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Founded in 1941, Barron's Educational Series is a leading publisher of test preparation manuals and school directories. Among the most widely recognized of Barron's many titles in these areas are its SAT and ACT test prep books, its Regents Exams books, and its Profiles of American Colleges. In ...
The Chinese name for this sweet licorice-flavored root is "human-shaped root" and indeed some have extraordinarily human shapes. This rather amazing plant has been credited for centuries with being everything from an aphrodisiac to a restorative. Recent scientific discoveries have linked ginseng to the treatment of high blood pressure. It's referred to as white ginseng when simply sun-dried. When steamed and dried over a fire or with other heat, it takes on a reddish tinge and is called red ginseng. Ginseng is used in soups, for tea and as a medicinal. It's available in Asian markets and some health-food stores.
Industry:Culinary arts
The combined cuisines of China have often been compared to French cuisine as having made the greatest contribution to the world of food. Chinese cooking styles have been divided into five main regions: Southeastern (Canton), East Coast (Fukien), Northeastern (Peking-Shantung), Central (Honan) and Western (Szechuan-Hunan). Cantonese cuisine is famous for its meat roasting and grilling, fried rice, and bird'S nest and shark'S fin soup. The province of Fukien is noted for its multitudinous selection of soups and for its seafood dishes. The light, elegant Peking-Shantung style originated the famous peking duck, and is highly acclaimed for its subtle and artful use of seasonings. China's Honan province is the home of sweet-and-sour cooking, and the Szechuan-Hunan school is known for its hot, spicy dishes. Mandarin cooking and Shanghai cooking are not regional designations, but terms used to describe cooking styles. The word mandarin means "Chinese official," and mandarin cooking suggests an aristocratic cuisine that gleans the very finest elements from all the regions. Shanghai cooking refers to a cosmopolitan combination of many Chinese cooking styles.
Industry:Culinary arts
The commercial name for glycerol, a colorless, odorless, syrupy liquid — chemically, an alcohol — obtained from fats and oils and used to retain moisture and add sweetness to foods. It also helps prevent sugar crystallization in foods like candy. Outside the world of food, glycerin is used in cosmetics, inks and certain glues.
Industry:Culinary arts
The commercial name for glycerol, a colorless, odorless, syrupy liquid — chemically, an alcohol — obtained from fats and oils and used to retain moisture and add sweetness to foods. It also helps prevent sugar crystallization in foods like candy. Outside the world of food, glycerin is used in cosmetics, inks and certain glues.
Industry:Culinary arts
The common English name for fish belonging to the family Triglidae. These marine fish, which sometimes swim near the surface and make a grunting or croaking noise, are also called crooner, croonack, gowdie, and in North America sea robin. They also have fins that allow them to crawl around on the ocean bottom. Most of the species used for food are found in warmer waters in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, although there are a few gunard species in the Pacific. The gunard's flesh is white, firm and lowfat, which makes it appropriate for frying, baking or poaching. See also fish.
Industry:Culinary arts
The common name for the byssus, or silky hairlike filaments that bivalves (such as oysters and mussels) use to attach themselves to rocks, piers, and so on. Though it's rare, occasionally a beard becomes so long that it must be trimmed before the shellfish are prepared.
Industry:Culinary arts
The Cornell formula to enrich bread was developed in the 1930s at New York's Cornell University. It consists of 1 tablespoon each soy flour and nonfat milk powder plus 1 teaspoon wheat germ for each cup of flour used in a bread recipe. These enrichments are placed in the bottom of the measuring cup before the flour is spooned in.
Industry:Culinary arts
The cultivated variety of these crisply delicate mushrooms comes in clumps of long, spaghettilike stems topped with tiny, snowy white caps. (In contrast, the wild form has orangy-brown, very shiny caps. ) Enokitake have an appealingly crunchy texture and mild — almost fruity — taste, unlike the bosky flavor of most mushrooms. They're available fresh year-round (depending on the region) in Asian markets and some supermarkets. They can also be purchased canned. Choose fresh mushrooms that are firm and white. Refrigerate, wrapped in paper towel then a plastic bag, up to 5 days. Before using, they should be cut away from the mass at the base of the stems. Enokitake are particularly good raw in salads. They may also be used to garnish soups or other hot dishes. If used as part of a cooked dish, they should be added at the last minute, as heat tends to make them tough. These tiny mushrooms provide a good source of vitamin D, as well as small amounts of the B-complex vitamins. The enoki is also called snow puff mushroom, golden mushroom and velvet stem. See also mushrooms.
