There are many different terms used in the culinary world.  The following are the top 25 culinary terms every student should know as they are training to become a chef:

1. Bind:  Thickening soups, sauces or gravies by adding egg yolks, cream, flour, starch or blood.
2. Blanch:  Immersing foods in boiling water to part-cook or clean them.
3. Braise:  Slowly cooking meats or vegetables in a small covered quantity of aromatic liquid.
4. Compote:  Preparing fruits and/or vegetables by slowly cooking in a light sweet stock.
5. Confit:  Meats that have been slowly and gently cooked in fat.
6. Emulsion:  Mixing two incompatible liquids by dropping one slowly into the other in a continuous phase.
7. Decoct:  Extracting the essence of something by boiling it.
8. Deglaze:  Dissolving caramelized juice at the bottom of a saucepan by moistening with liquid.
9. Dilute:  Adding liquid to adjust the consistency of an overly thick sauce or puree.
10. Julienne:  Very thin strips of vegetables or cooked meat.
11. Knead:  Pressing, folding and stretching to work dough into a uniform mixture.
12. Line:  Arranging slices of ingredients on the bottom and sides of a utensil.
13. Marinate:  Soaking meat, poultry or fish in an acidic liquid to flavor and/or tenderize it.
14. Mirepoix:  Roughly chopped vegetables added to flavor stock; usually celery, onions and carrots.
15. Poach:  Simmering in a liquid that is kept just below the boiling point.
16. Reduce:  Simmering a liquid or sauce down to a concentrated liquid.
17. Roux:  Combination of flour and butter cooked to white, golden or dark as specified.
18. Sauté:  Frying quickly in a small amount of hot fat or oil.
19. Score:  Creating small incisions on the skin of meat or fish to help it cook.
20. Shrink:  Sweating off moisture and juice of ingredients until they contract.
21. Simmer:  Boiling gently and consistently using low heat.
22. Stew:  Cooking ingredients in a closed container with almost no liquid, or no liquid at all.
23. Sweat:  Cooking an ingredient covered and over low heat until it loses its juices.
24. Trimmings:  Cut-off pieces left over after trimming an ingredient.
25. Whisk:  Adding volume to substances like egg whites, sauce, cream or hollandaise.

Institutions offering quality Culinary Arts Programs include The International Culinary Institute at the Art Institutes, Le Cordon Blue Schools, The French Culinary Institute, The Culinary Institute of America and Johnson & Wales University.

Find the perfect Culinary School or Culinary Arts Program today and start your path to a rewarding career.

It is beyond doubt that pizza is one of the most popular fast food items all across the globe. It doesn’t matter what age group you belong to, today every one of us loves to have it. In fact, many of us have even tried a hand in preparing it at our own convenience. However, it would be quite interesting if one has ample information about the various culinary schools and programs that can train and enable one to be dexterous in cooking varieties of food including pizza.

Nevertheless, before we proceed, it is pertinent to know concisely about the history of pizza. Many researchers talks regarding Neolithic Age evidences while speaking about the pizza’s origin. In the history of pizza, Italy is considered to be the hub of bringing in all sorts of variations in the early mound of flour that later shaped into a flavored concoction affectionately known as ‘pizza’. It was considered to be a peasant’s meal in Italy for centuries. But unfortunately it is not easy to say who invented the first pizza. Perhaps, we can also find the early stages of its modification even in Greek manuscripts and in Persian writings. Many food historians even believe that pizza like dishes were also served by peoples lived in the Mediterranean regions including the Egyptians and the Greeks.

However, the popularity of Pizza spread to other parts of the world, especially to the United States, England and Spain, after World War II. After conquering major territories of Italy, many U.S and European soldiers had the taste of Pizza for the very first time. In fact, it was the deep inclination towards pizza that made immigrants from Italy sell their Pizzas in their American stores for the very first time, but it was the soldiers who returned from Italy with a hunger for the saucy delight that pulled the taste of Pizzas out to the nearby Italian neighborhoods and in the main stream of every city’s day to day life all over the continent. The square “Sicilian Pizza” which is now well recognized was the forerunner of well-promoted “Party Pizza” is an American invention. And, today we celebrate the February 9 as an international Pizza Day.

