PCA Food & Beverage Encyclopedia
 
 
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z  
 
 

 

B

  • Baba is a small cake of leavened dough, sometimes mixed with currants and usually soaked in rum (then called a rum baba).
  • Bacon - A smoked and cured product made from the meat taken from the back, sides, and belly of pigs. Fat, which gives bacon its sweet flavor and tender crispness should be half to two-thirds of the total weight.
  • Bacon is the side or back of pork which has been preserved by salting and drying.
  • Baguette Laonnaise is a traditional creamery French cow's milk cheese from the Ile-de-France region. It was created after the Second World War, and is a strong cheese with a pingent, spicy aroma and taste that develops as the cheese matures and a glossy, crusty orange-brown rind.
  • Bain Marie (French) Steam table or double boiler insert. 
  • Bake To cook in an oven. Baking Powder - A leavener containing baking soda, an acid (such as cream of tartar) and a moisture-absorber (such as cornstarch). Double-acting baking soda releases carbon dioxide gas when it becomes wet and again when exposed to oven heat.
  • Baking Soda - Baking soda ("bicarbonate of soda") is a leavener used in baked goods. When mixed with an acid ingredient (such as butter-milk, yogurt, or molasses), baking soda produces carbon dioxide bubbles that make the dough rise.
  • Balausta is an old term for the fruit of the pomegranate.
  • Balsam Pear - Not a pear at all, but the fruit of a tropical climbing herb in Africa and Asia. It is similar to a cucumber and is used as a vegetable in meat dishes, fish dishes, and in soups. Also called "bitter melon" or "bitter gourd."
  • Balsam Pear - Not a pear at all, but the fruit of a tropical climbing herb in Africa and Asia. It is similar to a cucumber and is used as a vegetable in meat dishes, fish dishes, and in soups. Also called "bitter melon" or "bitter gourd."
  • Balsamic Vinegar - An Italian vinegar made from white Trebbiano grape juice. This fine vinegar gets part of its flavor from aging in wooden barrels over a period of years.
  • Bamboo Shoot - The tender-crisp, ivory colored shoot of a particular edible species of bamboo. The shoots are cut as soon as they appear above ground while they are still young and tender.
  • Banana - The world's most popular fruit. The most common U.S. variety is the yellow Cavendish. They are picked green and develop better flavor when ripened off the bush. Two sweeter varieties are the red banana and the dwarf or finger banana.
  • Banks and Taylor are an English beer brewing company of Bedfordshire. They were established in 1981.
  • Bannock is a flat, round cake made of oat or barley meal, or a mixture of both, moistened with water and toasted upon a girdle.
  • Barbados Cherry - A cherry-like fruit from a small tree in the West Indies and adjacent areas. This fruit contains a high concentration of vitamin C. Also called "acerola" and "Puerto Rican cherry."
  • Barbecue Sauce - A sauce used to baste barbecued meat. Also used as an accompaniment to the meat after it is cooked. Traditionally made with tomatoes, onions, mustard, garlic, brown sugar, and vinegar. Beer or wine is also a popular ingredient.
  • Barbera is a type of grape used for producing red wine. It is a major Italian variety with a 'tarry' smell and medium body.
  • Bard: To wrap meat with bacon or salt pork.
  • Barley - A hardy grain that dates back to the Stone Age. Used in cereals, breads, and soups. Hulled barley has the outer husk removed and is the most nutritious form of barley.
  • Barley Wine is an English name for a very powerful, thick strong ale.
  • Barley, Pearl: Polished barley.
  • Barracuda - A pike-like sea fish with long pointed jaws filled with razor-sharp teeth. It is a firm-textured fish with moderate fat content. The type most commonly found in the U.S. is the Pacific barracuda (also called the California barracuda).
  • Basella - An edible leaf from a tropical plant that is cultivated in certain parts of France. Basella may be prepared in any manner appropriate for spinach. Also called "vine spinach."
  • Basil - An herb with a pungent flavor described as a cross between licorice and cloves. The ancient Greeks called this member of the mint family the "royal herb." Most varieties have green leaves, but one variety, the opal basil, is purple.
  • Basmati Rice - This exotic rice variety from East India, is long-grained and perfumy.
  • Bass - A term that refers to numerous and often unrelated freshwater and saltwater fish. True basses include groupers, black sea bass, and the striped bass. Largemouth, redeye, rock, smallmouth and the spotted bass, are actually sunfish.
