By Holly Dayton ’13, Lens Section Editor

This little article is for those of you out there who can’t tell the difference between a box grater and a whisk. A few basic kitchen terms and cooking styles will give you a baseline knowledge for any form of gastronomic adventure you may have down the road!

Cooking styles-

Bake: to cook in an oven by basic dry heat, also as the verb for doing any form of pastry or dessert

Roast: baking a meat

Saute: to cook in a hot pan containing some form of oil or fat

Sear: to press to a heat source like a pan or grill to get a burn mark

Stew: to cook food by simmering it or slowly boiling it in liquid

Braising: to cook meat by searing it in fat then  stewing it in very little liquid

Molecular gastronomy: the use of chemicals and compounds to alter the state of a food to produce a unique food experience (example, olive oil powder)

Utensils-

Whisk: a ball of wires (usually metal) used to mix ingredients

Spatula: DOUBLE MEANING! 1. flat tool used to pick up foods 2. bendy tool used to scrape bowls

Box grater: a metal box with four different grating styles for cheese or vegetables

Zester: a small grater used to get the finely grated skins of fruits, like lemons or limes

Garlic Press:an implement that uses the squeeze of a hand to press garlic into fine pieces

Melon baller: a device with a larger and smaller end, usually used for making small balls of melons, but can also be used to great effect as a corer of fruits

Sharp scissors: used to cut up herbs or deal with pastry dough

Onion goggles: a modern marvel, a pair of glasses rimmed in foam that prevent the gas secreted by chopped onions from reaching the eyes and causing you to cry; also can be used by people who wear contacts when they open a hot oven to prevent momentary blindness

Pastry blender: a wider sort of whisk that forms a arch instead of a ball and is used in making doughs

Pastry fork: an over-sized fork used to integrate fat and flour in making dough

Colander: a strainer for draining pasta water or washing foods

To close, all of the above listed are handy in the kitchen, but the most important things you probably already know: good-quality, sharp knives and legible measuring cups and spoons. Without those, any kitchen is in disarray. But if you keep your knives sharp by taking them to a knife sharpener, and you own a couple measuring cups, you are set for success in the kitchen! If you feel ambitious enough, you can try out your new culinary understanding on the apple pie recipe coming soon to the Lens!

Picture courtesy of http://www.couponing101.com/2010/07/baking-day-my-plan-and-recipes.html