Taco in Spanish means a sandwich made with a
tortilla. Like a sandwich, it can be made with almost any thing and
prepared in many different ways. The taco can be eaten as an entree or
snack. They are made with soft corn tortillas or fried corn tortillas
folded over.
Tahini is the equivalent of peanut butter; only it is
made from 100% crushed sesame seeds. It can be used as a sandwich spread,
or mixed with a variety of other seasonings such as garlic and onion or
cayenne pepper for a tasty dip or salad dressing. Tahini is a key
ingredient in humus, the traditional Middle Eastern chickpea spread.
Outdoor snack, meal or beverages originally served
from the back of a pick-up truck at any sporting event. Hot food prepared
on the grill at a sporting event. This is common in the United States.
Tamales are a Mexican dish consisting of
seasoned chopped meats or vegetables enclosed in corn masa (dough) and
wrapped in a softened cornhusk. The savory packages are steamed and the
cornhusks are peeled away before eating. In Mexico, tamales are often
served for special occasions, and the tradition of cooking tamales is
passed from generation to generation. For the preparation of tamales,
everyone in the family has a single task, from the oldest, who will
probably be the one who prepares the cornmeal dough, up to the youngest
that will cut the rope to wrap them.
The origin of the tamale is unknown. The journalist Marjorie Ross, author of the book Al calor del Fogón
("Near the Woodstove"), mentions that the origin of the "tamalli", the
original name of the tamale, was a typical food of the indigenous people
in the Pre-Columbian era. Many writings of Fray Benardino de Sahagún refer
to the variety of tamales found in the Aztec market places, as well as
those eaten in Montezuma's feasts.
Any type of food can be a tapa - anything that
is easy to eat so that the natural flow of conversation is not
interrupted. It is Spanish food served in small appetizer-sized portions.
The word translates as "cover." In Spain, tapas are served between meals,
or maybe before that late dinner that begins at 10:00 p.m., in tapas bars.
Lunch in Spain is traditionally served at 2:00 p.m. and dinner no earlier
than 10:00 p.m. Tapas can be as simple as a bowl of olives or something
more hearty such as stuffed potatoes. In many Spanish restaurants, tapas
are served free with a drink, the purpose being to keep you sober, and
keep you going. After all, when you went back to sip your drink you
weren't going to throw what covered the glass away. Just eat it! And get
another tapa in the process.
The history of the tapa is not really truly documented.
1: Some authors assure that tapas were born when, and due to an illness,
the Spanish King Alfonso X (1226-1285) had to take small bites of food
with some wine between meals. Once recovered from the disease, the king
ordered that in all inns of Castile's land, wine was not to be served
without something to eat.
2: Tapas originated in Andalucia, a Southern Province of Spain because
of the need of farmers and workers to take a small amount of food during
their working time to allow them to continue their job until the main meal
time came.
3: Another story that makes sense has to do with the Spanish
character. In the south of Spain, when someone ordered a glass of sherry
or wine in the company of friends, it became custom to top the glass
"tapar" with a slice of bread or sausage to keep insects and such out of
the glass during the inevitable and interminable conversation that took
place. This custom developed and what was served was popularly called the
"tapa". Tapas traditionally may have been a complimentary piece of ham
served on top of a glass of sherry (hence the word cover).
Tapioca in its fresh form is called
"Yuca," but Yuca is another name for what is the root of the cassava
plant. To confuse things further, this root is also known as "manioc,"
"mandioca," and in some instance "tapioca". Raw it has a bland and sticky
quality and is used in cooking the way you would a potato (it can be
boiled, mashed, fried, etc.).
Cassava is a bushy plant producing
tubers, the starchy underground stem of the plant, that have fed the
indigenous people of the Americas for millennia and much of Africa since
the 17th century. Cassava ranks sixth among crops in global production.
Cassava was introduced to Africa by the Portuguese more than 300 years ago
and today is the primary carbohydrate source in sub-Saharan Africa.