  • Baste: To pour drippings, fat, or stock over food while cooking.
  • Batter: A mixture of flour and liquid.
  • Bay Leaf - Also called laurel leaf or bay laurel, this aromatic herb is native to the Mediterranean. Turkish bay leaves are milder than the California variety. Used to flavor soups, vegetables, and meats. Normally removed before serving.
  • Beamish is an Irish stout brewed only in Ireland, in Cork. It has a distinctive flavour achieved through the use of malted wheat as well as barley in the mash.
  • Bean Sprouts - The crisp, tender sprouts of various germinated beans. Mung bean sprouts, used often in Chinese cooking, are the most popular. However, other seeds and beans, such as alfalfa seeds, soybeans, and wheat beans are also sprouted.
  • Bean Sprouts: Chinese Mung beans.
  • Bean Threads - A form of translucent Chinese noodle. These are not true noodles, but are made from the starch of mung beans. Also called "cellophane noodles."
  • Beans - These highly nutritious seeded pods of various legumes are among the oldest foods known to humanity, dating back to prehistoric times.
  • Bear - A large, partly carnivorous quadruped found in America, the Arctic, and in Europe. Bear steaks should be cooked like beef, except that they are generally marinated for a couple of days in oil and vinegar or wine to help tenderize the meat.
  • Béarnaise Sauce - Classic French sauce made with a reduction of vinegar, wine, tarragon and shallots and finished with egg yolks and butter. Served with meat, fish, eggs, and vegetables.
  • Bearnaise: (French) Sauce derived from Hollandaise, with a tarragon reduction added.
  • Beaufort is a traditional farmhouse French hard cheese from the Savoie region made from unpasteurized cow's milk in large, concave cartwheels weighing about 75 kg. It is an ancient cheese of the Gruyere family dating back to the Romans.
    More information at
    http://www.conus.fr/beaufort_a.html
  • Beaver - A semi-aquatic animal of the rodent family. The tail is considered the best part to eat. Care must be taken when skinning to avoid severing the musk gland, which will permeate the entire flesh when cut.
  • Béchamel Sauce - A term for light white or blond sauces. In its simplest form, white sauce is cream or milk mixed into a white roux (a combination of butter and flour which isn't browned). Also called "white sauce."
  • Bechamel: (French) A rich cream sauce made from cream and a roux, with an onion pique.
  • Beechnut - The small, triangular fruit of the beech tree that has been used since prehistoric times. The flavor has been described as a cross between a hazelnut and a chestnut. Usually roasted before serving. Used in breads and pressed for oil.
  • Beef - The meat from cows, steers (males castrated when very young), heifers (females that have never borne a calf) and bulls under 2 years old. The eight USDA grades are Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter, and Canner.
  • Beef is the meat derived from the carcass of bulls and cows.
  • Beef Tartare - A dish of coarsely ground beef. The meat is normally high-quality, lean, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and seasonings. Beef tartar is often served with a raw egg placed on top, along with capers, parsley, and onions.
  • Beef, Dried: Beef soaked in brine and then soaked and dried.
  • Beefalo - A cross between the American bison (commonly called buffalo) and cattle, the beef strain being dominant. The dark red meat of beefalo is very lean and has a somewhat stronger flavor than beef.
  • Beer - A low-alcohol beverage brewed from malted barley and cereals (such as corn or rye) mixed with yeast (for fermentation) and flavored with hops. Since about 90% of beer is water, the water used in very important to the taste of the beer.
  • Beer is a drink of fermented hops, malt and barley.
  • Beerwurst - A German cooked sausage with a garlic flavor and a dark red color. Normally used as lunch meat. Also know as "Bierwurst."
  • Beet - A firm, round-rooted vegetable with nutritious leafy greens. Commonly known as the garden beet. In addition to the garden beet, are the spinach or leaf beet ("Swiss chard"), the sugar beet, and the mangold, which is used mostly for fodder.
  • Bell Pepper - The best-known members of the sweet peppers. This mild, sweet bell-shaped pepper is crisp and features a very juicy flesh. Bell peppers are available in green, yellow, red, orange, purple and brown colors.
  • Belly-Fish - This large low-fat, firm-textured salt-water fish has a mild, sweet flavor that compares with lobster. Sometimes referred to as "poor man's lobster." Also called "angler fish," "monkfish," and "goosefish."
