FOOD GLOSSARY - New England Clam Chowder to Green Olives

NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER:  A thick soup with milk, clams, potatoes, onions, etc., usually served with little crackers floating on top.

NOISETTE (French):  Hazelnut; as a culinary term it may imply food of hazelnut size and shape as small pieces of lean meat or small browned potato balls.

NOODLE:  A flat, narrow strip of dry dough, usually containing egg and served in soup, etc. They originated in Germany, called nudeln in German and nouilles in French. See Macaroni.

NORMANDE (French):  From Normandy, a province of France. Normande sauce is made with fish or shellfish stock, mushrooms or mushroom stock, egg yolks, and cream. Served with fish or shellfish.

NOUGAT (French):  Several varieties of candy, usually a paste filled with chopped almonds, pistachios, or other nuts.

NOUVEAU (French):  New. Applies to peas, potatoes, etc.

NUSSE (German):  Nuts; little cakes of nut-shape or size.

OATEN:  Of or made of oats or oatmeal.

OATMEAL:  While this name does mean oats crushed into meal or flakes as well as rolled or ground oats, for the sake of clarity the term "oats" is used in recipes when uncooked rolled oats are called for in the recipe. In recipes, oatmeal refers to cooked oats. See Cereals.

O'BRIEN POTATOES:  Diced cooked potatoes, pan-fried with onion and green pepper and/or pimiento.

OEUF (French):  Egg; oeuf brouille: scrambled egg; oeuf dur: hard-cooked egg; oeuf en cocotte: shirred (baked) egg; oeuf farci: stuffed egg; oeuf mollet: soft-cooked, shelled egg; oeuf poche: poached egg; oeuf sur le plat or oeuf frit: fried egg.

OKRA:  (Also called gumbo.) A tall plant with sticky green pods, used in soups, stews, etc. It's popular in the southern states.

OLEOMARGARINE:  The original name for margarine. See Fats, Oils, Shortenings.

OLIVES:  Olive trees have been grown since prehistoric times in Asia Minor, and their cultivation spread very early to all Mediterranean countries. It was introduced into California about 1769 by Franciscan missionaries. The mission olive of today, one of the best varieties for pickling and for oil, was developed from trees grown at the mission in San Diego probably from Mexican seed. Other important varieties are the manzanilla and the queen olive.

Green olives are picked when fully grown but unripe. They are cured, brined and packed in brine. They are a true pickle. In preparing stuffed olives, the seed is removed and replaced usually by Spanish paprika (pimiento), anchovies, onion, or nuts. While olive oil and green olives have been produced for centuries, American experts discovered that the ripe olive could be canned. Although it now appears simple, this was quite a revolutionary idea. Most of the ripe olives in our stores are grown and packed in California. The ripe olive is not a pickle but a canned ripe fruit.