The tapioca most people are familiar with is either
tapioca flour or pearl tapioca , which is made from dried
cassava. Tapioca Flour: Flour made from Tapioca is a perfect susbstitute for flour made from maize, sorghum, wheat. etc. Tapioca can be used for the following.
Raw starch can be used in the production of seasoning powders, sauces, glucose, and bakery products.
Modified starch can be used as a feedstock from a number non-food industries, textiles, pharmaceuticals, glue, paper, and plywood.
It is used as a thickening agent in the same way as you would use
cornstarch. Pearl Tapioca: It comes in several sizes and is available either "regular" or "instant" and
it used to thicken custards, pie fillings, and puddings. Instant Pearl Tapioca: It is what is mostly available in supermarkets, whereas other forms of
tapioca can be obtained in health food stores, Asian, or Hispanic
markets.
Here is even more on Tapioca
Besides being easy to cultivate, tapioca contains more calories than many other crops. As a consequence , the production cost per calorie of tapioca is relatively very low, making it fit for cultivation
to feed people in developing countries with food problems such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Tapioca has a high carbohydrate content and is therefore suitable for the production of animal feed.
Starch which is abundant in tapioca is changed into a sugar through a chemical process. The sugar is further processed into alcohol.
Flour made from Tapioca is a perfect susbstitute for flour made from maize, sorghum, wheat. etc. Tapioca can be used for the following.
Raw starch can be used in the production of seasoning powders, sauces, glucose, and bakery products.
Modified starch can be used as a feedstock from a number non-food industries, textiles, pharmaceuticals, glue, paper, and plywood.
It is used as a thickening agent in the same way as you would use
cornstarch.
According to the Minute Tapioca Company, tapioca pudding
originated in 1894 by Susan Stavers, a Boston housewife, who took in
boarders. Among them was an ailing sailor who had brought some cassava
roots from his journeys. Hoping to soothe the sailor, she made a sweet and
delicious tapioca pudding from the roots. To create a smoother
consistency, Stavers took the sailor's suggestion of putting the tapioca
through the coffee grinder. The pudding turned out smooth, and Susan
received rave reviews from her boarders. Soon news of her dessert spread,
and Stavers was regularly grinding tapioca, packing it in paper bags and
selling it to the neighbors.
John Whitman, a newspaper publisher heard of this wonderful recipe,
bought the rights to Susan's process and the Minute Tapioca Company was
born. It became part of the General Foods family in 1926 and part of Kraft
Foods, Inc. in 1989.
For more information on Tapioca Pudding and recipes, visit Kraft Foods.
Some other Tapioca Pudding recipes can be found at Tapioca Pudding Recipes.
1: Tartar sauce refers to the sauce made of mayonnaise dressing with chopped pickles that
is commonly served with seafood. Also called "sauce tartare" in other
countries. In French, it is loosely translated as 'rough,' as the Tartars
were considered rough, violent, and savage.
2: Steak Tartare - When tartare follows the word steak, this dish
typically consists of raw ground beef or beef chopped finely and mixed
with spices and topped with a raw egg and bits of raw onion.
Both tartar sauce and steak tartare came into English
from French, but both terms originate with the Tartars associated with the
Mongol invaders in medieval times. We don't know if those rough and ready
folks were once reputed to eat raw meat or to relish a piquant dressing,
but we do know that the tartar in both terms recognizes the Turkic
peoples.
A famous French upside-down apple
tart made by covering the bottom of a shallow baking dish with butter and
sugar, then apples and finally a pastry crust. While baking the sugar and
butter create a delicious caramel that becomes the topping when the tart
is inverted onto a serving plate. There is one rule for eating Tarte
Tatin, which is scrupulously observed. It must be served warm, so the
cream melts on contact. To the French, a room temperature Tarte Tatin
isn't worth the pan it was baked in.