  • Benedictine - A sweet liqueur named after the Benedictine monks of Normandy who first created it in the 16th century. This liqueur is based on cognac and flavored with various aromatics, fruit peels, and herbs.
  • Beurre Noir:(burr-nwahr) (French) Butter cooked to a dark brown, then adding capers and a dash of vinegar.
  • Beurre Noisette: (burr-nwah-zet) (French) Butter that tastes like hazelnuts, achieved by melting butter until it turns a golden brown.
  • Beurre: (burr) (French) Butter.
  • Bhang is an Indian drink prepared from the leave and shoots of the hemp (cannabis) plant.
  • Bibb Lettuce - A type of butterhead lettuce with soft, loose, tender whitish-green leaves and a mild flavor. Other butterhead lettuce varieties include "Boston" and "buttercrunch."
  • Biere de Garde is a French style of top-fermented beer originally brewed in north-west France farms, but now produced commercially.
  • Biscuit is a crisp, flat cake, consisting of flour, sugar, fat and flavouring materials. Only a small amount of moisture is present in a biscuit thus making them a concentrated food.
  • Bison - Also know as the "American Buffalo," bison is presently raised on game farms. The meat is very tender and tastes quite a bit like lean beef. It has no pronounced gamey flavor.
  • Bitter is an English style of draught ale served in pubs.
  • Bitter Melon - The fruit of a tropical climbing herb in Africa and Asia. It is similar to a cucumber and is used as a vegetable in meat dishes, fish dishes, and in soups. Also called "Balsam pear" or "bitter gourd."
  • Bitters is an alcoholic beverage of sugar herbs and alcohol. The herbs used are naturally bitter, hence the name, and may include gentian, quassia, angelica, bog-bean, camomile, hops, centuary and others.
  • Black Beans - Also known as "turtle beans" or "black turtle beans," these beans have black skin, cream-colored flesh, and a sweet flavor that forms the base for black bean soup.
  • Black Beer is a strong-tasting bitter-chocolate lager brewed in Germany. In Yorkshire, Black Beers are treacly malt extracts bottled for mixing with lemonade to produce distinctive shandies.
  • Black Cod - This saltwater fish, which is not a true cod, has a soft textured flesh and a mild flavor. Its high fat content makes it a good fish for smoking. Also called "sablefish."
  • Black Crow is a fruity, all-malt Australian dark ale from Coopers of Adelaide. Unlike the company's more celebrated brews, it is filtered before being bottled.
  • Black Pudding - This large link sausage is made of pig's blood, suet, bread crumbs, and oatmeal. It is generally sold precooked. Also known as "blood sausage."
  • Black Radish - A large plant thought to be of Oriental origin. These plants are grown chiefly for their pungent peppery root, which can get up to 2 pounds or more. This radish is popular in Germany and in the East.
  • Black Salsify - Also called "Scorzonera," this is a black-skinned variety of salsify. Most varieties of this vegetable are grayish or pale golden in color.
  • Black Turtle Beans - Also known as "black beans," these beans have black skin, cream-colored flesh, and a sweet flavor that forms the base for black bean soup.
  • Black velvet is a drink consisting of equal proportions of stout and champagne.
  • Black Walnut - A highly fat walnut that is better used with other foods than out-of-hand. Used in cakes, confections, and ice cream.
  • Blackberry - Also called "bramble," these are the largest of the wild berries, up to 1 inch long when mature. Look for plump, deep colored berries without hulls. (If hulls are present, the berries were picked too early and will be tart.)
  • Black-Eyed Peas - A small beige bean of the legume family with a round black "eye" located at its inner curve. This bean is popular, particularly in the south. Also called the "cowpea." Varieties with yellow "eyes" are called "yellow-eyed peas."
  • Blackfish - A lean, delicately flavored Pacific Ocean fish that is popular in Chinese cookery. Also called "Black Trout" and "Chinese Steelhead."
  • Blanch - To plunge food briefly into boiling water, then into cold water to stop the cooking process. This process is performed to firm the flesh, loosen skins, and to heighten and set the color and flavor of foods.
  • Blanquette de veau is a ragout or stew of veal in a white sauce.
  • Bleach - To make white or colorless by means of chemicals or the sun's rays.
