FOOD GLOSSARY - Filet Mignon to Flounder

FILET MIGNON (French):  Very small fillet of beef, usually a round cut of beef tenderloin, broiled.

FILET OF SOLE:  Boned side of a fish. See Sole.

FINANCIÈRE (French):  Financial; a brown sauce with truffles, wine, and mushrooms.

FINES HERBES (French):  fine herbs; food served "aux fines herbes" is prepared with a finely chopped (minced) combination of such herbs as thyme, marjoram, parsley, savory.

FINNAN HADDIE:  Smoked haddock. The name is a corruption of Findon haddock, Findon being a fishing port on the coast of Scotland, famous for its cured haddock.

FINOCCHIO (Italian):  An anise-flavored celery-like vegetable; also known as anise and fennel.

FISH AND CHIPS:  A favorite British dish of deep-fat fried fillets of fish and potatoes.

FLAKE:  To break or pull apart a food like cooked or canned fish or chicken that divides naturally. All you do is follow these divisions, pulling at them gently with one or two forks. Or if you prefer, you can flake with your fingers.

FLAMBÉ (French):  Food over which a liquor (most frequently brandy) is poured and ignited.

FLAN (French):  Custard, usually baked. Also a small pastry or tart with custard, cream, or fruit filling.

FLANEL CAKE:  A kind of thin tender griddle cake, often one made with yeast.

FLAPJACK:  A pancake or griddle cake.

FUNNEL CAKE:  Funnel cake or funnelcake is a regional food popular in North America at carnivals, fairs, sporting events, and seaside resorts. Funnel cakes are made by pouring unleavened batter into hot cooking oil in a circular pattern and deep frying the overlapping mass until golden-brown. When made at concession stands, a pitcher with an integral funnel spout is employed. Funnel cakes are typically served plain with powdered sugar, or with jam, cinnamon, Nutella, fresh fruit, or other toppings. In the book "I'm Just Here for the Food", Alton Brown, star of Good Eats on the Food Network, recommends they be baked with choux pastry, which expands from steam produced by its high water content.

FLORENTINE:  In cookery this term usually denotes a dish prepared with spinach, as eggs Florentine, poached eggs served on a bed of spinach and dressed with a cream or cheese sauce.

FLOUNDER:  A flat fish of fine-eating quality, the domestic equivalent of the European sole. See Sole.