Today on an average, almost every citizen of the United States and Canada eat 23 pounds of pizza each year. Adding to this, Cheese and Pepperoni is among the most favorite combinations, especially with the younger set. Apart from this, if we talk in terms of present context the concept and popularity of pizza has taken many forms such as Ice Cream Pizza, Mexican Pizza, Candy Pizza and many more.

Cooking pizza is an art, and to learn in the best possible way, enrolling into the culinary programs offered by any of the top culinary colleges is important. A good college always makes an inquisitive and hard-working student ready for both traditional and unconventional culinary challenges, and of course, in making pizza. The world class culinary schools have top notch facilities for assisting in gaining refined culinary knowledge and getting placed under famous brand names. All that one has to do is innovate and apply the culinary skills in preparing various food items, including the pizza.

The term ‘food’ is a wider one inclusive of different types of food items like ice creams, burgers, sandwiches, cakes, pastries, cookies, chips, macaroni, pizzas, pasta, noodles, breads and much more.

Culinary science has professionalized this art of food making and it is widely accepted a job for millions to survive. Food itself got subdivided on the basis of regions.

Sandwiches
• Sandwich is one of the widely popular food items in the world.
• They are seen as dietary food rather than a full fledged meal.
• It is estimated that Americans eat more than 300 million sandwiches a day.
• Although, mainly non-vegetarian in nature, it veggie counterparts are widely popular in India.

Burgers
• Hamburgers are often served with lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles
• 8.2 Billion Burgers were served in commercial restaurants in 2001.
• Burgers account for about 40% of total sandwiches consumed.
• 65% of Burgers are consumed away from home.
• Hamburgers and Cheeseburgers comprise 71% of the beef servings in commercial restaurants.

Noodles
• Noodles are made from unleavened dough that is cooked in a boiling liquid.
• China is the place of origin of Noodles.
• For Chinese, long noodles are eaten during birthdays to symbolize longevity.
• In Japan, it is polite to slurp loudly while eating noodles or soba.
• The oldest type of noodle is made from millet.
• It is the basic ingredient in dishes like spaghetti pasta, linguine, soba and udon.

Macaroni
• Macaroni is the Italian variant of Noodles.
• Macaroni and cheese is consistently on the list of top ten favorite food choices for children.
• The recommended wine to serve with macaroni and cheese is Burgundy wine.
• Thomas Jefferson is credited with introducing macaroni to the United States.

Breads
• Breads are the foundation of cooking in European as well as American Countries.
• Today, in specialized bakeries, you can even buy 11 grain bread.
• Whole grain dark breads have become more popular mostly due to their high fibre content.
• Bread is such a powerful food that in antiquity Egyptian governments controlled it from production to distribution as a means of controlling the populace.
• One can use mashed acorns, ground beans, crushed tree barks, nuts, or chestnut flour, but most balers use primarily finely milled wheat, or rye corn, barley, millet, kamut, spelt and other grains. Wheat flour is preferred because of its gluten content.
• The greatest thing since sliced bread” is a phrase commonly used to describe an innovative achievement.
• Vitamin C (ascorbic acid, E300) is added to “improve” and strengthen the flour, making it easier to mix the dough at high speed.
Buns
• A cross bun kept from one Good Friday to the next was thought to bring luck.
• Buns can be long and skinny, short and round and or come in many different shapes and sizes.

Pasta
• The Chinese are on record as having eaten pasta as early as 5,000 B.C.
• In the 13th century, the Pope set quality standards for pasta.
• There are more than 600 pasta shapes produced worldwide.
• To cook one billion pounds of pasta, you would need 2,021,452,000 gallons of water-enough to fill nearly 75,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.
• Christopher Columbus, one of Italy’s most famous pastaphiles, was born in October, which is now National Pasta Month.
• Pasta existed for thousands of years before anyone ever thought to put tomato sauce on it. The Spanish explorer Cortez brought tomatoes back to Europe from Mexico in 1519

Food items like burgers, buns, cookies, pastries, pancakes, noodles, doughnuts and bread have different tastes as they are made from different cereals and grains. Here is some more interesting information about different types of food grains.

