Glossary I - L

Ile flottante
A very light dessert made from egg whites and sugar, cooked in a bain-marie, and served on a custard cream. The name means 'floating island'.

Infuse
To extract the flavour from herbs, spices, tea or coffee either by pouring on boling water and allowing the water to take on the flavours before drinking hot, or by bringing the mixture to the boil and allowing it to cool.

Irish coffee
A drink made from black coffee, sugar and Irish whiskey, topped with fresh cream.

Jambalaya
A spicy Cajun rice dish from Louisiana with ham, sausage, chillies and tomatoes.

Japanese fish sauce
A powerful sauce, made of small fermented fish, used sparingly as a flavouring and as a condiment.

John Dory
Found in European waters, this white-fleshed sea fish, is an odd-looking creature with an oval, flat body and a large, spiny head. The flesh is delicate and mild and can be cooked in a variety of ways including grilling, sautéing and poaching.

Julienne
Vegetables or citrus zest shredded or cut into thin matchsticks. The julienne is cooked in butter in a covered pan until quite soft and then used as a garnish, especially for soups. Raw vegetables to be served as an hors d'oeuvre can also be cut as a julienne.

Juniper berries
The darkish berries of the juniper tree provide the main flavouring for gin. These spicy, aromatic berries are also used, fresh or dried, crushed or whole, to flavour casseroles, marinades and stuffings, and complement pork, rabbit and beef, especially pork pâtés. They can also be used in sweet dishes such as fruit cake.

Jus
This French word is roughly the equivalent of 'juice', but it has more specific meanings in French cookery: a. the unthickened juices from a piece of roast meat. b. the juice squeezed from raw vegetables or fruit.

Kai Lan
These green vegetables are from an oriental family of broccoli. Buy them from an oriental supermarket.

Kebab
A dish of small pieces of meat or vegetables threaded on skewers and cooked over coals or a grill.

Ketchup
A thick, slightly sweet sauce. The best known type is tomato.

Kirsch
A liqueur distilled from crushed cherries and their stones, often used to flavour fruit salads and sponge cakes.

Kiwano
An exotic fruit, also known as horned cucumber or jelly melon, with spikey orange skin. The kiwano's pulp is a pale yellow-green colour and jellylike in texture with a sweet-tart flavour reminiscent of bananas and cucumbers.

Knead
To work and stretch dough either by hand or an electric dough hook. The process makes the mixture smoother and softer or more elastic and evenly incorporates air or additional ingredients at the same time.

Kohlrabi
Pale green or purple coloured bulb-shaped vegetable of the cabbage family. It cooks like a turnip and is said to taste of asparagus. Popular in German cookery.

Langoustine
Another name for the Dublin Bay prawn, also known as Norway lobster and scampi, available fresh or frozen, in and out of their shells. cook by boiling or grilling, if fresh.

Lard
Rendered and clarified pork fat, lard is a fine white fat which is less used these days because of its high animal-fat content. It is used particularly for slow cooking but also for deep-frying and for making pastry.

Lardons
Lardons are small, chunky strips of fat bacon or pork fat (smoked or unsmoked) used to flavour dishes such as quiches or salads or they can be sweated with onions as a base for soup.

Lasagne
Italian pasta cut into wide flat ribbons. The dish called lasagne is usually prepared with alternate layers of bolognese sauce, pasta and béchamel sauce, topped with grated parmesan cheese and baked in the oven until browned.

Lemon
Very sharp, acidic citrus fruit rich in Vitamin C but with a low sugar content. Used mainly for its juice to flavour drinks, sweet and savoury dishes and as an accompaniment to fish. Freshly squeezed lemon juice sets off the sweetness of sauces or ingredients alike.

Lemon sole
Lemon sole is in fact a flounder. Flounders can be bought as fillets or whole and cooked by grilling, frying or serving with a sauce.

Lemongrass
Very much the herb of the moment, lemongrass gives a dish a taste that owes something to lemon and something to ginger, but without acidity. Use the lower half of the stalk, and remove the white bit just above the root.

Lime
This small, green citrus fruit is used mainly for its juice, added to cooked dishes and to drinks. Gives an added zing to meat, fish and fruit - and much more.

Lime leaves
The leaves of a wild lime tree which appear as double leaves joined tip to end and have a spciy, lemon flavour, the leaves give a distinctive citrus scent to soups and curries of Thai and Indonesian cooking.

Linguine
A flattened spaghetti-like pasta.

Loin
Cut of either pork or lamb which is taken from the back. Sold as a roasting joint, with or without bones, as well as chops and steaks which are good for grilling and barbecues.

Lovage
Also known as sea parsley, the leaves and stem of the lovage plant add an intense celery flavour to soups, stews and stocks or pork and poultry dishes, as well as enhancing any potato dishes.

Lychee
A fruit that originated in China and which is now grown in the Far East and the West Indies. It is about the size of a small plum and has a thin, hard rough shell that is easily removed. The white, juicy flesh surrounds a large dark-brown stone.

Lyonnaise (à la)
A la lyonnaise describes various dishes, usually sautéed, characterised by the use of chopped onions, cooked in butter until golden and often finished off with vinegar and sprinkled with chopped parsley. Lyonnaise is a classic French sauce made with onions and white wine, then strained and served with meat or poultry.