- Industry: Printing & publishing
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Founded in 1941, Barron's Educational Series is a leading publisher of test preparation manuals and school directories. Among the most widely recognized of Barron's many titles in these areas are its SAT and ACT test prep books, its Regents Exams books, and its Profiles of American Colleges. In ...
Egg noodles cut into flat, narrow (about 3/8-inch) strips. See also pasta.
Industry:Culinary arts
Egg yolk or egg white mixed with a small amount of water or milk. It's brushed over breads, pastry and other baked goods before baking to give them color and gloss.
Industry:Culinary arts
Empanar is Spanish for "to bake in pastry," and these Mexican and Spanish specialties are usually single-serving turnovers with a pastry crust and savory meat-and-vegetable filling. They can also be filled with fruit and served as dessert. Empanadas range in size from the huge empanada gallega, large enough to feed an entire family, to empanaditas — tiny, ravioli-size pastries.
Industry:Culinary arts
Endive is closely related to and often confused with its cousin, chicory. They're both part of the same botanical family, Cichorium. There are three main varieties of endive: Belgian endive, curly endive and escarole. Belgian endive, also known as French endive and witloof (white leaf), is a small (about 6-inch-long), cigar-shaped head of cream-colored, tightly packed, slightly bitter leaves. It's grown in complete darkness to prevent it from turning green, using a labor-intensive growing technique known as blanching. Belgian endive is available from September through May, with a peak season from November through April. Buy crisp, firmly packed heads with pale, yellow-green tips. Belgian endives become bitter when exposed to light. They should be refrigerated, wrapped in a paper towel inside a plastic bag, for no more than a day. They can be served cold as part of a salad, or cooked by braising or baking. Curly endive, often mistakenly called chicory in the United States, grows in loose heads of lacy, green-rimmed outer leaves that curl at the tips. The off-white center leaves form a compact heart. The leaves of the curly endive have a prickly texture and slightly bitter taste. Escarole has broad, slightly curved, pale green leaves with a milder flavor than either Belgian or curly endive. Both curly endive and escarole are available year-round, with the peak season from June through October. They should be selected for their fresh, crisp texture; avoid heads with discoloration or insect damage. Store curly endive and escarole, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. They're both used mainly in salads, but can also be briefly cooked and eaten as a vegetable or in soups.
Industry:Culinary arts
England is the home of this old-fashioned but delicious dessert made of cooked, pureed fruit that is strained, chilled and folded into whipped cream. The fruit mixture may be sweetened or not. Fool is traditionally made from gooseberries, though today any fruit may be substituted.
Industry:Culinary arts
Especially popular during Advent, this Swedish spiced-wine punch gets its punch from the addition of aquavit or brandy. To take the chill off cold winter nights, it's served hot in cups with several almonds and raisins added to each serving.
Industry:Culinary arts
Espresso combined with a liberal amount of foamy steamed milk, usually served in a tall glass mug.
Industry:Culinary arts
Espresso combined with chocolate syrup and a liberal amount of foamy steamed milk. A café mocha is usually served in a tall glass mug.
Industry:Culinary arts
Ethiopia is thought to be the motherland of the first coffee beans, which, throughout the ages, found their way to Brazil and Colombia — the two largest coffee producers today. Coffee plantations abound throughout other South and Central American countries, Cuba, Hawaii, Indonesia, Jamaica and many African nations. There are hundreds of different coffee species but the two most commercially viable are coffea robusta and coffea arabica. The sturdy, disease-resistant coffea robusta, which thrives at lower altitudes, produces beans with a harsher, more single-dimensional flavor than the more sensitive coffea arabica, which grows at high altitudes (3,000 to 6,500 feet) and produces beans with elegant, complex flavors. The coffee plant is actually a small tree that bears a fruit called the "coffee cherry. " Growing and tending these coffee trees is a labor-intensive process because blossoms, unripe (green) and ripe red cherries can occupy a tree simultaneously, necessitating hand-picking the fruit. The coffee cherry's skin and pulp surround two beans enclosed in a parchmentlike covering. Once these layers are discarded, the beans are cleaned, dried, graded and hand-inspected for color and quality. The "green" beans (which can range in color from pale green to muddy yellow) are then exported, leaving the roasting, blending and grinding to be done at their destination. Coffee can be composed of a single type of coffee bean or a blend of several types. Blended coffee produces a richer, more complex flavor than single-bean coffees. The length of time coffee beans are roasted will affect the color and flavor of the brew. Among the most popular roasts are American, French, Italian, European and Viennese. American roast (also called regular roast) beans are medium-roasted, which results in a moderate brew — not too light or too heavy in flavor. The heavy-roasted beans are French roast and dark French roast, which are a deep chocolate brown and produce a stronger coffee, and the glossy, brown-black, strongly flavored Italian roast, used for espresso. European roast contains two-thirds heavy-roast beans blended with one-third regular-roast; Viennese roast reverses those proportions. Instant coffee powder is a powdered coffee made by heat-drying freshly brewed coffee. Freeze-dried coffee granules (or crystals) are derived from brewed coffee that has been frozen into a slush before the water is evaporated. Freeze-dried coffee is slightly more expensive than regular instant coffee, but is also reputed to be superior in flavor. Coffee, tea and cocoa all contain caffeine, a stimulant that affects many parts of the body including the nervous system, kidneys, heart and gastric secretions. With the exception of the Madagascar coffee species — mascarocoffea vianneyi — which actually grows beans that are decaf-feinated, coffee beans must go through a process to produce decaffeinated coffee. The caffeine is removed by one of two methods, either of which is executed before the beans are roasted. In the first method, the caffeine is chemically extracted with the use of a solvent, which must be completely washed out before the beans are dried. The second method — called Swiss water process — first steams the beans, then scrapes away the caffeine-rich outer layers. Though there was once concern about the safety of solvent residues, research has found that the volatile solvents disappear entirely when the beans are roasted. Coffee, whether ground or whole-bean, loses its flavor quickly. To assure the freshest, most flavorful brew, buy fresh coffee beans and grind only as many as needed to brew each pot of coffee. Inexpensive grinders are available at most department and discount stores. Store whole roasted beans in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 2 weeks. For longer storage, freeze whole beans, freezer-wrapped, up to 3 months. Since room-temperature ground coffee begins to go stale within a couple of days after it's ground, it should be refrigerated in an airtight container and can be stored up to 2 weeks. See also café au lait; café brulot; café latte; café macchiato; café mocha; cappuccino; espresso; greek coffee; irish coffee; thai coffee; turkish coffee; viennese coffee.
Industry:Culinary arts
Extracted from grape seeds, most of this oil comes from France, Italy or Switzerland, with a few sources now in the United States. Some grapeseed oils have a light "grapey" flavor and fragrance but most imported into the United States are on the bland side. Grapeseed oil can be used for salad dressings and, because it has a relatively high smoke point, it's also good for sautéing. It may be stored at room temperature (70°F or under) or in the refrigerator. Grapeseed oil is available in gourmet food stores and some supermarkets. See also fats and oils.
Industry:Culinary arts
