Description
This article is from the Cooking
and Conversions FAQ, by with numerous contributions by Victor
Sack cooking.faq@mac.com others.
3.5 Glossary of Culinary Terms: S - Z
SAMBAL ULEK (SAMBAL OELEK) - A paste made by crushing red chillies with
a little salt. Can be made by crushing chopped de-seeded chillies in a
mortar with salt, or purchased at some delicatessens or Asian food
stores.
SANTEN/COCONUT MILK - Can be bought in cans or in powdered form, or made
as follows: To 2.5 cups boiling water add the grated flesh of one
coconut (or 4 cups desiccated coconut). Leave to stand 30 minutes,
squeeze coconut and strain. Use within 24 hours. Known as narial ka
dooth in India, santen in Indonesia and Malaysia.
SCALLION - Variety of onion with small bulbs, long stiff green leaves.
Usually eaten raw. Also called spring onion, green onion.
SCOTCH BONNET PEPPER - Capsicum tetragonum. Similar to Habaņero
Pepper.
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 Mollusc Gastropod - "Buccinidae" - found in more
temperate waters than conch, with a darker meat and stronger flavour,
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.
SELTZER - Plain soda water (from the trademark Alka-Seltzer).
SHALLOTS - Small pointed members of the onion family that grow in
clusters something like garlic and have a mild, onion-y taste. Not the
same as green/spring onion.
SHIRO GOMA (shee-roh GOH-mah) - Japanese for "sesame seed." This
version is the hulled white sesame seed used in many Asian recipes, like
stir-fry.
SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS (SHEE-TAH-KAY) - Also called Chinese black mushrooms
and forest mushrooms, they have a meaty flesh with a full-bodied woodsy
flavour.
SINGLE CREAM - see section 1.3
SPANISH ONION - see Bermuda Onion
SPRING ONION - see Scallion
SQUASH - a family of vegetables. All but two have a thick, hard,
usually inedible rind, rich-tasting meat, and lots of seeds. 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.
SWEDE - US rutabaga
SWEETBREADS - According to the OED, sweetbread is "the pancreas or
the thymus gland, of an animal, esp. as used for food (distinguished
respectively as _heart_, _stomach_, or _belly_ sweetbread and _throat_,
_gullet_, or _neck_ sweetbread): esteemed a delicacy." Sweetbreads
generally come from young animals, usually calves or lambs, although
pigs' can also be used. Older animals' thymus and pancreas are
significantly smaller and tend to be much stronger in flavour.
SWEETMEATS - A sweetmeat, according to the OED, is a "small shaped
piece of confectionary usu. consisting chiefly of sugar or chocolate
with flavouring or filling, or of fruit preserved in sugar."
TAHINI (TAH-HEE-NEE) - Used in Middle Eastern cooking, it is a thick
paste made of ground sesame seed that concentrates the sesame seed
flavour.
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 - A kind of pungent shrimp paste, used in very small quantities.
May be crushed with spices, grilled or fried before adding to other
ingredients. Also known as balachan/blacan (Malaysia), kapi (Thailand)
and ngapi (Burma).
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 tomato ketchup. In the US,
France, Belgium a more heterogeneous concoction, served in and on foods
such as pasta.
TRADITIONAL BALSAMIC VINEGAR (Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale) - see also
Balsamic Vinegar.
Made in Modena and Reggio Emilia (Italy) from white Trebbiano must that
is cooked for several hours over a direct flame in an open vessel
until it reaches a concentration averaging at around 50%. It is then
aged in barrels until it is dark in colour and pungently sweet. The
barrels need to be from at least 3 different woods including cherry,
oak, chestnut tree, ash tree and mulberry tree. Minimum ageing is 12
years. Frequently used in salad dressings or marinades. "Aceto
balsamico tradizionale" from both Modena and Reggio Emilia are
DOP (Protected Origin Denomination) products under Italian and European
laws. Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale can be sold only in the particular
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