Two French sisters, Carolina and Stephine Tatin,
created the tart. The sisters lived in Lamotte-Beuvron, a small rural town
in the Loire Valley, owned and ran the hotel called "l'Hotel TATIN" in the
late 1800s. The elder sister, Stéphanie, dealt with the kitchen. She was a
particularly fine cook but was not the brightest of people. Her specialty
was an apple tart, served perfectly crusty, caramelized and which melted
in the mouth. One day during the hunting season, during the midday
scramble, Stephanie placed her tart in the oven the wrong way round. The
pastry and apples were upside-down but, nevertheless, she served this
strange dessert without giving it time to cool. The French call this
dessert "tarte des demoiselles Tatin - the tart of two unmarried women
named Tatin."
Tasso is yet another example of the Cajun and
Creole desire for unique flavor in a recipe. Tasso is a dried smoked
product that is seasoned with cayenne pepper, garlic and salt and heavily
smoked. The word tasso is believed to have come from the Spanish work
"tasajo" which is dried, cured beef. Although this delicacy is often
thinly sliced and eaten alone, it is primarily used as a pungent seasoning
for vegetables, gumbos, and soups. Today in South Louisiana, tasso is
becoming a popular seasoning for new and creative dishes. It has also
gained wide acclaim as a hors d'oeuvre served with dipping sauces or fruit
glazes.
Another product of soybean fermentation,
tempeh is usually sold frozen or refrigerated and needs to be cooked
before eating. Steam or simmer it in water for about twenty minutes before
using in recipes. You can skip this step if you add tempeh to long-cooking
stews or soups. Tempeh has a firm texture and a flavor similar to
mushrooms. It can be sliced or cubed and used in sandwiches, on kabobs, in
stews and chilis, or added to stir-frys, and casseroles.
1: To slowly bring up the temperature of a cold or room temperature ingredient by adding small amounts of a hot
or boiling liquid. Adding the hot liquid gradually prevents the cool
ingredient (such as eggs) from cooking or setting. The tempered mixture
can then be added back to hot liquid for further cooking. This process is
used most in making pastry cream and the like.
2: To bring chocolate to a state in which it has snap,
shine, and no streaks. Commercially available chocolate is already
tempered but this condition changes when it is melted. Tempering is often
done when the chocolate will be used for candy making or decorations.
Chocolate must be tempered because it contains cocoa butter, a fat that
forms crystals after chocolate is melted and cooled. Dull gray streaks
form and are called "bloom." The classic tempering method is to melt
chocolate until it is totally without lumps. One third of the chocolate is
then poured onto a marble slab, and then spread and worked back and forth
with a metal spatula until it becomes thick and reaches a temperature of
about 80 degrees F. The thickened chocolate is then added back to the
remaining 2/3 melted chocolate and stirred. The process is repeated until
the entire mixture reaches 88 to 92°F. for semisweet chocolate, 84
to 87°F. for milk or white chocolate.
A Japanese method of preparing deep-fried
foods. To prepare tempura, raw foods (seafood or fresh vegetables) are all
cut up and then dipped in a batter made of egg yolks, flour, oil and
water. They are then dropped into boiling oil until brown.
It is thought that Saint Francis Xavier introduced this
style of cooking to the Orient in the 16th century. He and his retinue of
monks subsisted on these fritters while observing the Church's fast days
when eating meat was strictly forbidden.
is a Japanese term for grilling meats
and poultry. Grilled meats are very popular in Japan, and are found at
many street vendors and restaurants. This style is familiar to United
States diners (typified by the Benihana restaurant chain) that was
invented to take advantage of the tourist trade in Japan. It combined
traditional grilling with western beef cuts to create "Japanese steak
house." Diners sit around a large metal griddle to watch an entertaining
chef chop, flip, and cook beef, chicken, shrimp, and vegetables served
with a soy sauce-citrus juice sauce (ponzu). Karibayaki: Where a waitress cooks the meat on a slotted metal griddle. Ishiyaki: Where a hot stone is used instead of a griddle and charcoal barbecuing technique. The meats are
sometimes dipped in butter first, which is known as batayaki. Okonomiyaki: Where each diner gets his or her own small hibachi to individually prepared the meat as
preferred.
Texas toast, as it is
most often called, is toast served with lunch or dinner and usually larger
in size and density then regular toast. Of course this is served in
Texas!