Wheat
• Wheat has been cultivated since 9000 B.C.
• Over 725 million metric tones of wheat are produced all around the world and China tops the list followed by India and US.
• Wheat forms the major ingredient of many food items such as breads, porridge, crackers, biscuits, cookies, muffins, rolls, pies, pancakes and pastries.
• The principal elements of wheat flour are gluten and starch.
• Wheat is also used for fermentation to make beer, vodka and alcohol.
• Major cultivated species of wheat are Common wheat, Durum, Einkorn, Emmer and Spelt.
• There are more than 30000 different varieties of Wheat representing 14 different species.

Barley
• Russia is the largest producer of Barley in the world.
• The World’s total production of Barley is 136 million metric tones.
• Barley is extensively used in the production of Alcoholic Beverages and is used as an animal feed too.
• There are as many as 80 countries in the world alien to Barley cultivation.
• US alone cultivates around 150 varieties of Barley
• Barley contains 8 amino acids and eating whole grain barley can regulate blood sugar in our body up to 10 hours after consumption.
• Barley has the potency of combating many diseases.

Maize
• Maize, popularly know as corn is the widely grown crop in the American continent.
• Maize contains ‘lipid transfer protein’, an indigestible protein which survives cooking. This protein has been linked to a rare and understudied allergy to maize in humans.
• US alone produce 332 million metric tones.
• Maize has around10 chromosomes.
• Maize is the principal ingredient in Custard Powder.
• It is said that there are more than 3500 uses for corn products.
• Farmers can grow corn everywhere except Antarctica.
• Maize is used in products ranging from chewing gum to bathing soap.

Millet
• There are about 9 types of millets.
• Pearl Millet is the most important member of Millet family.
• India is the principal producer of Millet in the World followed by Nigeria and Niger.
• A Millet grain is rich in B Vitamins.
• They are used in Alcoholic Beverages.
• Thyroid patients should stay from their over consumption.
• Millets are widely used as bird as well as animal feed.
• They along with birdseeds are commonly used as fillings for juggling beanbags.

Rye
• Rye is used both as a food grain as well as a forage crop.
• It is used in manufacturing beer, vodka, bread and some whiskies.
• Russian Federation is the largest Rye producer in the World.
• It is a popular food grain in the coldest regions.
• Rye is a god source of Vitamin E, Proteins and Calcium.
• It is god for the digestive system.

Research Culinary Schools and find the perfect culinary career for you.

It is really hard to deny the fact that wine is a wonderful accompaniment to almost any meal. Today many people actually enjoy a glass of wine along with dinner, although unfortunately there are many of those who are really not well aware of how to select a wine for their meal. In most of the cases, you may find an individual having one wine that he or she likes and drinks it with everything.

It may sound easy for you, but by drinking any wine an individual misses out delightful experience, because each wine balance different food item in a special or unusual way. As a result, it is important to understand to understand that drinking and selecting wine for a meal does count. You must note that a proper selection of wine for a meal can open up a whole new culinary experience for you.

Generally, the basic rule of thumb, which many people or every beginner know, is that red wine goes with red meat and white wine goes well white meat. This idea is not always true. Being stringent with the rule can take out all the joy of choosing a good wine you truly enjoy. Rather you counterpart the taste of a wine with the color of the meat a better idea would be to counterpart the concentration of the wine along with the intensity of the meat. As an example a deep or thoroughly-bodied red wine can easily do well with lamb chops or a juicy steak. If you or your guest is having lighter meals than a selection of a white wine could also be a better idea. Ultimately, the important point to understand is that the intensity of flavoring in your meal is best complemented by a wine with an equally intense taste.

