FOCUS ON LANQUAGE

WHEN IS A DISH A PLATE?

epicure/ gourment

A person whose taste in food and drink is highly refined and who greatly enjoys indulging that taste is likely to be known as an epicure or gourmet. Those who see a slight difference in meaning between the two words are apt to think of the gourmet as taking particular pride in his or her ability to appreciate subtle differences in flavor and quality. A bon vivant, too, is interested in good food and drink but considers them, along with all the other luxuries of life, best shared with like-minded companions. A gastronome (sometimes called a gastronomer or gastronomist) goes beyond enjoying and having a discriminating taste for food and drink: he or she is an expert in all phases of the art or science of good eating.

Though sometimes thought of as being the same as a gourmet, a gourmand is more inclined to eat to excess out of a 1iking for good food. A glutton is a greedy, voracious eater and drinker, more concerned with quantity than quality. The term comes from a Latin verb meaning “to devour” and is related to a word for “gullet.” Another hearty eater is a trencherman or trencherwoman, the word trencher being used here in the sense of “a serving board or platter” or “a supply of food.” Once trencherman designated a person who frequents a patron’s table – someone who today might be called a parasite, a hanger-on, or a sponger – but this meaning has fal1en into disuse.

dish / plate

There is no clear-cut distinction between the porcelain, earthenware, glass, or plastic vessels in which food is held and served and those from which it is eaten. In the most general terms, a shallow, concave container used for holding or serving food is called a dish, and a shallow, circular dish used for eating food is called a plate. So a set of dishes, for example, might have six dinner plates. Yet a dessert can be both served in and eaten from a dessert dish.

Some serving dishes have special names, depending on their function. One that is large, quite flat, and ova1, and is often used for meat or fish, is called a platter. One that is large and deep, has a lid, and is used for soups, stews, and the like, is called a tureen. One that is boat-shaped, for serving gravy, is called a gravy boat. One that is large, deep, rounded, and open at the top, and is used for serving various foods, including fruit, is likely to be called a bowl. During a meal one might transfer, say, an apple from a bowl to one’s plate. Yet cereal is usually eaten from a bowl, not easily from a plate. So bowls are not limited to serving.

broth / bouillon

Broth, bouillon, and consomme are alike in that all three are clear soups, all three are prepared much the same way, and all three are considered basic by most cooks.
Broth is made by simmering meat, poultry, game, fish, or shellfish in water, often with vegetables or herbs. Once the fat is removed, the liquid is strained.
Bouillon is clear, seasoned broth or stock, usually made from browned beef. (Stock, used as the basis of soups and sauces, is a richly flavored broth made of fish, meat, or poultry with vegetables or sometimes vegetables alone.) A bouillom cube is a small cube of concentrated chicken, meat, or vegetable stock that makes a broth when combined with boiling water.
Consomme, too, is a clear, strong broth or stock. It is typically made from a combination of two or more kinds of meat, such as beef, veal, and poultry, p1us some vegetables. Well seasoned and strained, it is served either as a hot soup or a cold jelly.
English borrowed bouillon and consommй from French, but broth is a native English word.

dough / batter

What sets dough and batter apart is their consistency, and this is determined by the proportion of their two main ingredients: flour and liquid. Batter, as used in pancakes, waffles, muffins, and cakes, is typically thin enough to be poured, easily dropped from a spoon, or squeezed through a pastry bag. Dough, as used in breads, rolls, pie crusts, and most cookies, is typically thick enough to be rolled, kneaded, or pushed from a spoon with the finger.
A shallow pan with a handle, for frying food, is usually called a frying pan, though often frypan or skillet. In some parts of the United States a cast-iron frying pan is known as a spider, because it originally had legs for use on a hearth.

mutton / beef

The flesh of animals that is used as food is commonly called meat, particularly if it comes from mammals and, sometimes, from fowl, but not from fish. Mutton is the flesh of a full-grown or more mature sheep, while lamb is the flesh of a young sheep. Beef is the flesh of a full-grown ox, cow, bull, or steer, while veal is the flesh of a calf (a young cow or bull) . Pork is the flesh of a pig or hog, especially when used fresh, or uncured. Ham is a cut of pork, from the upper part of a hog’s hind leg, sometimes fresh but more often salted, dried, or smoked.

steak / chop

A steak is generally a slice of meat (especially beef) or of a 1arge fish, cut thick for broiling or frying. It may also be ground beef cooked the same way. A fillet is a boneless, lean piece of meat or fish. If meat, it is likely to be the beef tenderloin. A thick, round cut of lean beef tenderloin that is broiled, often with a bacon strip wrapped around it, is called filet mignon. This term, which means literally “tiny fillet” in French, is almost always written with the single-l variant spelling of fillet.

A chop is an individual slice, usually of mutton, veal, lamb, or pork, that is cut (or chopped), along with a piece of bone, from the rib, loin, or shoulder. A cutlet is usually considered to he a small slice of meat, especially of veal or mutton, cut from the ribs or leg. It is broiled or fried, in the latter case often served breaded. In another sense, a cutlet is a small, flat croquette of chopped meat or fish.

jam /jelly

Various kinds of foods are made by boiling fruit with a large amount of sugar or, nowadays, with artificial sweeteners. Jam is a thick mixture resulting from the boiling of fruit pulp and sugar. Jelly, made by cooling fruit juice that has been boiled with sugar, is soft, resilient, partially transparent, semisolid, and gelatinous. Preserves are, as the name suggests, any fruit preserved whole or in large pieces as it is cooked with sugar. Marmalade is a jamlike preserve made by boiling the pulp, and usually the sliced-up rinds, of oranges or some other fruits, together with sugar. Conserves are a kind of jam made of two or more fruits, often with nuts or raisins added.