Make Me Cook

Have you ever gandered at a word in a recipe of on a fanchy shmancy menu and wondered silently to yourself “What in the hell does that means?!”

I like to think that I know my stuff, but every once in a while some weird word rears its ugly head and I am left sitting there shaking my head dumbfounded and clueless. I hate it when that happens! So what I am going to do for the next 26 days is start a little ABC Food Class. I’m going to start with A and we are gonna end up at Z, everyday some new fancy shmancy word, complete with definition. You can sport that fancy word around to all your friends and let them admire your giant encyclopedia-sized brain of food knowledge.

Food ABCs - Letter A
Assiette
Okay, no it’s not a fancy way to say “ass” or a feminine way of saying it either. Assiette is a french word. It is used to describe an assortment, well in fact it means assortment plate.
The word itself can actually change several meanings depending on the verb that it is paired up with, but in the culinary world it refers to a plate of assorted edible items.
Mostly these items are things such as cheeses or salt cured meats.
So the next time you serve up that nibblets tray of cheeses you can call it Assiette de Formage.
And for that salami and ham platter boldly exclaim you are now serving your special Assiette de Charcuterie!

Stay Tuned for the letter B tomorrow!