Industry:Culinary arts
The cultivation of fish, shellfish or aquatic plants (such as seaweed) in natural or controlled marine or freshwater environments. Even though aquaculture began eons ago with the ancient Greeks, it wasn't until the 1980s that the practice finally began to expand rapidly. Aquaculture "farms" take on a variety of forms including huge tanks, freshwater ponds, and shallow- or deep-water marine environments. Today, the farming and harvesting of fish and shellfish is a multimillion-dollar business. Among the most popular denizens of the deep that are farmed are bivalves like oysters, clams and mussels; crustaceans like crayfish, lobsters and shrimp; and fish like catfish, salmon, trout and tilapia. See also hydroponics.
Industry:Culinary arts
The cut of meat from a hog's hind leg, generally from the middle of the shank bone to the aitch (hip) bone. The actual length of the cut varies according to the producer. The unprocessed meat is referred to as fresh ham, but most ham goes through a curing process after which it's referred to as cured ham. The final flavor of a ham can be attributed to a combination of many factors. Before the animal is slaughtered, those factors include its breed, the type of feed on which it was raised and the age at which it was slaughtered. Most hogs are fed corn, but animals headed for the gourmet market may have treats such as acorns, beechnuts, chestnuts or peanuts added to their diets. After the hog is slaughtered, the meat is usually cured in one of three ways — dry curing, sweet-pickle curing or injection curing. Dry curing involves salting the surface of the ham thoroughly, then storing it until the salt saturates the meat. This procedure may be repeated several times. Sweet-pickle curing involves immersing the ham in a sweet brine with added seasonings (usually a secret recipe of the producer). If sugar is added to the curing mix the ham may be labeled sugar-cured. Most mass producers of ham use the injection-curing method whereby the ham is injected with brine. This method is sometimes combined with one of the other curing methods. The length of time a ham is cured will affect the final flavor. Most hams for American consumers have a light or mild cure. After curing, a ham may go through a smoking process that adds both flavor and aging capability. The length of time a ham is smoked varies widely depending on the desired result. Those being prepared for the mass market are usually smoked lightly or not at all. Hams for the gourmet palate are more heavily smoked, the process lasting a month or more. The smoked flavor will vary depending on the substance used. Hickory and maple are the woods of preference, and some producers add exotic ingredients such as juniper berries, sage or peat. Once curing and smoking are completed, gourmet hams are usually aged to further develop flavors; most mass-produced hams are not. In some cases, aging can take up to 2 years. Hams are sold in several forms including boneless (with the hip, thigh and shank bones removed), partially boned (with the hip and/or shank bones removed) and bone-in. Since bone contributes flavor to the meat during cooking, most gourmet-ham producers leave some bone in. Hams are marketed in several sizes, the most popular being whole, halves (shank or butt ends only), shank, butt and center-cut slices or steaks ranging in thickness from 1/2 to 3/4 inch. Whole hams usually weigh from 8 to 18 pounds. Canned hams may either be a whole piece of boneless meat or they may be "formed" from bits and pieces of meat held together with a gelatin mixture. Hams are available fully cooked, partially cooked or uncooked. Those that are fully-cooked are heated to an internal temperature of 148°F or above, partially cooked hams to at least 137°F (which kills the trichina parasite). Uncooked and partially cooked hams must be cooked prior to serving. Fully cooked hams, sometimes labled "heat-and-serve" or "ready-to-eat," do not require additional cooking and may be eaten cold or heated until warm. Carefully check the label for instructions. Most hams sold today are of the mass-produced variety sometimes referred to as "city" or "urban" hams. Higher-quality American hams are generally labeled "country-cured" (or "country-style"). The majority of these "country" hams come from Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia; each region adds its own distinctive style to the ham it produces. Probably the most famous country-cured ham is the smithfield ham from the Virginia town of the same name. A wide selection of specially cured hams are also imported from many European countries. The most well known are prosciutto from Italy, Germany's westphalian, France's bayonne and the York ham from England. Prosciutto and Westphalian are generally sold in paper-thin slices. When buying a fresh ham, look for one with a firm white layer of fat, with well-marbled lean portion. In younger animals, the meat should be a grayish-pink color; older pork should be a delicate shade of rose. Loosen any packaging material and store the fresh ham in the coldest part of the refrigerator for up to 5 days. When purchasing a cured ham, choose one that's firm and plump. The meat should be finely grained and rosy pink. Refrigerate in the ham's original wrapping or container for up to 1 week. Some country-style hams can be stored in a cool place for 1 to 2 months. Longer storage is possible, but moisture evaporation causes the ham to shrink and toughen. Canned hams should be stored according to label directions. Some require refrigeration; others have been sterilized and do not need to be refrigerated until after they've been opened. Ham slices should be wrapped airtight and refrigerated up to 3 days. Ham can be baked, grilled, sautéed, broiled or simmered. Precooked hams can be eaten without additional cooking. Heavily cured country-style hams, depending on how salty they are, may require scrubbing, then soaking up to 24 hours before cooking. See also culatello; parma ham; picnic ham.
Industry:Culinary arts
