FOOD GLOSSARY - Doughnut to Dundee Cake

DOUGHNUT:  A small, usually ring-shaped, cake of sweetened leavened dough, fried in deep hot fat. The name may be derived from the fact that early doughnuts were balls or "nuts" of dough. It is said that a sea captain, who loved these fried cakes but objected to the often semi-raw state of their interiors, thought up the plan of cutting out the middle. Some think the doughnut is a descendent of the Dutch "olykoeck" or fried cake with a nut or raisin in the center, no hole.

DRAIN:  See Strain.

DRAWN BUTTER:  Melted butter, sometimes thickened, used for a sauce.

DREDGE:  To sprinkle or coat food with flour, fine crumbs, cereal, or other fine substance. Dredging is very often a preliminary step to frying.

DRESS:  Culinary term meaning to trim, clean, etc.

DRIED BEEF:  A form of preserved beef cured by salting, smoking, and drying.

DRIPPINGS:  This may refer to the combined fat and juices that drip from meat or poultry while roasting (used for gravy ordinarily), or to just the fats rendered in the process of cooking fat meats such as bacon, salt pork, etc.

DRY:  As applied to a beverage, meaning a low percentage of sugar.

DRY HEAT:  A term applied to roasting, broiling, or panbroiling. As the name implies, it is a method of cooking in which no water is used. Only tender cuts of meat should be cooked in this manner.

DRY INGREDIENTS:  When used in recipe instructions, this term refers to flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices, etc.

DUCHESS OR DUCHESSE:  As a culinary term, it usually refers to Duchess Potatoes or Potatoes Duchesse-that is, potatoes seasoned and mashed, with beaten egg yolk added, then whipped light, and usually piped through a pastry tube as a border for planked or broiled meats. Duchess apples are an early cooking variety.

DUCKLING UNDER PRESS:  Known in French as "Canard à La Presse," this is an epicurean dish of roasted duck which is pressed in a special press right at the diner's table anD served with a sauce prepared in a chafing dish. It's an elaborate way of serving, performed only in some of the fanciest restaurants.

DUFF:  An English thick flour pudding, boiled in a cloth bag; also an English fruit dumpling.

DULSE:  Any of several edible seaweeds with large, red, wedge-shaped fronds. fruit dumpling.

DUMPLINGS:  These may be small pieces of dough, ball-shaped bits of batter or other foods steamed or boiled and served with meat or soup. When served with soups, meat stews, or as the main dish for luncheon, dumplings are usually cooked by steaming on top of the meat and vegetables in a tightly closed kettle. When used as a dessert, dumplings are crusts of dough filled or combined with fruit, and they may be steamed, boiled, or baked.

DUNDEE CAKE:  A Scottish cake usually covered with almonds, named after a city in Scotland.