, eggs, garlic and

brandy. Also called chicken Marengo poulette France Pullet, immature chicken poulette, à la France Served with sauce

poulette or garnished with onions and garlic poulette, sauce France A sauce made from white stock combined with lemon juice, butter and chopped parsley thickened with

egg yolks

poulet yassa West Africa A Senegalese dish of chicken pieces marinated overnight in 250 ml of equal parts of lemon juice and vinegar per chicken together with minced garlic, bay leaf, French mustard, chopped chilli pepper, soya sauce, seasoning and a large quantity of chopped onions. The chicken is then browned in a frying pan or on a grill and slowly cooked in a sauce made from the marinade together with a few vegetables. Served with rice, fufu or couscous. Also called chicken yassa

Pouligny-Saint-Pierre France A soft goats’ milk cheese shaped like a pyramid (250 g), which is dry-cured for a month. It is protected by an appellation d’origine.

pouliot France Pennyroyal poulpe France Octopus

poultry The name given to all domesticated birds bred for the table or for their eggs, as opposed to game birds which are wild. Includes chickens, hens, turkeys, ducks, ducklings, geese, and guinea fowl.

poussin double

poultry grades United States Grades of poultry in the US are AA, A, B and C, in descending order of quality

poultry herbs The principal herbs used with domesticated poultry are bay, chervil, chives, fennel, lemon balm, marjoram, mint, parsley, sage, savory, tarragon and thyme

poultry needle A large curved bodkin-type needle used for sewing up the abdominal cavity of poultry and game birds

poultry shears Heavy scissors or secateurs with a serrated edge and a good hand grip used for cutting through the bones of poultry pound The original unit of weight in the British system still in use in the USA and equal to 453.6 g. Divided into 16 ounces. Abbreviated lb. It still lingers on in mainland Europe, e.g. the French livre, but is taken as

being 500 g.

pound, to 1. To bruise, break up and crush any hard food item to reduce it to a smooth consistency or a fine powder. Once done in a pestle and mortar but now usually done by mechanical means, e.g. food processor, grinder or powder mill. 2. To beat meat with a bat or specially-shaped hammer in order to tenderize it or flatten it into e.g. an escalope

pound cake A fruit cake originally made from pound (454 g) quantities of the main ingredients, fat, flour, sugar and eggs, using the creaming method to make two 20 cm. diameter round cakes.

poupeton France Veal slices with minced meat

pour batter United States Thin batter pourgouri Powdered wheat. See also burghul pouring batter United Kingdom A thin batter

made from flour, egg, milk, salt and sometimes sugar, used for pancakes, Yorkshire puddings, etc.

pouring sauce Any flowing sauce used to cover foods usually on the plate, thickened with approximately 50 g of flour or starch per litre

Pourly France A white creamy and mild goats’ milk cheese from Burgundy with a greyish blue rind

pour-on cheese United States A bottled processed coating consistency cheese topping

pousse de bambou France Bamboo shoot pousser France To rise, as of dough poussin England, France A single portion,

small and tender chicken 4 to 6 weeks old. Usually grilled or roasted. Also called broiler chicken

poussin double France A double portion 10 to 12 week old chicken, usually grilled or roasted

poutargue

poutargue France A relish made from botargo. Also called boutargue

Pouteria caimito Botanical name Abiu povitica Balkans The Croatian name for

potica

powa South Asia A unit of weight in the old system equal to 4 chattaks, approximately 225 g or 8 oz. Also called pau, pav

powdered cellulose Finely divided cellulose used to add bulk and fibre to slimming foods, convenience foods, etc. See also E460(ii) powdered eggs Spray-dried mixed eggs used for manufacturing purposes. During World War 2 large quantities of eggs dried on heated revolving cylinders were imported into the UK from the USA for domestic

consumption.

powdered sugar United States Icing sugar pozole Mexico A thick soup made with sweet

corn and chicken or pork, flavoured with chilli powder, oregano and pepper and served with chiffonade of lettuce and fried tortilla strips

ppb Parts per billion. Similar to ppm: 1000 ppb equals 1ppm. See also ppm

ppm Parts per million: normally used to indicate the levels of contaminants, trace elements or vitamins in food. 10,000 parts per million equals 1%.

praakes A Jewish speciality consisting of blanched cabbage leaves wrapped around a filling of meat and rice. See also holishkes Pragerschinken A small ham on the bone.

See also prazská sunka Prague ham See prazská sunka

Prague powder See saltpetre

prahok Cambodia A fish paste prepared using the residue from preserved cleaned fish which have been used to make a fish sauce

praio Italy Sea bream

praire France Warty venus clam

prairie chicken United States A type of wild grouse with mottled brown plumage,

Tympanuchus cupido or T. pallidicinctus, found on the great plains of western North America.

prairie oyster 1. United States Ox, pig or lamb testicles usually panéed and fried. Also called mountain oyster, rocky mountain oyster 2. A hangover cure consisting of a shelled egg with an intact yolk, flavoured with Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and salt

praline England, France Nut brittle made from toasted (dry-fried, roasted or grilled) or boiled nuts, skins removed, retoasted, mixed with an equal weight of sugar and some water, caramelized to a rich golden brown, allowed to cool and broken down to a coarse powder

praliné(e) France Caramelized or covered with praline

praline cream United Kingdom Praline folded into softly whipped cream, used to accompany apple tart

pranzo Italy 1. Lunch 2. Dinner (rare) Prästost Sweden A semi-hard, creamy cows’

milk cheese with an open texture and some scattered holes. Sometimes covered in wax. Contains 40% water, 30% fat and 25% protein. (NOTE: Literally ‘priest’s cheese’.)