Another good thing that you must consider before selecting the wine for a meal is to think about the dish you are thinking about ordering or cooking. In fact, a small consideration regarding the way it is cooked or the various spices that are added can help make a proper selection. This small consideration can easily help you choose a wine that can complement to those elements or contrasts and ends up with far more intense flavors and tastes.

Apart from this, another way of determining the perfect wine for a meal can be by tasting the taste of the wine, rather than its color. Usually a wine has two very different types of tastes, mainly the acidity level of the wine, and the sweetness level of the wine. As a result, it is always better to choose a wine that matches the sweetness in the food. For instance, fruit and cheese are two types of food that are often paired with wine. So, the best thing that you can do is that when you have fruit or meal, which contains high levels of both sugar and acid, pair it with a sweet wine that has a high acidity level.

On the other side, if you have food that is heavily spiced a wine that has a low sweetness rating but a higher acidity level can surely a better selection.
Matching wine with food is not an exact science, but just by following few important and basic principles you can be well on track to discover that perfect match.

Tavern on the Green – world famous restaurant is situated in Central Park on the Upper West Side of New York City. It was initially built in the year 1870 with a plan designed by Calvert Vaux. It was later turned into a restaurant after a renovation in 1934 by Robert Moses (New York City’s Commissioner of Parks). The restaurant’ lease was taken over by Warner LeRoy in 1974. It was again reopened after spending $10 million in redecoration in the year 1976. The day it was opened on August 31, 1976, the refreshed Tavern on the Green was in full swing to take New York by storm. Its eclectic menus, decorative whimsy along with all-around playfulness dazzled the city with avalanche of surprises. Tavern on the Green, soon became one of New York’s hottest dining destinations.

It took no time to become a prime location for celebrities who started to gather in the restaurant to make their presence for their professional reasons. The restaurant’s setting, size and radiant charm compelled many people to make it a hot destination for prestigious events. Still, it is New York’s most preferred location for organizing prestigious events, such as Broadway show openings, international film premieres, charity and political functions.

LeRoys run the Tavern successfully under his leadership till his death in 2001. It was then managed by his daughter, Jennifer Oz LeRoy. It became second highest-grossing independently-owned restaurant of the United States in 2007 with gross revenues of $38 million through more than 500,000 visitors.

Tavern on the Green remained first choice of many leading American celebrities for hosting their wedding receptions. Robert Olen Butler (Pulitzer Prize winning author) and Walter Hill (film director) are name of few famous celebrities who selected Tavern as their wedding venue. Tavern on the Green was also famous for frequent visits of prominent musicians, actors, writers and politicians. Actress Grace Kelly, New York City Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia is the name of few regular patrons.

Tavern’s beauty and charm can only be realized by a practical visit. Although, there are several dining rooms, but the most popular is the Crystal Room. It features windows where one can watch pleasant view of adjacent garden in Central Park. Its unique and lucrative royal appearance has attracted large number of people and is still magnetizing people.

Are you looking for some of the interesting facts about food or culinary? If your answer is yes, then here are some of the most amusing facts you must know. Share these facts and impress your friends.

Ice Cream

Ice cream is a Chinese food item. Marco Polo the famous explorer when returned to Italy, from China in the year 1295, he actually brought a well known recipe called “Milk Ice” among many other things. However, later Europeans substituted cream for the milk, and voila. Since then, ice cream has been a major hit.

Generally, the United States actually consumes on an average 48 pints of ice cream per person, per year. This is usually more than any other country in the world.

On an average, it takes 50 licks to polish off a single-scoop ice cream cone.

Pizza

The word pizza was originally spelt as “pitsa”.

Most pizza is ordered during the weather forecast or TV programs. Adding to this, the delivery folks also report that women, perhaps not surprisingly, are better tippers!

Generally, Americans consume or eat almost 350 slices of pizza each second.

Chilies

The color of a chili is no indication of its spiciness, but what matters is its size. Generally, it is important to note that the smaller the chilie pepper, the hotter it is.

Near about 140 varieties of chilies peppers are alone grown in Mexico alone.

