H
Haddock - of the
cod family, this fish is white-fleshed and is good to use in any recipe
calling for cod. Smoked, it is known as Finnan Haddid. Poached, and
served with drawn butter, it has a faint hint of the flavor of lobster.
Haggamuggie / Haggis
- the minced innards of an animal cooked with oatmeal and suet.
Traditionally, a meat pudding or sausage was make then boiled in the
cleaned stomach bag of the sheep.
Hake - of the cod
family, this fish is easy to fillet and has soft white flesh.
Half-and-Half; Half & Half
- is a mixture of equal parts milk and cream, and is 10 to 12 percent
milk fat. It cannot be whipped.
Halva - a sweet
dish or candy made from ground sesame seeds, fruit or vegetables. Near
Eastern in origin.
Hang - to
tenderize game or meat by hanging in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place.
Hard Sauce - a
sweet liquor-flavored sauce traditionally served on hot puddings and
cold cake. Often offered at Christmas with plum pudding.
Hardtack - a
sailors name for sea biscuits.
Hare - a wild
rabbit with a strong gamey flavor. This is not a wild version of the
rabbits raised domestically for food in Europe and some parts of the
United States, but another type. It may not be used in place of rabbit
in a recipe.
Hash - a recipe
using leftovers, this dish is made by dicing pre-cooked meats and/or
vegetables, and cooking with seasonings, minced onions, herbs, or sauce
in a frying pan until crisp.
Haslet - country
dish of pork sweetbreads, heart and liver. It is cooked in a casserole,
fried, stewed or ground with onions and prepared as a sausage.
Headcheese - a
molded jelly or sausage made from pig’s or calf’s head stewed with herbs
and seasonings; it includes meat.
Heart - the heart
of sheep, calf , ox and pig is used as a variety meat in many popular
dishes.
Hearthcakes - the
English name for a French round cake. Each region in France creates its
own version. The first hearthcakes were baked on the hearth in hot
ashes.
Hen - a female
bird. Commercially raised hen-chickens are tender. Hen is also a term
applied to the female of various aquatic creatures, lobster for one.
Herbs - any of a
large group of annual and perennial plants whose leaves, stems or
flowers are used as a flavoring; usually available fresh and dried.
Het Pint - a
Scottish drink used for special occasions. It is a heated mixture of
ale, eggs, whiskey and nutmeg.
High Altitude Cooking & Baking
- Simply put, the weight of air on any surface it comes in contact with
is called air (or atmospheric) pressure. There's less (or lower) air
pressure at high altitudes because the blanket of air above is thinner
than it would be at sea level. As a result, at sea level water boils at
212°F; at an altitude of 7,500 feet, however, it boils at about 198°F
because there's not as much air pressure to inhibit the boiling action.
This also means that because at high altitudes boiling water is 14
degrees cooler than at sea level, foods will take longer to cook because
they're heating at a lower temperature. Lower air pressure also causes
boiling water to evaporate more quickly in a high altitude. This
decreased air pressure means that adjustments in some ingredients and
cooking time and temperature will have to be made for high-altitude
baking, as well as some cooking techniques such as candy making,
deep-fat frying and canning. In general, no recipe adjustment is
necessary for yeast-risen baked goods, although allowing the dough or
batter to rise twice before the final pan rising develops a better
flavor.
Source: © Copyright Barron's
Educational Services, Inc. 1995 based on THE FOOD LOVER'S COMPANION, 2nd
edition, by Sharon Tyler Herbst.
Hip - bright
reddish orange fruit of roses, particularly species roses, as Rosa
rugosa. It contains vitamin C and is used to make a tea, and for jams
and syrups.
Hochepot / Hotchpotch
- a Belgian dish of considerable antiquity, a very thick soup
traditionally made with brisket of beef, shoulder and breast of mutton,
shoulder of veal, pigs feet, ears and tails, chippolata sausages,
onions, assorted vegetables, herbs and condiments. The meat garnished
with vegetables is served separately from the broth. Probably associated
with the phrase, hodgepodge, which refers to a jumble of things all
mixed together. England has a “hot pot” which probably is a version of
the Belgian dish.
Hock - British
term for any white Rhine wine. Also, a cut of meat from the leg of an
animal, valued for soups, stews and jellies.
Hoisin - a thick,
reddish-brown, sweet-and-spicy sauce made from soybeans, garlic, chiles
and various spices and used as a condiment and flavoring in Chinese
cuisines; also known as Peking sauce.
Hollandaise - a
sauce made of butter, egg, and lemon juice or vinegar.
Hominy - hulled
corn with the germ removed. Hominy grits are uniform granules that are
boiled and served as a breakfast cereal or as an accompaniment to a main
dish or fish, meat or poultry.
Homogenized -
treatment for milk that breaks the fat into tiny particles that can
remain suspended in liquid rather than rising to the top as cream in
untreated milk.
Honey - a sweet,
usually viscous, liquid made by bees from flower nectar and stored in
the cells of the hive for food; generally contains 17 to 20% water and
76 to 80% sucrose; consumed fresh or after processing, it is usually
used as a nutritive sweetener.
Hopping John; Hoppin' John
- a southern U.S. dish of black-eyed peas cooked with a ham hock and
served over white rice.
Hors d’oeuvres -
a light food, hot or cold, prepared for small servings, to be eaten
before the main meal. The American equivalent is an appetizer. Hors
d’oeuvres were originally served on a sideboard apart from the dining
table and before the meal.
Hot Bag - an
extra heavy duty aluminum foil bag, pre-sealed on three sides to make a
large and durable pouch.
Hot Sauce - a
seasoning sauce, usually commercially made, containing chile peppers,
salt and vinegar.
Huitlacoche [wee-tlah-KOH-cheh]
- (also spelled cuitlacoche; also referred to as 'Mexican corn truffle')
is a fungus which grows naturally on ears of corn (Ustilago maydis). The
fungus is harvested and treated as a delicacy. The earthy and somewhat
smoky fungus is used to flavor quesadillas, tamales, soups and other
specialty dishes.
Humble Pie -
“umbles” are the heart, liver, kidney and other innards of a deer.
Servants once made this into a pie for themselves and coined the phrase
“humble pie”. Today the connotation is one who accepts a humble status
or humiliating treatment voluntarily.
Hush Puppies - a
dish made of fried cornmeal batter. The term is said to have originated
at a southern fish fry where the cooks fried extra bits of fish batter
to throw to the noisy dogs to hush the puppies.