In Italian, tiramisu means, "pick me up." It is a popular Italian dessert, which combines layers of rum-soaked
lady fingers (delicate cookies), zabaglione, (Italian custard), mascarpone
cheese, and chocolate. It is also known as Tuscan Trifle. This is a simple
dessert that is easy to make and doesn't need to be cooked.
1: The dessert was initially created in Siena, in the
northwestern Italian province of Tuscany. The occasion was a visit by
Grand Duke Cosimo de'Medici III, in whose honor the concoction was dubbed
zuppa del duca which means the "duke's soup." The duke brought the dessert
back with him to Florence. In the 19th Century, zuppa del duca became
popular among the English intellectuals and artists who lived there
Consequently, it is also known as zuppa Inglese. They took the dessert to
England, where its popularity grew. Zuppa del duca eventually made its way
to Treviso, just northwest of Venice, in the northeastern province of
Veneto.
2: Another theory is that it came from Milan. This argument is
bolstered by the fact that Milan's province, Lombardy, is the birthplace
of mascarpone.
A British dish consisting of a Yorkshire Pudding batter and cooked link sausages. When baked, the batter puffs up
around the sausage. The best English sausages to use for this dish are
Lincoln or Cumberland sausages.
The dish probably dates back to the 18th century.
Batter puddings first appeared on the scene in the early 18th century as
ovens became more prevalent (as opposed to simply cooking over an open
fire). The best known today is Yorkshire pudding, but there are many
variations on the theme. The first reference to sausages cooked in a
baking tin with batter poured around them appears in The Diary of
Joseph Turner (1754-1765). It was basically poor people's food that
depended on the quality of the sausages.
1: Bread that has been browned by a dry heat source. It is a French term, ultimately from a Latin words meant "to parch."
2: The drinking toast was first found around 1700, and the custom was
said by writers at the time to be a recent one. It is "a person or thing
in honor of whom people drink." This term was originally used for a lady
who was considered highly regarded. It was a figurative use of the
"heat-browned bread" – so called because a woman so honored was said to
give flavor to the drink comparable to that given to the toast.
Process whereby heat brings the oils closer to the surface of the nut which brings
out more flavor. Method is useful in low fat cooking in order to use less nuts. Toasting
also makes removing the skins off of nuts easier.
A hard, chewy candy made by cooking sugar (brown
sugar or molasses), water, and butter together.
It is then pulled so that it becomes glossy, and then spread out on a well-buttered pan to thicken. It
is then cut into portions. Toffee or toffy is the modern British name for
the candy called taffy in the United States.
The British version is cooked longer and is harder than America's version
Perhaps the word is a corruption of the word "tafia" which is a West Indies rum distilled
from molasses.
Tafia is a cheaper version of rum. Using this theory, the candy would
have been made from the syrup skimmed off the liquor during distillation.
In America, Taffy making is a social event and shouldn't be made alone
unless you're a professional. Taffy brings two people together (husband
and wife's, parents and kids, friends, etc.) in a way no other candy can.
It would be a tragedy to make taffy solo.
Made from soybean curd, tofu is rich in high-grade protein. It is a cheese-like food made by curdling fresh
soymilk. The curds are pressed into cakes and textures vary from soft to
firm depending on how much water is extracted during processing. It also
has no cholesterol and is easily digestible. Tofu varieties include
"cotton" and "silk," firm and soft, respectively. Tofu is stored in water
and should be thoroughly drained just before cooking. Changing the water
daily will keep it fresh longer. In addition to being served chilled, tofu
appears in soups, nabe (refers to a variety of communal one-pot meals),
and simmered, and deep-fried dishes. Tofu was first made in China
approximately 2000 years ago. Tofu can be used in place of sour cream,
yogurt, or mayonnaise in dips, spreads, and salad dressings. It can also
be used as a meat extender by mixing it with ground meat before shaping
into loaves or patties.
Made by dehydrating tomato parts and pieces for longer storage and later use, like for the winter time or when space is limited.
