Menu Glossary

Anglaise – custard

Avruga – a small black fish roe from the northern hemisphere Herring fish, smaller in size and a little more salty than the “real” caviar of sturgeon

Barberry – a pinkish red fruit often used in the Middle East for savoury dishes, also common to Eastern Europe.  Commonly dried, they are fruity sweet but zesty flavour

Bastilla - rolled lamb in filo pastry

Bottarga – the dried roe (eggs) of the Mullet, pressed and used sparingly.  Delicacy around the North Africa and Mediterranean

Bourek - meat wrapped in filo pastry

Bubble and squeak oat cake – potatoes and spring onions

Burghal - cracked wheat

Cassis - blackcurrant liquer

Cremeux - set patisserie cream

Coddled - gently or lightly cooked

Cotechino – a coarse Italian pork sausage, lots of herbs and spices , but not hot !

Cypriot flavours – lemon, olive oil and marjoram (wild oregano)

Espuma - Spanish term for foam

Escabeche – a Portuguese method of curing/pickling fish or poultry flavoured with saffron, garlic, lemon, olive oil, carrots, shallot and thyme

Galangal - a root spice used mainly in Southern Asia and Indiaq, looks similar to a ginger root, much harder and a reddish yellow skin.  The flavour is gingery, slightly peppery and aromatic

Gravadlax – fish cold-cured with sugar, salt, and fresh dill, raw

Green Nam jim – a Thai dressing made with green chilli, garlic, coriander, palm sugar, fish sauce and coconut

Griotine Cherries - cherries soaked in brandy for years

Harissa - North African hot chilli sauce

Heirloom – meaning various varieties of vegetables that were once the original vegetable before mass cultivation changed what we see today as “regular fruit and veg” –before yield and volume became the overruling factor in growing and production

Kaitifi - Lebanese /Middle Eastern pastry, very finely shredded straw like pastry, can be adapted to either sweet or savoury purposes

Kirsch – clear cherry brandy

Kupi Mayo - otherwise known as Japanese mayonnaise, a slightly sweet but very textured mayonnaise

Labna - sheep’s milk yoghurt that has been hung in muslin cloth for 24 hrs to remove all the excess water – resulting in a cheese like firm yoghurt

Marquise – set dark chocolate mousse

Marie Rose sauce – blend of ketchup and mayonnaise

Muscatel – dried grapes

Muscavado Sugar – a dark brown cane sugar with distinctive caramel molasses flavour to it

Palmier – puff pastry discs in a scroll shape, commonly known as dog’s ears

Pangratato – A coarse breadcrumb toasted in olive oil and herbs, used to sprinkle over various Italian dishes for crunch and flavour

Persillade – a parsley, garlic and lemon zest butter

Pistou – the French version of pesto, but without the parmesan cheese

Porcini – full flavoured mushroom

Sable langue de Chat – Sable means sand/shortbread ‘’Cats tongues’’ refers to the shape – biscuits

Sauce Vierge – olive oil dressing flavoured with coriander seed, lemon, garlic, shallot and often garnished with diced tomato and olive oil

Shichimi – A common Japanese spice mixture. The main ingredient is coarsely ground red chilli pepper, to which is typically added: mandarin, orange peel, sesame seed, poppy seed, hemp seed, nori, ground sansho (a relative of Sichuan pepper)

Sous Vide - cooking method that uses airtight plastic bags placed in hot water

Soused shallot – soused means to pickle in vinegar and herbs

Tamarind – a dried fruit in pulp form, with a very sour and bitter flavour – used for seasoning

Valdeon - blue cheese, soaked in red wine and vine leaves

Wagyu – a breed of cow that’s developed and groomed to provide very high quality and quantity of marbled fat through the flesh with grading going up to Score 12. The same breed used for Kobe beef in Japan that sells for in excess of $400 per kg

Wasabi - A root spice of Japanese origin, now locally grown in Tasmania and the Yarra Valley. It looks like fresh horseradish as a fresh root, but smaller, very powerful in flavour but cleaner flavours than the usual green processed Wasabi that commonly seen