  • Bleu d'Auvergne is a traditional farmhouse and creamery French blue cheese made from cow's milk in the Auvergne region of France.
  • Bleu de Haut Jura is a traditional farmhouse and cooperative, unpasteurized French blue cheese made with cow's milk in the Franche-Comte region of France. Unusually the cheese is made in the shape of a large flat wheel, which speeds the ripening process.
  • Bleu de Laqueuille is a traditional creamery French blue cheese made from unpasteurized cow's milk in the Auvergne region of France. The cheese was first produced by Antoine Roussel in 1850 at Laqueuille, by sprinkling young curd with blue moulds he found growing on rye bread.
  • Bleu des Causses is a traditional creamery French blue cheese made from unpasteurized cow's milk in the Auvergne region of France. Originally it was made with either cow's milk or sheep's milk, but in 1947 the AOC decreed that it must be made with cow's milk so as to distinguish it from Roquefort which is made in the same area. Bleu des Causses is matured in limestone caves which have natural fissures that allow currents of fresh air to circulate and move the natural moulds through the cheese.
  • Blintz - A very thin pancake that is rolled up to encase either sweet or savory fillings. The most common fillings are cottage or ricotta cheese, fruits, and meat mixtures. Often sautéed and served with sour cream.
  • Blood Sausage - Also known as "blood pudding" and "black pudding" in Ireland. This large link sausage is made of pig's blood, suet, bread crumbs, and oatmeal. It is generally sold precooked.
  • Bloody Mary - Invented by Pete Petiot at Harry's Bar in Paris, 1921. This drink contains vodka, lemon juice, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, pepper and V 8, tomato juice, or cocktail juice.
  • Blue Cheese - This type of cheese has been treated with molds that form blue or green veins that give it its characteristic flavor. Blue cheeses, including Danablu, Gorgonzola, Roquefort and Stilton, tend to increase in flavor and aroma with age.
  • Blue Crab - Named after its blue claws and dark blue-green shell, this crab is found along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. It is sold in both its soft and hard-shell stages. The "soft-shell crab" is simply a blue crab caught just after molting.
  • Blueberry - The blue-black berries of this plant are smooth-skinned, round, juicy, and sweet. Look for firm, uniformly sized blueberries that are indigo blue with a silvery frost.
  • Bluefin Tuna - Among the largest of tuna, the bluefin can weigh over 1,000 pounds. As bluefin age, their flesh turns from light to dark red and takes on a stronger flavor.
  • Bluefish - A fatty, fine-textured fish that is also known as "bulldog of the ocean" because of its tenacity. Found in the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Discard the dark oily strip that runs down its center to prevent a strong, fishy flavor.
  • Bluegill - One of a large number of North American freshwater fish closely related to the perch. Known for their bright, sunny colors, bluegill are also known as "sunfish."
  • Boar - An uncastrated male swine. In culinary terms, it is the male of a wild boar species found in Europe, Asia, North Africa and the U.S. Young boar is the best eating and is often prepared roasted, grilled, braised, or smoked like ham.
  • Bobwhite - A small game bird of the partridge family that resembles a small, plump chicken. The flesh is white and delicately flavored. Most of these birds are raised on bird farms today. Known also as "quail."
  • Bock (Bockbier) is a German beer made with more malt and less hops than ordinary German beer, and is as a result sweeter and stronger. It was originally brewed for colder months as a 'winter warmer'.
  • Bockwurst - A German ground-veal sausage that is flavored with chopped parsley and chives. This sausage is normally sold raw.
  • Bohea is an inferior kind of black tea.
  • Bok Choy - Also called Chinese cabbage, this variety of cabbage has crinkly, thick veined leaves which are thin, crisp, and delicately mild. Choose firm, tightly packed heads with crisp, green-tipped leaves.
  • Bologna - Also known as "baloney." This is a highly seasoned sausage meat that takes its name from the Italian city of Bologna. True Italian sausage is called "mortadella."
  • Bolognaise - A term that applies to several dishes inspired by Italian cookery from the Bologna region. Bolognaise sauce is a thick sauce based on various vegetables and meats.
  • Bonbel Cheese - A mild-flavored semi-soft cheese sold in small paraffin-coated rounds. It is pale cream in color. Its smooth, buttery texture makes it popular with fruit, sandwiches, and salads.