To rehydrate before adding to your recipe, soak 1 cup Tomato flakes in 1 cup boiling water for 30-40 min to produce 1 1/2 cup Tomato.
Tomato flakes can be added to soups, casseroles and baked goods to produce some interesting foods.
When adding to soups or other recipes with plenty of liquid, you can add the Tomato directly into the food.
Very popular and convenient. Dehydrated diced tomato flakes are so handy to have on your pantry shelf, for when you run out of fresh tomatoes. Great in soups, stews, sauces, dips, beans, etc. And remember, you can take tomato flakes camping and hiking with you as well.
Heres a little tip, add some tomato flakes to your can of tuna, add it to the tuna with the liquid in the can, let the tomato flakes absorb the juices for about a half hour, even add a few leaves of basil. If there is any juice left, drain that and serve with crackers. This does make a really good snack.
Torte is the German word for "cake." It is a cake that uses groundnuts as the predominant dry ingredient in place of
most or sometimes all of the flour. Although they may be single layered,
tortes are often sliced into several layers and filled with whipped cream,
jam, or butter cream. Tortes make a great dessert for the Jewish holiday
of Passover, when flour can't be used.
1: In Spain it is an omelet.
2: In Tex-Mex cooking, it is a round, unleavened thin bread made of
either corn flour or wheat flour. Tortillas in Mexico almost always mean
corn tortillas. Corn Tortillas:
These were made long before Euroopean settlers introduced
wheat flour to the New World. They were a traditional food among
southwestern Indian tribes, created as a way to preserve their harvested
corn kernels from one season to the next. According to a Mayan legend, a
peasant of ancient times invented tortillas for his hungry king. Flour Tortillas: They are a relatively recent import from the
United States, their popularity driven by the low cost of inferior grades
of flour dumped into border markets and by their ability to keep and ship
well. Most people from Mexico eat them by breaking off bite-size pieces of
the tortilla and picking up the food with it. They use the tortilla
instead of a fork. Flour tortillas originated in Sonora, a northern
Mexican state which shares a long border with the U.S. Mexican cooks there
had access to white flour and incorporated it in their tortillas.
It is a beef steak cut from the tenderloin, measuring ¾- to 1-inch thick and 2- to
2 ½-inches in diameter. Because they tend to be very lean, tournedos are
often wrapped in pork fat or bacon prior to grilling or broiling. The
classic way to serve them is on fried bread rounds and topped with a
mushroom sauce.
Traditionally, a trattoria in Italy, is considered
one notch below a ristorante in price and fanciness of surroundings. An
informal atmosphere. Sometimes are considered hole-in-the-walls.
A term used in Great Britian for the syrupy by-product created during sugar refining. Treacle is the sticky
fluid remaining after sugar cane has been processed. In many recipes
molasses can be substituted if treacle is unavailable. Black Treacle: It is a very dark-hues residue created during the process of sugar refining. This is a
British product that is similar but somewhat more bitter tasting than
molasses. Light Treacle: It contains fewer impurities than the dark variety and has a lighter flavor. It is also
called golden syrup.
Also called Three-Milk Cake this is a dense, moist cake topped with a cloud
of vanilla whipped cream. What makes it unusual is that after baked, it is
soaked in a mixture of three different milk products: evaporated milk,
sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk or heavy cream, hence the name
Tres Leches. The three milks, when combined, create just the right
sweetness, density and "mouth feel" for a rich cake, making it moist but
not mushy.
There is dispute over where it was first created. This cake is very popular in
Latin America, especially Mexico and Nicaragua. The origin is
reported to come from the back of an evaporated milk can in Latin America
to promote the use of the product.
It is a cake well soaked with sherry and
served with boiled custard poured over it. The English call this cake a
Tipsy Cake or Pudding and Tipsy Hedgehog. The word "trifle" comes from the
Old French "trufle," and literally means something whimsical or of little
consequence.
