What is your most loathed cooking terminology?

[GotGarlic]

I was actually writing that about separating them before roasting. I find that at least one side of the skin comes off of about a quarter of the garlic cloves when I separate them from a raw garlic bulb. Seems to me that it was far fewer that did that with soft neck garlic, which I don't see nearly as often nowadays.

Oh, I see. I'm not sure having the skin on is actually necessary for roasting garlic. I have a terra cotta garlic roaster like this (I don't usually buy unitaskers for the kitchen, but this was an exception )

 

[taxlady]

I can see how that garlic roaster would protect the garlic flesh from burning or drying out.

I was actually replying about Pepper's suggestion:

Another way of doing that, that I got from Rick Bayless, is to leave the skins on the cloves of garlic, and tossing them in a medium to med-high skillet for about 7 minutes. They get some dark spots on them, and taste incredibly like roasted garlic.

 

[pepperhead212]

I know what you mean, TL, and I notice a few cloves that do that. But I just set those aside for normal things - I'm always using garlic for something! If I get a larger number of them than I need right away, I'll stick them in a small glass jar, and stick that in the fridge.

 

[Jade Emperor]

Absolutely agree about the recommended cooking time for some recipes being just downright wrong.
But if you have some experience cooking, then you will identify these errors almost instantly.
I feel sorry for people new to cooking and really wish recipe writers would advise more carefully.

 

[Linda0818]

I was thinking about how I first started cooking/baking. I was always told that if you follow the recipe without deviation, step by step - it would be perfect.

No wonder so many, who would like to cook, get discouraged by things like this.

I can't count how many recipes I've had to adjust because, following the recipe exact, did not work out very well.

 

[Linda0818]

As a matter of fact, I am making a roasted garlic and Kalamata olive focaccia today.

I'll bet that was amazing. I adore roasted garlic!

 

[Andy M.]

Absolutely agree about the recommended cooking time for some recipes being just downright wrong.
But if you have some experience cooking, then you will identify these errors almost instantly.
I feel sorry for people new to cooking and really wish recipe writers would advise more carefully.

Agree. It's those new to cooking people who rely on a recipe the most. You'd hate to see then turned off to cooking because a recipe turned out badly through no fault of their own.

 

[fmw]

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.

Coriander is a seed and therefore a spice. Cilantro is the leaf of the same plant and is an herb. That is the difference. The two items aren't substituted for one another in recipes.

 

[taxlady]

Coriander is a seed and therefore a spice. Cilantro is the leaf of the same plant and is an herb. That is the difference. The two items aren't substituted for one another in recipes.

Yes, of course you don't substitute one for the other. But, we used the term coriander greens for the leaves in living memory. It's a perfectly good English term. I see no good reason for switching to Spanish for everyday usage. If someone is relating the name of a dish from a Spanish speaking area/country and the name of the dish is in Spanish, then of course the word cilantro is fine.

 

[dragnlaw]

I had no idea of the origins of either of those names. Any more than I know the origins of oregano or any herb and/or spice. I grew up using those names, so to me it is not spanish - any more than Gesundheit, I learned much later when we moved to Germany - was not english!

Funny story - One day a woman living in Germany sneezed while in a store. Someone said "Gesundheit!" and she replied "Oh my, it's so good to hear English!"

 

[KatyCooks]

Agree. It's those new to cooking people who rely on a recipe the most. You'd hate to see then turned off to cooking , because a recipe turned out badly through no fault of their own.

Yes, I agree. After decades of following recipes (new ones), if I get a failed result and it is a website recipe I do tend to give feedback and mention the cooking times if they don't work. (And I always read the feedback on online recipes before cooking - possibly a top tip for new cooks!)

 

[fmw]

Yes, of course you don't substitute one for the other. But, we used the term coriander greens for the leaves in living memory. It's a perfectly good English term. I see no good reason for switching to Spanish for everyday usage. If someone is relating the name of a dish from a Spanish speaking area/country and the name of the dish is in Spanish, then of course the word cilantro is fine.

The plant is called coriander so calling the herb coriander leaves is fine with me. I was just providing the common names distiguishing the coriander spice from the coriander herb. The names are pretty much universal in the U.S.

 

[taxlady]

In Spanish, cilantro is used for the plant and the seeds.

 

[KatyCooks]

In the UK, there is Coriander herb, and Coriander Seed, and the seed is either whole, or ground. If I see a recipe that says cilantro, I will usually assume it means the leaf. (But it is obviously just common sense to work out whether it is the leaf or the seed that is being referenced in the recipe.)

 

[Badjak]

Back to roasted garlic for a bit:
I seperate, but don't peel.
Make a little slit at the bottom (root) end and throw in the pan when frying bacon, pork chop or whatever.
They are ready when the meat is done. Just press at the top end and the garlic smurry comes out easily.

Coriander, to me, would be the seeds. Coriander leaves, obviously, the leaves and coriander root, the (guess what) roots.

Nice thing is you can eat the whole plant.

Cooking terms: I suppose when targetting new cooks, things should be specified.
By all means use "cook till done" for more experienced cooks, but then state something like: use a fork, knitting needle or whatever to check.if the potatoes are soft on the inside (or whatever else I can do to know it's "done")

 

[Chipmunk]

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?

I’m with you regarding hack! Drives me nuts

 

[KatyCooks]

I’m with you regarding hack! Drives me nuts

I, too, loathe "hack".

 

[GotGarlic]

I've been coming across another term that's getting on my nerves lol

"I'm starting on my (bread-making, etc.) journey..."

Everything is a *journey* these days. Wth?

 

[KatyCooks]

But GG, isn't life a "journey"?

 

[Silversage]

I agree - Hack is the worst.

Another one I see frequently, is 'experiment'. I belong to a couple of Sous Vide groups, and people (almost exclusively men) don't make dinner - they do tonight's experiment. It's like the terminology of 'making dinner' is beneath them, so they perform some kind of top-level scientific experiment. Drives me batty. Cooking dinner in a sous vide bath is no longer an experiment - I've been doing it over 10 years. You are making dinner - just ike your wife does the other 6 nights of the week.

I an very happy that the men on DC are cooks, not scientists.