Acidulation - This is the process of adding acid to a dish. It is usually acid that comes from vinegar, wine, citrus fruits such as lemons and limes, yogurt, and even buttermilk. It helps to balance out flavors and might even be used to tenderize meat or to alter the texture of something. This technique can also be used to slow down the browning or certain food items such as apples and pears but lowering the pH level.
Bain Marie - This is also known as a hot water bath or a double boiler. It’s when you have a smaller container that you place into a bigger container filled with some water. Some examples of this are ramekins placed in a baking dish or deep tray of water, or it can also be a bowl on top of a pot of simmering water on the stove. It is used to cook certain dishes or for melting ingredients such as chocolate.
Blanching - It is a method also known as ‘shocking’ ingredients or food items mostly vegetables and fruits. It involves quickly submerging it in boiling water for a very short amount of time and then quickly transferring it into iced water to stop the cooking process. This method can be done to help lessen cooking time when prepping ingredients in advance, it also reduces pesticides and microbes that may be on the ingredient, it can loosen the skin of the ingredient if you are trying to peel something, and lastly it is also known to make the color of the ingredient more vivid.
Chiffonade - It is a French term which translates into ‘made of rags’. It refers to thinly slicing or chopping vegetables or herbs. It’s to slice something into ribbons to lessen cooking time or to break down the fibers in a vegetable. You’ll see this technique commonly used when preparing herbs to use as garnish. Usually you take a few leaves of a herb such as basil, create a neat pile and roll it into one to make it easier for slicing.
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