Chilies play a very important role in making foods safer. They help in reducing the harmful bacteria on foods.

Potato

The potato is one of the most important non-cereal crops in the world, and considered as the fourth most important crop overall.

Irish were the first to eat potato. They were first introduced to Britain and Ireland in the late 1500s. It didn’t get popular immediately; many people actually held potato responsible for diseases as it was not talked about in the Bible.

Chips made of potato were first invented by a North American Indian named as George Crum

In the United States, if we compare the price between a pound of potato chips and potato, generally prices of potato chips is almost two hundred times extra than potatoes.

Miscellaneous

The flavor that is commonly associated with bubble gum all across the world is a mixture of wintergreen, vanilla and cassia, a form of cinnamon.

Cheddar is the most consumed and widely purchased cheese in the world.

Research shows that dark chocolate very similar to the red wine actually contains considerable amounts of flavonoid phenolics which in turn may be very helpful in lowering the risk of heart disease.

Today these foods are so common that it is really hard to imagine life without it. However, when these interesting facts were first brought into notice, it was considered as a myth, but slowly it turns out to be real. This list is just to give you an idea about some of the most important trivia that is related to about food and culinary items.

There are many interesting tidbits about food. Let us read some important, informational, fun facts about the food we commonly eat.

Coffee:

The rarest coffee is found in Indonesia and is called as Kopi Luwak. It costs $300 for a pound.

To prepare one pound roasted coffee, it takes about 20,000 coffee cherries.

Tomatoes:

On average every year each American consumes 22 pounds tomatoes.

Over half of the total tomato consumption is Tomato ketchup and sauce.

Rice:

There are more than 15,000 rice varieties present all over the world.

Cabbage:

The entire cabbage has 91 percent water content in it.

Milk:

On an average an American drinks 25 gallons milk in a year.

88 percent of the milk constitutes water whereas just 12 percent of it has a food value.

A family of four people in America consumes around 6000 pounds of food per year.

Bananas:

A banana is considered to be a great body builder. It helps in tissue building. A single banana if consumed each day will provide better health and in turn save a lot of money.

Never keep them in refrigerator.

Green bananas: cook and eat it has raw starch like potatoes.

Partially yellow bananas: cook as a dessert or as a vegetable.

Yellow banana: eat raw, can get digested now.

Yellow banana having brown freckles: best time to eat. Highest nutrition and can be digested by people with weak digestion.

Brown with yellow freckles: can’t be eaten raw. Can use in banana and bread recipes.

Miscellaneous:

In the year 1977, Americans consumed way more than 7.5 billion quarts popcorn.

Fifty gallons maple sap produces a single gallon maple sugar.

Do you know what Hushpuppies are? They are made up of small pieces of cornmeal batter that are fried and are mostly used in southern traditions. Years ago, hungry dogs were fed with fried batter, after the pieces finished the owner use to stop the dogs calling "Hush, puppies" and this is how they got their name.

Every day a bird consumes food weighing half the weight of its body. Imagine a 50 pound weighing child eating 25 pounds food daily!

In the US, farmers use about 1.5 billion pounds pesticides and half of it is in the food they eat, while just one percent of food shipment is tested. In fact, even the apple growers use around 24 types of pesticides on apples. Imagine the intake of pesticide we take each day.

Now, aren’t these facts interesting?

Imagine yourself in a room full of tempting food, jellies, chocolates, pastries, cakes, pizzas and much more mouth watering dishes. Slurp… I know by now you are too tempted to get to the market and buy yourself a nice, juicy burger, coke and an ice cream tub or are ready to order a pizza, rather than reading.

Just for a moment think of the chefs who stay in the kitchen all day long that is loaded with scrumptious cuisines giving out such enticing and alluring aromas. It must be really tough for them to resist the delicacies they prepare for their customers. One the other hand, if they start tasting every dish they prepare it will be extremely tough for them to sustain good health.