  • Bonito - This variety of tuna is the smallest of the tuna family, rarely weighing over 25 pounds. They range from moderate to high fat and are the most strongly flavored of the tunas. Many Japanese recipes call for dried bonito ("dashi").
  • Borage - This European herb has a flavor similar to that of cucumber. Both the flowers and leaves are used in salads. The leaves are also used to flavor teas and vegetables.
  • Borecole - A non-heading member of the cabbage family. Also called "kale." Cultivated for over 2,000 years, this vegetable can be prepared and eaten in much the same way as spinach.
  • Borscht - Also known as "borsch." This is a beet soup. It is prepared with beets and an assortment of vegetables with meat and/or meat stock. It is served hot or cold and is often garnished with a dollop of sour cream.
  • Botargo is a relish made from the salted roe of the mullet or tunny. It is eaten in Mediterranean coastal regions.
  • Bottle Gourd - A common variety of hard-shelled gourd, also called "white-flowered gourd" and "Calabash gourd." This gourd is used in the West Indies to produce a very popular syrup. Its shell is often used to create bowls and other utensils.
  • Bottle Gourd - A common variety of hard-shelled gourd, also called "white-flowered gourd" and "Calabash gourd." This gourd is used in the West Indies to produce a very popular syrup. Its shell is often used to create bowls and other utensils.
  • Bouillabaisse is a fish stew from Marseilles made with rascasses and other Mediterranean fish.
  • Bouillon - A flavor-concentrated powder of dehydrated beef, chicken or vegetable stock. Dehydrated bouillon must be dissolved in a hot liquid before using.
  • Bouillon is the French term for stocks or broths.
  • Bouquet is the characteristic flavour and aroma of a wine, due partly to the presence of volatile organic ethers, such as acetic, propylic, butylic and amylic, and partly to the ferments such as yeasts used in fermenting the must.
  • Bourbon - Named after Bourbon county, Kentucky. Straight bourbon is distilled from a mash of at least 51% corn; blended bourbon contains at least 51% straight bourbon; sour mash is made by adding some of the old mash to ferment each new batch.
  • Bousa is a native Ethiopian beer which is brewed by spontaneous fermentation
  • Bovril (Ox-strength) is a preparation of lean beef from which the water, about 75 per cent., has been excluded; and the albumen and fibrine, the nutritive parts retained by processes gradually invented by Lawson Johnston, who began his experimental researches in Canada in 1872.
  • Boysenberry - Created by horticulturist Rudolph Boysen in 1923 by crossing a raspberry, blackberry, and a loganberry. It is shaped like a large raspberry and has a rich sweet-tart flavor.
  • Brains - Gourmets say that sheep's brains are best, followed by calves, then pigs. Often boiled with salted water and a dash of vinegar, then reheated with butter and capers or deep fried in egg and bread crumb batter.
  • Brains SA is a medium strength British bottled ale. It is brewed with Fuggles and Golding hops and has a fruity taste.
  • Bramble - These are the largest of the wild berries, up to 1" long when mature. Look for plump, deep colored berries without hulls. (If hulls are present, the berries were picked too early and will be tart.) More commonly known as "blueberry."
  • Bran - The outer layer of grains such as wheat or oats. This outer layer is normally removed during the milling process. Bran is a good source of carbohydrates, calcium, phosphorus, and fiber.
  • Brandy - A liquor distilled from wine or other fermented fruit juice. Brandies are aged in wood, which contributes to the flavor. The finest brandies are called "cognacs."
  • Brandy is an alcoholic beverage of distilled wine.
  • Bratwurst - A German sausage made of pork and veal and seasoned with ginger, nutmeg, and coriander or caraway. Each German district has its own special variety of this sausage. Also called "brotwurst."
  • Bratwurst is a German sausage made of lean pork and heavily seasoned with herbs and spices including sage, nutmeg and ginger. It is traditionally served hot with vegetables.
  • Braunschweiger - A smoked German liver sausage made with eggs and milk. It is soft enough to spread and is usually served at room temperature.
  • Brawn is a food preparation produced from pig flesh freed from all bones, formed into a roll, boiled and pressed.
  • Brazil Nut - This is the seed of a giant tree that grows in the Amazon jungle. The kernel of this nut is white, rich, and high in fat. Also known as "butternut," "cream nut," and "paranut."
