What is your most loathed cooking terminology?

[Jade Emperor]

Mine is “hack”. No, it’s not a hack, it’s a variation or different technique. It’s a term that is widely used and incorrectly, which gets really annoying.

My other is one that I notice gets used more frequently nowadays. On television cooking shows, the cook will say “go in “. For example “I’ve sifted the flour, now I go in with butter “ etc. Every ingredient, they “go in” with. Sure, it’s not really important but it just grinds my gears every time I hear it!

What say you?

 

[Janet H]

Imprecise terms make me a little crazy. Dash, pinch, add-in, etc. If I have never prepared the dish or eaten it before I need more help. As an example: "Now, add in the butter" Do I cut it in, melt and stir in, pitch a whole chunk in, etc??

 

[Andy M.]

"bone broth" we don't need new names for old foods.

 

[taxlady]

Cilantro. We have been using the word coriander in English since at least the 14th century. Why do we have to substitute a Spanish word for something we have had a name for during a very long time? Coriander greens and coriander seeds.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Unctuous

Seriously, cooking person, you do realize that the meaning of the word is greasy or oily, right? Like a man's hair grooming product? Or my mechanic's coveralls? Try using "buttery" or "rich mouth feel" the next time.

 

[Badjak]

extra virgin olive oil.....
just a pet peeve. All olive oil I ever see is marked extra virgin, but I'm sure it is not.
Real extra virgin should just be used for salad dressing etc in my opinion

And umami....
It's overused

 

[dragnlaw]

Medium size - a medium sized carrot, potato, onion, squash, cucumber....

ARGGGGGGG

 

[Andy M.]

Medium size - a medium sized carrot, potato, onion, squash, cucumber....

ARGGGGGGG

I am generally annoyed by the imprecision of ingredients. A cup of shredded cheese. Do you just grate it into a cup? Do you press it down so you can fit more in? Is it finely shredded or thickly shredded? Just tell me ". . .four ounces of shredded cheese." Same goes for other imprecise units of measure, flour being a prime example. Go by weight, the conversion is right on the flour bag!

 

[GotGarlic]

Shatteringly crisp...
Meltingly tender...
SO overused in food writing.

Hack is another one for me, although I do recognize that slang changes over time and that's all this is really.

 

[GotGarlic]

I am generally annoyed by the imprecision of ingredients. A cup of shredded cheese. Do you just grate it into a cup? Do you press it down so you can fit more in? Is it finely shredded or thickly shredded? Just tell me ". . .four ounces of shredded cheese." Same goes for other imprecise units of measure, flour being a prime example. Go by weight, the conversion is right on the flour bag!

"Four ounces of shredded cheese" is still pretty imprecise. It gives you the weight, but not how thickly or thinly it should be shredded. Hopefully the rest of the recipe gives more hints.

 

[Phaedra]

It's the "only x minutes preparation time" that bugs me. Maybe it only takes that long for him/her, but not everyone can rush around like they can.

 

[dragnlaw]

and can we add in the terminology used by bloggers?

How did I ever live without this?
I could eat this everyday!

need I go on?

 

[dragnlaw]

Cilantro. We have been using the word coriander in English since at least the 14th century. Why do we have to substitute a Spanish word for something we have had a name for during a very long time? Coriander greens and coriander seeds.

I disagree... Cilantro is an herb. Coriander is a spice.

 

[taxlady]

I am generally annoyed by the imprecision of ingredients. A cup of shredded cheese. Do you just grate it into a cup? Do you press it down so you can fit more in? Is it finely shredded or thickly shredded? Just tell me ". . .four ounces of shredded cheese." Same goes for other imprecise units of measure, flour being a prime example. Go by weight, the conversion is right on the flour bag!

That's one of the reasons that for Danish recipes, I use mostly one site. Here's an example of an ingredient list. All the underlined ingredients have that hover-over-box that you can see in this screenshot:


That's for the "Flødeost, naturel", which is plain cream cheese. "tsk." = tsp. and "spsk." = Tbsp. They even tell you that the 300 grams of onion is peeled onion. The flyover tells you that an average peeled onion weighs approximately 150g., just in case you don't have a scale.

 

[taxlady]

I disagree... Cilantro is an herb. Coriander is a spice.

That's the new way of understanding it. I think they still use the term coriander for the greens in the UK. They just specify if it's the leaves or the seeds. Easy, peasy.

 

[dragnlaw]

I have never seen a recipe that differentiates between seeds and greens. Sprinkle with some coriander to finish.... is a new cook going to know the difference?
Some, correction, I would say even MOST people don't even know they are the same plant.

They even tell you that the 300 grams of onion is peeled onion. The flyover tells you that an average peeled onion weighs approximately 150g., just in case you don't have a scale.

Here again.... what is average?

 

[Phaedra]

Here again.... what is average?

The size that fits into the palm of your hand. What? You mean different people have different sized hands?

 

[GinnyPNW]

Small, medium, large...pot, veggie, etc. More info, please!

 

[Andy M.]

"Four ounces of shredded cheese" is still pretty imprecise. It gives you the weight, but not how thickly or thinly it should be shredded. Hopefully the rest of the recipe gives more hints.

With the weight measurement you're at least getting the right amount of cheese. Also, if the cheese melts in the dish, shred size becomes immaterial.

 

[Jade Emperor]

These are something I picked up from a thrift shop. They are clearly just a novelty but they are cute and fun - just as I like in my kitchen