prataiolo Italy Of the field, e.g. mushrooms pratie Ireland Potato from the Irish práta,

potato (colloquial)

pratos de carne Portugal Meat dishes prawn The name given to various species of

small clawless crustaceans with long curved tails and large heads varying in colour from white translucent to red and brown and from 7 to 20 cm long found all over the world’s oceans. Available raw or cooked, shelled or unshelled and fresh, frozen or dried. The tails only are eaten. Varieties include common prawn, spot prawn, northern prawn, deepwater prawn and king prawn.

prawn cocktail A stemmed glass containing a base of chiffonade of lettuce topped with prawns bound in a cocktail or marie-rose sauce. It should be assembled just before serving.

prawn crackers A Chinese snack food made from a dried, prawn-flavoured rice flour batter which when deep-fried, puffs up to a light crunchy hard white foam-like biscuit or crisp

prawn ondines Australia Ramekins lined with mashed cooked white fish mixed with creamed butter and whipped cream, centre filled with prawns in mayonnaise, chilled, then covered with a white wine aspic

prawn pudding See shrimp pudding prazheni filii Bulgaria French toast (pain

perdu) flavoured with cinnamon and served with honey

prazská sunka Czech Republic A small ham on the bone cured for several months in mild brine, smoked over beech wood, then baked or boiled whole. Considered to be the best ham for serving hot. Also called jambon cuit de Prague, Pragerschinken, Prague ham

prebiotics Polysaccharides, principally fructo-oligosaccharide made up of fructose units and galacto-oligosaccharide made from galactose units, which resist digestion in the stomach and small intestine and reach the colon intact. They are then selectively metabolized by the so-called beneficial bacteria, bifido bacteria and lacto bacilli. Now being added to foods as a selling point

although they are of no use without the presence of these bacteria and increase flatulence.

precio fijo, a Spain Fixed-price precipitated chalk See calcium carbonate preço fixo, a Portugal Fixed-price pre-cook, to To cook one or more ingredients

in advance of their use in another dish, e.g. a duxelle, or of their assembly into a finished dish, e.g. for a salad

precooked rice Rice that had been completely cooked then dehydrated. Also called quick-cooking rice, instant rice

Preiselbeere Germany Cranberry

prepared mustard Various mustard seeds finely or coarsely ground and mixed with a selection of vinegars, spices, herbs and seasoning for use as a condiment or as a flavouring for other dishes

pré-salé France Lamb or sheep raised on salt marshes

presame Italy Rennet

preservation See food preservation science preservative Any substance added to food capable of inhibiting, retarding or arresting the growth of microorganisms or of any deterioration of food caused by microorganisms or capable of masking the evidence of any such deterioration. Traditional preservatives included salt, sugar, saltpetre, acids or alcohol. Numbers of synthetic substances and derivatives of natural substances are also used. These are identified by E numbers between 200 and

299.

preserve A jam or marmalade preserved by cooking or boiling the fruit with a high concentration of sugar

preserve, to To make food suitable for long term storage by preventing growth of microorganisms or enzyme attack using a variety of techniques such as freezing, canning, bottling, drying, curing, salting, pickling, fermenting or preserving with sugar, chemical preservatives or alcohol

preserved fruit See candied fruit

preserved ginger Ginger rhizomes from young plants, skinned, soaked in brine for several days, refreshed in water, boiled in water then in sugar syrup. Used for decoration of cakes, in jam and as a sweetmeat.

preserves United States Large pieces of fruit or whole fruit preserved in a heavy sugar syrup which may be slightly jellied with pectin

preserving pan A large deep, wide pan with outwardly sloping sides, a thick base and a large handle, once made of brass or

pressure-temperature relationship

untinned copper, now usually aluminium or stainless steel. Used for making jam and marmalade.

preserving sugar A refined white sugar in large crystals used for jam-making, supposed to minimize scum formation and reduce caramelization when being dissolved press, to 1. To shape food, usually meat but sometimes fruit, by compacting it in a bowl or basin with a weight so that when turned out it forms a solid mass which can be easily sliced 2. To squeeze juice out of fruit 3. To squeeze milk curds so as to remove excess

whey thus making a harder cheese

Pressburger Beugel Austria A rich pastry with a ground walnut filling

pressé(e) France Pressed préssec Catalonia Peach

pressed bean curd Bean curd wrapped in cheese cloth and pressed to reduce the water and increase the solids content. Used as a cheese substitute.

pressed caviar See payousnaya

pressed duck Deboned duck with wing and drumstick bones left in, seasoned with salt and spices, pressed flat and dried. Used as a flavouring agent in Chinese cooking. Also called dried duck

pressgurka Sweden Cucumber salad or relish

Presskopf Austria, Germany A sausage similar to the German Presswurst but with larger pieces of meat

press-sylta Sweden Brawn

pressure-cook, to To cook food in the presence of water or steam in a pressure cooker at a temperature above the normal boiling point of water by allowing the pressure to rise to some predetermined value. Food cooks much quicker than normal under these conditions.

pressure cooker A vessel which can be completely sealed with a tight fitting lid, fitted with a pressure regulator and a pressure relief valve so that when heated with water inside, the internal pressure rises to some predetermined value above atmospheric pressure with a consequent increase in temperature above the normal boiling point. See also pressure-temperature relationship

pressure fryer A deep-fryer with a sealed lid which holds steam under pressure over the surface of the hot fat, thereby reducing the cooking time. Similar in action to a pressure cooker.

pressure-temperature relationship The boiling point of water depends on the pressure exerted on its surface and is 100°C at sea level in an open vessel. This rises to 120.5°C at a pressure of 15 psi (pounds per