The first trifles were very much like Fools (an old confection of pureed fruit mixed
with cream), and the two terms were used almost interchangeably for many
years. The very first known recipe bears almost no resemblance to what we
now call a trifle. It was in The Good Housewife's Jewell, written
by Thomas Dawson and published in 1596. George Washington is said to have
preferred trifle to other desserts.
It is a Californian term. The
meat for this cut is taken from the middle meat across the back, just
ahead of the hindquarters. Tri-tip roasts will vary from 1 1/2 to 2 pounds
and are about two inches thick. While tri-tip is pretty much unknown east
of California, asking for the "bottom sirloin butt" would tell a butcher
what you were looking for, even if he couldn't deliver it. It also is
called "triangular" roast because of its shape.
Tri-tip became popular in the 1950s in Santa Maria, California, when it was known as "Santa Maria tri-tip," appropriate
because of its triangular shape, not to mention the site of its discovery.
Apparently that is any number of claimants in Santa Maria for the title of
Discoverer of Tri-tip.
(1) A chocolate truffle is a confection
made with chocolate, butter or cream, and other flavorings, such as
liquers or coffe, rolled into a ball and often coated with cocoa, nuts, or
more chocolate. They were named "truffles" because the finished candy
somewhat resembled the famous fungus.
(2) The truffle is a fungus that grows from 3 to 12 inches underground
near the roots of trees (usually oak, but also chestnut, hazel, and
beech), never beyond the range of the branches. It is a tuber of unusual
flavor and aroma, and is mainly round in shape, arrive in various sizes
and are black, brown, white, and sometimes gray in color. There are 70
varieties of truffles, 32 of which are found in Europe. It is savored in
Italian and French cookery, and due to its scarcity, draws a very high
price. They are highly prized for their exceptional flavors.
The high price of truffles, is due to the methodically slow and labor
intensive harvesting process which involves the use of specially trained
animals to route out the hard to find fungus. As
truffles grow under the earth, they are located using the sensitive noses
of specially trained dogs, which carefully dig them up with their paws.
These dogs are referred as "tabui", which strangely enough means
"bastards".
A Piemontese chef by the name of Giacomo Morra is credited with having been first to put truffles on the table. Black Truffle These re the truffles of Perigord, often called black diamonds.
They are the "black diamonds" of French cuisine. They are the most revered
truffle and have a black flesh with a network of white veins inside. The
black truffle requires cooking to allow the flavors to be fully achieved.
They are in season from January to March. white truffle: These are the truffles of Piedmont, often called autumn truffles
or fruit of the woods. The white truffle is best when shaved
directly on the dish before eating. Their season is from October to
December. Truffle Oil: Truffle oil is extra-virgin olive oil that is
infused with the essence of gourmet mushrooms. It is the most economical
way to enjoy the flavor of truffles – a drop or two of this oil will
enhance sauces, pastas, and salads.
An essential amino acid found in many animal foods; a precursor of serotonin. Its use as a dietary supplement has been linked
with serious illness, most likely due to contamination during the manufacturing process.
It is a round pan with deep sides and a hollow center
tube. Used for baking cakes, especially angel food cake and sponge cake.
The tube promotes even baking for the center of the cake.
1: Tuna is a member of the
mackerel family and can reach a length of 5 to 6 feet and weight anywhere
from 20 to as high as 1,500 pounds. They travel in schools and spend the
winter at the bottom of the ocean. When spring comes, they rise to the
surface (near the shore where there is warmer water to spawn). The four
varieties of tuna used for canning are the albacore tuna, the yellow fin,
the blue fin, and the striped tuna. They vary in color, and the flesh may
be white, pink, or darkish tan.
2: Refers to a refreshing fruit, which grows on Nopal Cactus
(Opuntia). In some parts of the world, they are called prickly pear fruit
or cactus pears. They are about the size of a large kiwi fruit and are
usually pale green or crimson red in color. The large number of seeds
inside is edible. You see them in parts of the United States, Greece,
India and Australia.
Turbinado sugar is a form of raw sugar which has been steamed-cleaned. It has larger grains than
granulated sugar. It has a molasses flavor and the color is lighter than
brown sugar.
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