It is said, ‘People judge a book by its cover’, and the same applies to a cook too. A healthy and fit chef ascertains us that he is health conscious and knows all about good and rich cooking. This might not prove true in all cases; some guys do not have such luck. There are many professional chefs are surrounded by buttery carbohydrates, rich sauces, creamy puddings and fine succulent meat but are thin like a Cornish wafer.

The roly-poly chefs that we were accustomed to once, are replaced by much more disciplined, controlled and healthy chefs. There was a time when a thin chef was not trusted but today the scenario has totally changed. The more lean and fit a chef is the more energetic he will be. A chef should be prepared to bounce around the kitchen in order to do everything just right.

Being a chef, it is important to taste every dish and every dessert prepared to ensure it is delicious. In doing so the fats keep on settling on the stomach, in turn making you fat. To avoid this, it is better to take small mouthfuls in intervals. Small meals ensure better metabolism. Some chefs believe in drip free food and indulge in raw fresh fruits, raw vegetables and much water. They also avoid any sort of meal in between lunch and dinner. Lastly, a good 20 minutes walk each day. In case you do feel hungry at night, eat a bowl of cereal.

A chef is however known for his skills in cooking and preparing meal yet his physical appearance and nutritional habits also play an important role. Not only does it attract more customers for him but is also important for his own good.

Nutrition is also an important aspect of cooking delicious foods. And chefs are not an exception to this rule. While pursuing their education in the culinary arts, one of the subjects that these aspiring chefs study is Nutrition. Here, they learn about the amount of nutritive elements present in each ingredient – and how to analyze and determine which foods have how much nutritive value.

No doubt, this knowledge goes a long way in helping these chefs create delicacies that are not only tasty but also healthy for their customers.

To understand what or rather who Vegans are, one must know the meaning of Veganism. Veganism is a form of vegetarian diet that excludes eggs, meat, dairy products, or any other kind of ingredient derived from animals. Therefore, a person following such a diet is said to be Vegan.

There are vegans who even deny food that is processed through animal products, most commonly, white sugar and a few wines. They even discard the products made of animals such as leather, wool or fur. Strong discussions are still on, on considering whether certain products such as Honey are vegan or not.

Nowadays, our diet is loaded with animal- derived products and ingredients. Most of the times we don’t realize how much we are dependent on such food items. In that case renouncing such food items from our daily diet is a tough challenge. Thus, it is very important to know what can be had as a vegan diet.

Vegan diet thus constitutes of grains, legumes, beans, fruits and vegetables. There is huge variety of dishes that can be prepared using these foods items. There are substitutes too that are available in the market so that you can be a vegan and still can gorge on hot dogs, mayonnaise, cheese and ice creams.

If you are on the way to become a vegan then you can either directly stop the eating the above mentioned food products or you can even be a vegetarian first and then later on skip eggs and dairy products, which ever suits you best.

There are a number of factors within a ‘vegetarian’ diet which can or cannot be consumed by certain kinds of vegans. Lets have a quick look at these factors below:

• A Vegan is allowed to eat fruits, legumes, vegetables, nuts, grains, seeds. He eschews meat, shellfish, fish, dairy products, poultry, and eggs.
• A Lacto-vegetarian can eat fruits, legumes, vegetables, nuts, grains, seeds and dairy products. He eschews meat, shellfish, fish, poultry, and eggs.
• An Ovo-vegetarian can eat fruits, legumes, vegetables, nuts, grains, seeds and eggs. He eschews meat, shellfish, fish, poultry, and dairy products.
• A Lactoovo-vegetarian can eat fruits, legumes, vegetables, nuts, grains, seeds, eggs and dairy products. He eschews meat, shellfish, fish and poultry.
• A Semi-vegetarian can eat fruits, legumes, vegetables, nuts, grains, seeds, eggs, shellfish, fish and poultry and dairy products. He eschews meat.

So, based on this, one can see that even within vegetarians and vegans, there are many different things that one can and cannot eat. At the end of the day it is a personal choice made by one depending on the philosophy one believes in. Also, many a times, such food choices are made by people for health reasons.