Glossary of Cookery Terms: R

Radicchio
A crisp bitter, peppery variety of chicory.

Ragout
A stew of meat, poultry or fish.

Raised Pie
A pie made with hot water crust pastry.

Ramekin
A small china or earthenware dish.

Ratafia Biscuits
An almond flavoured biscuit.

Ratatouille
A vegetable stew with herbs.

Reduce
To thicken, concentrate or lessen the volume of a liquid by boiling rapidly to remove water content.

Reform Sauce
An English sauce with port, served with either lamb or game.

Relax
To rest pastry after rolling out to prevent shrinkage or meats after cooking.

Render
To extract the fat from meat by slow cooking.

Rennet
An animal derived substance used to curdle milk when making cheese, vegetarian alternatives are available.

Ricotta
An un-ripened soft and creamy Italian ewe’s milk curd.

Rice Flour
An alternative to wheat flour also used as a thickening agent.

Rice Vinegar
A vinegar made from rice wine.

Rillette
A smooth paste made from pork or poultry meat cooked in lard.

Rissole
A dish made of meat or fish coated with breadcrumbs, shaped into cakes and fried.

Rocket
A green salad vegetable with a peppery flavour. Also known as arugula.

Roast
To cook meat by direct or radiant heat in an oven.

Rock Salt
A salt derived from the seams of compacted underground sources.

Roe
The eggs from a female fish (hard roe) or similar glands of a male fish (soft roe),

Roquefort
A French ewe’s milk cheese with blue-green veining.

Rosemary
An aromatic shrub with pungent leaves are used either fresh or dried as a flavouring.

Rose Water
An essence distilled from fragrant rose petals.

Roux
A mixture of fat and flour gently cooked together, used to thicken soups or stocks.

Rump
Cut of beef from the lower back.