Cookbook Glossary
A - F
- Anchovy:
- A small fish preserved in brine and used to flavor dishes
- Bacon:
- In the eighteenth century, it was more like Canadian bacon or breakfast ham slices
- Bake Kettle:
- Utensil for baking a single item on the hearth, with coals above and below; also sometimes called a Dutch oven
- Bake oven:
- Brick or stone structure for baking large quantities of food items such as bread, cakes, pies, etc.
- Billet:
- Piece of firewood, about 12 to 18 inches long and 3 to 4 inches thick
- Birch-twig whisk:
- Bundle of peeled birch tree twigs tied together, used to whip eggs or cream to a froth
- Broth:
- Liquid made by boiling bones to make a stock for use in another dish
- Cabbage lettuce:
- Head of lettuce such as Bibb or Boston, rather than leaf lettuce
- Coffin:
- Pie crust to hold filling; or a standing crust
- Colander:
- A bowl pierced with holes, used to drain foods
- Collop:
- Thin slices of boneless meat, cooked quickly
- Corn pone:
- Cornmeal bread usually flattened and baked or fried on a griddle
- Crock:
- A cylindrical storage container made of redware or stoneware, usually glazed inside and sometimes outside as well, with or without a lid
- Currants:
- Imported dried fruits (actually grapes), used in puddings, cakes, etc.
- Foodway:
- The eating habits and culinary practices of a people, region, or historical period
- Force, Forc’d, Farced:
- To stuff, stuffed
- Forecemeat:
- Highly seasoned balls made of meat and dates, used to stuff or garnish fancy dishes
- Fricassee:
- A dish composed of several ingredients in a broth
- Fritters:
- Small cakes fried in plenty of fat
- Frying pan:
- Broad shallow pan with a flat bottom, flaring sides, and long attached handle; may or may not have long legs
- Gerkins, gherkins:
- In the 18th century, small spiny cucumbers, generally pickled; today, small pickled cucumbers
- Gill or jill:
- 1/2 cup or 4 liquid ounces
- Griddle:
- Flat baking surface, either hung or set on a trivet over coals
- Hoe Cake:
- Flat unleavened cake made with cornmeal, fried or baked on a griddle
- Jamaica pepper:
- Allspice
- Ketchup:
- A highly seasoned flavoring liquid, NOT made with tomatoes until the very end of the eighteenth century
- Lard:
- Fat from a pig or hog, rendered for use
- Liquor:
- Liquid in cooking; not alcohol
- Preserving:
- To treat fruit or other foods so as to prevent decay
- Quarters:
- A place of residence, especially the buildings or barracks used to house enslaved people
- Rasps:
- To grate
- Rations:
- Food issued or given to members of a group
- Rose water:
- Commonly used in the eighteenth century, a liquid flavoring made from distilled rose petals
- Sallad oil:
- Olive oil
- Saltpeter:
- A chemical substance, also referred to as potassium nitrate, that was used as a meat preservative
- S-hook:
- An iron hook, from 3 to 12 inches long, bent into shape of S, and used to lift hot pots or kettles by their bails and to lift lids off bake kettles; also used alone or in a series to hang kettles and pots above the fire
- Slapjack:
- Cornmeal cake, enriched with eggs and milk, fried or backed on a griddle
- Small beer:
- Beer with low alcoholic content that children often drank
- Soup Meager:
- Vegetable soup; soup without meat
- Spider:
- Shallow round-bottomed cooking utensil on long legs, usually made of iron
- Spit:
- A small iron bar with six hooks attached to it, birds to be roasted were hung by string on the hooks and cooked in front of the hearth fire
- Sugar:
- Double refined sugar is today’s granulated white sugar
- Trencher:
- A wooden board or platter on which food is carved or served
- Turbinado Sugar:
- Less refined, brown sugar crystals (today called Sugar in the Raw)
- Trivet:
- A metal stand with 3 legs to place cooking utensils
- Tracle:
- Mild, unsulphured molasses
- Vermicelli:
- Thin whole wheat pasta noodles, used in soups or puddings
- Walm:
- A bubble in boiling; a boiling up; can be counted as a second when boiling starts
