FOOD GLOSSARY - Plum Pudding to Portugaise

PLUM PUDDING:  A rich dessert, usually a steamed pudding containing raisins. Brandy was formerly much used in it. Traditionally, it is served for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

PLUM TOMATO:  The small Italian tomatoes shaped like plums; they can be used in any recipes calling for tomatoes.

POACH:  To cook covered by liquid at or below simmering (not boiling), using precautions to retain shape. Or to cook eggs over hot water in a special pan.

POI:  A food, much favored by Hawaiians and Polynesians, made from taro root ground with water or pounded.

POIS (French):  Peas; petis pois: very small peas; pois cassés: split peas.

POIVRADE, AU (French):  With pepper. Poivrade sauce is a dark brown sauce containing black pepper, onions, ham, etc.

POLENTA:  An Italian dish, usually made of a corn meal mush (often also with farina) with a variety of sauces and cheese.

POLONAISE, À LA :  Polish style; usually applied to dishes in which beets, red cabbage, horseradish, or sour cream have been used.

POLLO:  Chicken in Italian and Spanish.

POMEGRANATE:  A round, smooth-skinned, deep red, beautiful fruit of an ornamental tree grown domestically in Arizona and California. The juice is ruby colored. The fruit has many seeds and these are often used to garnish fruit salads since they are an attractive red color, and crunchy. Pomegranate syrup is known as "grenadine" and is used in many beverages and desserts for its red color and interesting flavor.

POMME (French):  Apple; pomme bonne femme: baked apple.

POMME DE TERRE(French):  Apple of the earth or potato.

POMPANO:  One of the most delicious of southern fishes. A famous dish in New Orleans and in Florida is "pompano en papillote" (cooked in a paper bag).

POPOVER:  A very light, puffy, hollow quick bread, so called because it rises over the baking pan, i. e., when baked it "pops over."

PORRIDGE:  A soft food made of cereal or meal boiled in water or milk until thick.

PORTERHOUSE:  Porterhouse steak is a choice cut of beef, a loin cut containing the largest portion of tenderloin muscle. It is said that it is so named from having been a specialty at a famous New York porterhouse, a place where beer, porter, etc. (and sometimes steaks and chops) were served. Others believe the name was given to this cut because it was the kind of meat traditionally served in English porterhouses or taverns. Porterhouses were presumably for porters who carried the sedan chairs for nobility in 18th century England. Dark ale to which porters also were addicted came to be called porter for the same reason.

PORTUGAISE (French):  In Portuguese style, usually referring to Portugaise sauce, a vegetable sauce, primarily with a tomato flavor.