It’s fun to try new recipes in the kitchen, but that fancy new dish may involve a few cooking techniques that make you scratch your head. Here are a few helpful definitions of some kitchen terms that you might encounter in a gourmet-style recipe.

1. Crème Fraiche. Crème fraiche is a sort of sauce with a tangy, sharp flavor. You can purchase it in most high end grocery stores, or you can make your own using 1/2 cup of whipping cream and 1/2 cup of sour cream. Cover the mixture and let it sit for at least two hours to thicken.
2. Fillet. If the word is used as a verb, fillet means to remove the bones from meats like steak or fish. As a noun, this is the piece of meat after the bones have already been removed.
3. Glaze. A glaze is a thin coat of sugar syrup that’s applied before cooking. After cooking, the glaze turns to a hard finish that’s almost to the point of cracking.
4. Gratin. Gratin is literally the French word for “crust.” This is usually used for oven-baked savory dishes, which are prepared in a shallow, oval-shaped gratin dish and covered with a browned crust of breadcrumbs or cheese.

Glossary of Basic Cooking Terms [Les Petites Gourmettes]
Cooking Terms [Recipe Goldmine]
Glossary of Cooking Terms [UMN]
Glossary of Cooking Terms [Better Homes & Gardens]
Culinary Terms [About.com]

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr/Joy