FOOD GLOSSARY - Roux to Salmagundi

ROUX:  The most common way to thicken a sauce is with a roux, a blended mixture of fat and flour, with butter the preferred fat. The roux may be blanc, blond or bruno i.e., white, golden, or brown. The longer the roux is cooked the darker it will be and as a result the darker the sauce in which it is used. To make a roux, melt the butter and blend in the flour then cook together over very low heat to required color. Roux may be made in advance and stored in refrigerator. Then it can be reheated in top of double boiler before proceeding with the making of the sauce.

ROYALE:  In royal style. A thick unsweetened custard cut into fancy shapes or cubes for garnishing soup.

RUE:  A plant with bitter-tasting leaves sometimes used as an herb seasoning in the South. The leaves are blended with cheese and used in salads, and to savor vegetable cocktails. Formerly thought to have medicinal properties.

RUSK:  A term applied to various styles of raised bread or cake or light, slightly sweetened biscuits dried and toasted in an oven until browned and crisp, really twice-baked breads. Baby food, usually. See Zwieback.

RUSSEL:  A soured beet juice, used especially by Jewish people to make Passover borsht (beet soup). See Borsht.

RUTABAGA:  Swedish turnip is another name. Usually yellow fleshed and large. it has a strong turnipy flavor, but if not over-cooked mAkes an excellent vegetable dish.

Rye:  Cereal grain used in breadmaking. More important in Europe for this purpose than in this country. Also used for rye whiskey. See Flour.

SABAYON (French):  A delicate sauce or dessert made of egg yolks, sugar, and wine. As a sauce, it covers cakes or fruit. As a dessert, it is served in a cup because of its soft consistency. It is similar to the Italian zabaglione.

SACCHARIN:  A very sweet coal tar product (about 400 times sweeter than cane sugar) without food value; used instead of sugar in certain diets.

SACHER TORTE:  A famous Viennese cake from the name of a restaurant.

SAFFLOWER:  European thistle-like plant with orange flowers. It is used as a substitute for the more expensive saffron.

SAGO:  A starchy foodstuff made from the pith of sago palm trees, used as a thickener like cornstarch chiefly in puddings and fillings.

ST. GERMAIN:  "À la St. Germain" indicates a garnish of green peas. Potage St. Germain is a chicken or veal stock soup with peas.

SALISBURY STEAK:  Similar to hamburger but a fancy form, usually with cream added, and sometimes coated with fresh bread-crumbs. Broiled and served with a sauce.

SALLY LUNN:  Yeast or baking powder sweet bread, originally an English tea cake named for Sally Lunn, a woman who originally made and sold them in Bath, England.

SALMAGUNDI:  Any mixture or medley, especially a dish of chopped meat, eggs, etc. flavored with onions, anchovies, pepper, vinegar, and oil.