Mise en place your vocabulary with these culinary gems.
The consistency where a sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon without immediately running off, creating that Instagram-worthy 'finger swipe test.' When your sauce has finally achieved peak cling. Also: The correct consistency for a sauce to coat the back of a spoon in a thin, even layer without immediately running off. It's thicker than water but thinner than your excuses for overcooking the sauce.
A cooking philosophy that uses every part of an animal, from snout to tail, because waste is bad and also because chefs realized they could charge premium prices for parts butchers used to throw away. Oxtail went from peasant food to $35 an entree real quick.
To reheat food in a microwave, usually said with mild shame in professional kitchens where microwaves are considered the lowest form of cooking technology. Every chef's guilty secret.
Literally 'hazelnut' in French—used to describe hazelnut-colored browned butter, or a small, rounded portion of meat or vegetable. It's cute and delicious, which is a rare combination.
To coat food with sauce so it's completely covered in a thin, even layer. Also the quality of a sauce having the right consistency to coat properly.
A sugary liquid secreted by flowers to attract pollinators, particularly bees; also used metaphorically to describe any delicious drink or something supremely delightful. In classical mythology, nectar was the drink of the gods.
A sturdy, naturally yellow or buff-colored cotton fabric originating from Nanjing, China, often used for trousers and other garments. Also called nankin or nankin cotton.
A reformulated version of Coca-Cola introduced in 1985 that changed the drink's flavor profile in an attempt to compete with Pepsi-Cola. The product was widely rejected by consumers and became one of the most famous marketing failures in corporate history, leading to the quick reintroduction of the original formula as 'Coca-Cola Classic.'
A smooth-skinned variety of peach (Prunus persica var. nectarina) with fuzz-free skin, sweet juicy flesh, and a large central stone. The smooth skin is due to a recessive genetic mutation and makes it distinct from its fuzzy peach cousins.
A candy produced by Nestlé consisting of tiny, crunchy, fruity spheres in bright colors, often sold in dual-chambered boxes with different flavors in each section. Known for their tangy-sweet taste and distinctive shape and crunch.
A warm spice derived from the seed of the nutmeg tree (Myristica fragrans), with a slightly sweet and nutty flavor used in both sweet and savory dishes. It's also a colloquial reference to Connecticut, known as the 'Nutmeg State.'
A chewy or hard confection made from sugar or honey, nuts, and sometimes egg whites or gelatin, often found in candy bars and traditional sweets. Nougat varies in texture from soft and pillowy to brittle depending on preparation and ingredients.