  • Bread is the flour or meal of grain kneaded with water into a tough paste and then baked. There are numerous kinds of bread, according to the ingredients and methods of preparation, but they may all be divided into one of two groups: fermented, leavened, or raised and unfermented, unleavened or not raised.
  • Breadfruit - This fruit is native to the Pacific. The fruit is up to ten inches in diameter and it has a bumpy green skin and a bland cream-colored center. Breadfruit can be baked, grilled, fried, or boiled, and served as a sweet or savory dish.
  • Breadnut Tree Seeds - The seeds of a tree from the mulberry family that is grown in Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies. These seeds are boiled, ground into flour and made into bread. Also called "Jamaican breadnut" and "Ramons."
  • Brewers often make one-off brews to commemorate special occasions. Harveys of Lewes in Sussex, for example, bottled a special strong pale ale, called Firecracker, in honour of the emergency services who fought to save it from disaster when a fire broke out in the brewery in 1996. Many brewers bottled ales to keep for the Queen's Coronation in 1953 and later royal marriages.
  • Brick Cheese - This pale yellow semi-soft cheese comes from Wisconsin and is brick shaped. When young, it has a mild flavor; as it ages, however, it becomes almost as strong as Limburger cheese.
  • Brie Cheese - This cheese has an edible white rind and a cream-colored, buttery soft inside that should ooze when ripe. French brie is considered the world's best. Made from whole or skim milk.
  • Broad Bean - Also known as the "fava bean," "faba bean," and "horse bean." This bean looks like a very large lima bean. The pod is inedible unless the plant is very young. Avoid pods bulging with beans as this is an indication of age.
  • Broccio is a Corsican cheese made from goat's milk or sour ewes' milk.
  • Broccoli - This vegetable is related to the cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower. It is a deep green vegetable that comes in tight clusters of tiny buds that sit on stout edible stems.
  • Broken Hill Draught is a dry, malty Australian lager from the South Australian brewery of Adelaide, this beer is named after the famous mining town. It is one of Australia's truly regional brews and has been produced for the 'Silver City' and surrounding areas for nearly 80 years. It is only available in kegs in the Broken Hill area.
  • Brown Ale is a sweetish, bottled mild ale, dark in colour and low in alcohol. In north-east England stronger brown ales are brewed.
  • Brown Rice - This is the entire rice grain minus only the inedible husk. The nutritious, high-fiber bran coating gives it its distinctive light tan color and nut-like flavor. The presence of the bran means a shorter shelf life (about 6 months).
  • Brown Sugar - White sugar combined with molasses. The darker the brown sugar, the more molasses that is used.
  • BROWN SUGARS, MOLASSES

    Brown
    — (soft) sugar is the commingling of fine grain white sugar and a film of molasses (sometimes called cane sugar syrup). As more and/or darker molasses is present relative to sugar, the grade of brown sugar darkens from light, to medium, to dark, with an accompanying deepening of the caramel and butterscotch flavors so highly prized in the product. Cane brown sugars are produced directly from the dark syrups obtained during the refining process, whereas beet brown sugar is produced by coating white granulated sugar with cane molasses. Light (golden) and dark brown sugars are the two major types commercially available, as well as in-between grades.

    Golden C® (Light) Brown Sugar
    Yellow D® (Dark) Brown Sugar
    ®Trademarks of California and Hawaiian Sugar Co.

    Brownulated — or Free Flowing brown sugar is a lower moisture version of ordinary brown. Free flowing brown sugar handles with less clumping and caking — ideal for automated weighing and scaling operations. ®Trademark of Domino Sugar Co.
  • Molasses — is the concentrated, clarified extract of sugar cane. It is the end product of sugar refining. Forty to sixty percent of molasses is sucrose and invert sugars, and the remainder inorganic nonsugars. Open Kettle Molasses is made by boiling cane juice until a large part of the water is evaporated. It is sometimes called unsulfured molasses. Centrifugal molasses results when part or all of the commercially crystallizable sugar is recovered from the concentrated cane juice, often in a series of steps where successive crystallization "strikes" result in molasses with deepening color and stronger flavor. The resulting types are known as first (light and sweet), second (dark, less sweet) and final (very dark, thick and bitter) molasses. The best grades, first and second, are used for table syrups, gingerbread and so forth. Final, or blackstrap molasses is considered inedible by some, but is used in yeast breads and baked beans by others. Molasses from sugar beets is not intended for human consumption.
