Lesson 4: Cooking
In today’s lesson, you’re going to learn dozens of different verbs used in
cooking and preparing food.
We’ll begin with the differences between cuisine, dish, and specialty. The
word “cuisine” refers to the general category of foods from a particular
country or tradition – Japanese cuisine, Italian cuisine, Jewish cuisine.
The word “dish” refers to a specific type of food within a cuisine – Italian
cuisine includes various pasta dishes – spaghetti is one dish, lasagna is
another dish, etc.
The word “specialty” refers to a dish that is especially popular or typical in a
restaurant or region. For example, you can have a restaurant that serves
Brazilian cuisine, which offers various seafood dishes, and its specialty is
shrimp stew.
Let’s learn measurements used in cooking. If you’re following a recipe from
the United States, you’ll find that things are measured using a different
system:
cup = 237 ml
teaspoon = 5 ml
tablespoon = 15 ml
pound = 454 grams
ounce (used for solids) = 28 grams
fluid ounce (fl. oz. – used for liquids) = 30 ml
Sometimes a recipe will also tell you to add a “pinch” or a “dash” of an
ingredient. These words simply mean a small amount. The word “pinch”
refers to the quantity you can take in two or three fingers, and it’s usually
used for solid seasonings – a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper. The word “dash”
refers to a small amount of a liquid – a dash of soy sauce, a dash of olive oil.
Cutting Actions
There are many different ways to cut something in the English language:
slice = cut into thin pieces
chop = cut something into square pieces
dice = cut something into smaller square pieces
mince = cut something into extremely small pieces – as small as you can
grate = make small fragments of something by rubbing it against a
surface such as a grater. We usually grate cheese.
peel = remove the skin from a fruit or vegetable
mash/crush = press something with force; ex. mashed potatoes
Seasoning & Mixing Actions
After all the ingredients are ready, it’s time to put them together. The verbs
typically used for mixing are:
mix/combine = put two or more things together
blend/puree = mix ingredients very well using a blender
stir = to mix something using a spoon
knead = this verb is used specifically for dough for bread, cakes,
cookies, and so on. It refers to folding, pressing, and stretching the
dough with your hands.
The word “seasoning” refers to adding spices for flavor. Sometimes we let
meat or vegetables sit in a mixture of flavorful liquids for several hours before
cooking – this is called marinating. If a recipe tells you to season or add salt
“to taste,” it means add as much or as little as you like.
spices
Heating/Cooling Actions
Some recipes tell you to pre-heat the oven – that means you need to turn the
oven on about 15 minutes before you plan to put the food in.
bake / roast = cook something inside the oven. We typically use “bake”
for things like bread, cakes, and muffins, and “roast” for meat and
vegetables
boil = cook something in very hot water. We boil pasta. After it is
finished cooking, you need to drain the pasta to remove the
water.
steam = cook something ABOVE very hot water; it’s the water vapor
that cooks the food. Vegetables are often steamed.
fry = cook something in oil
sauté = cook something in a very small amount of oil or butter
simmer = cook something on the stove on very low heat. Some recipes
tell you to simmer with the pot or pan either “covered” or “uncovered.”
What about some verbs for making something cold?
let cool = stop heating the food and let the temperature drop naturally
chill = put something in the refrigerator
freeze = put something in the freezer
When you take something – such as chicken – out of the freezer and let it
warm up to room temperature, this is called thawing or defrosting the
chicken. And when you heat something solid – like butter or cheese – so that it
becomes liquid, this is called melting the butter or cheese.
Finishing Actions
As a final step, you can drizzle, dust, or sprinkle an ingredient onto the
finished dish. All of these words mean to add a very small amount of
something on top of the food.
Drizzle is used for liquids – drizzle chocolate syrup over an ice cream sundae.
Dust is used for tiny particles, such as sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle is used
for small pieces of something – sprinkle bits of bacon on a salad.
And of course, when you bring the food to the table, you are serving it.
Pronunciation Practice
cuisine, dish, specialty, recipe, cup, teaspoon, tablespoon, pound, ounce, fluid
ounce, pinch, dash, ingredient, slice, chop, dice, mince, grate, peel, mash, crush,
mix, combine, blend, puree, stir, knead, spices, marinate, pre-heat, bake, roast,
boil, drain, steam, fry, sauté, simmer, let cool, chill, freeze, thaw, defrost, melt,
drizzle, dust, sprinkle, serve
Quiz – Lesson 4
1) Add just a of hot pepper to the soup - not too much.
A. pound
B. ounce
C. pinch
2) After making the soup, let it for a minute before serving.
A. cool
B. defrost
C. freeze
3) Everything at that snack bar is a calorie bomb - practically all the food there
is .
A. fried
B. roasted
C. steamed
4) Indian food has a lot of interesting , giving it a unique flavor.
A. dashes
B. spices
C. sprinkles
5) I've never tried Vietnamese - what's it like?
A. cuisine
B. recipe
C. specialty
6) Put the chicken into the soy sauce and ginger and let it overnight.
A. combine
B. marinate
C. mince
7) Serve the iced tea with a of lemon.
A. dice
B. mince
C. slice
8) She a fresh loaf of banana bread.
A. baked
B. blended
C. boiled
9) He cut his finger while some vegetables.
A. chopping
B. drizzling
C. stirring
10) The final step in the recipe is to the cookies with a bit of cinnamon.
A. crush
B. dust
C. grate
11) To make a caramel sauce, you can heat a cup of sugar in a pan until it
.
A. melts
B. purees
C. thaws
12) Should I these potatoes, or leave the skin on?
A. dash
B. knead
C. peel
The quiz answers are at the end of this lesson.
Vocabulary Practice
1. What countries' cuisines do you like/dislike? Which cuisines do you want
to try?
2. What are some of your favorite dishes to order when you go out to eat?
3. Describe some of the specialties of your country or region
4. Do you enjoy cooking? Why or why not?
5. Describe how one of your favorite dishes is prepared. You don't need to
give exact measurements, just a general idea.
6. Have you ever tried to make a dish, but it didn’t turn out well? What
happened?
Quiz Answers:
1.C 2.A 3.A 4.B 5.A 6.B 7.C 8.A 9.A 10.B 11.A 12.C