    Savannah Gold® — A free flowing brown sugar. ® Savannah Sugar
     
  • Brussels Sprouts - This vegetable is a member of the cabbage family and, in fact, looks like miniature heads of cabbage. The smaller spouts are more tender. Storing Brussels sprouts too long will produce a strong flavor.
  • Brut - This is a term that refers to the driest champagnes. Brut champagnes are even drier than formulations labeled "extra dry."
  • Buckwheat - Normally thought of as a cereal, buckwheat is actually an herb. The triangular seeds are use to make buckwheat flour which is used in pancakes and other baked goods. 
  • Buckwheat Groats - Also known as "Kasha." Buckwheat groats are the hulled, crushed kernels of buckwheat. Normally cooked like rice and is available in coarse, medium, and fine grains.
  • Buffalo - Also know as the "bison," buffalo is presently raised on game farms. Buffalo meat is very tender and tastes somewhat like lean beef. It has no pronounced gamey flavor.
  • Buffalo Fish - This freshwater fish, which belongs to the sucker family, is similar to carp. It offers a coarse but sweet, low-fat flesh that lends itself to a variety of cooking methods.
  • Bulghur - A nutritious staple in the Middle East, bulghur consists of wheat kernels that have been steamed, dried, and crushed. It has a tender, chewy texture and can be made into a pilaf. It is sometimes confused with "cracked wheat."
  • Bullhead - A small, freshwater catfish that usually weighs in at under a pound. Its flesh is lean and mild in flavor.
  • Bullock's Heart - Also called "Custard Apple," this tropical fruit tastes like a cross between pineapple, mango, and strawberry. The flesh is cream-colored and has the texture of firm custard.
  • Bunny Hug is a cocktail comprised of equal parts of gin, Scotch whisky and pastis shaken together and then strained into a glass.
  • Buñuelo - A thin, deep-fried Mexican pastry. It is normally sprinkled with a cinnamon and sugar mixture.
  • Burbot - A freshwater cod with a lean white flesh and a delicate flavor. It is normally poached, baked, broiled or sautéed.
  • Burdock - This slender root vegetable has brown skin and grayish white flesh. Used in soups as well as with vegetables and meats. Known by the Japanese as "Gobo."
  • Burgos is a very soft Spanish cheese made in the Burgos province of Spain
  • Burgundy - One of the most famous wine growing regions in France (and therefore in the world). Burgundy wines tend to be more robust and full bodied than bordeaux wines.
  • Buridda is an Italian fish stew.
  • Bush Nut - More commonly known as the "Macadamia nut." This is a small, round, brown nut with a buttery, slightly sweet flavor and a high fat content. Used in a variety of dishes.
  • Butter - Butter is made by churning cream until is reaches a semi-solid state. By U.S. law, butter must be at least 80% butter-fat. The USDA grades butter quality based on flavor, body, texture, color and salt. The grades are AA, A, B, and C.
  • Butter - This product is made by churning cream until is reaches a semi-solid state. By U.S. law, butter must be at least 80% butter-fat. The USDA grades butter quality based on flavor, body, texture, color and salt. The grades are AA, A, B, C.
  • Butterbean - A pale green, plump-bodied bean with a slight kidney-shaped curve. Baby limas are smaller and milder than the Fordhook variety (which are not mature baby limas). More commonly known as the "lima bean."
  • Butterfish - This small, high-fat fish has a tender texture and a rich, sweet flavor. Found off the coast of the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, this fish is also called the "dollarfish," "Pacific pompano," and "pomfret."
  • Butterine, a composition of fats as a substitute for butter was first sold in London in 1885. By the Margerine Act of 1887 it changed its name to margarine.
  • Buttermilk - Long ago, buttermilk was the liquid that was left after the butter was churned. Now it is made by adding special bacteria to nonfat or lowfat milk. Sometimes, small amounts of butter is added to give it an "authentic" look.
  • Butternut - This is the seed of a giant tree that grows in the Amazon jungle. The kernel of this nut is white, rich, and high in fat. Also known as "Brazil nut."
  • Butternut Squash - Large winter squash that looks like a pear-shaped baseball bat. This vegetable weights about 2 to 3 pounds and has a sweet orange flesh. Used in breads, stews, soups, muffins, and puddings.
  • Butterscotch - Butterscotch flavor is a blend of butter and brown sugar.