FOOD GLOSSARY - Sponge to Stew or Fricassee

SPONGE:  One of the first steps in making some types of yeast bread. Also a light, fluffy gelatin dessert containing stiffly beaten egg whites.

SPONGE CAKE:  A cake made without added fat and leavened by means of air incorporated in beaten eggs.

SPOON BREAD:  Southern corn bread, usually of corn meal, that remains soft and delicate after baking, made and served in a casserole, and must be spooned out to be served.

SPRINGERLE:  German Christmas cooky. The dough is rolled into a sheet and pressed with a springerle rolling pin or board, which transfers a design. Usually anise flavored.

SPRITZ:  Swedish butter cooky popular for the holidays.

SPUMONE or SPUMONI:  An Italian frozen dessert made of various layers of smooth ice cream, often, containing candied fruits and pistachio nuts.

SPUN SUGAR:  Sugar syrup which has been boiled to the long-thread stage, then drawn out into threads over bars; it is often colored.

SQUAB :  A young pigeon. They are best, when about 4 to 5 weeks of age, 12 to 14 ounces. The flesh is very tender. Very young chickens are sometimes called squab chickens.

SQUID :  A ten-tentacled relative of the octopus. Small squid are edible and are occasionally imported quick-frozen.

STAG:  A male chicken, usually under 10 months of age, and 5 to 9 pounds, ready-to-cook weight. Its flesh has begun to darken and toughen slightly, it's skin is coarse, and its breastbone has hardened considerably. This bird is best cooked as a stewing chicken.

STEAM:  To cook by steam in a closed container. Dumplings and puddings are examples. Or you can cook by steam under pressure in less time by using a special pressure saucepan.

STEAM-BAKE:  To cook in the oven in a pan set over a container of hot water.

STEAM COOKER:  A covered saucepan or sauce pot having one or more perforated insert pans equipped with a handle or handles.

STEEP:  To let a food stand in hot liquid, below boiling, to extract flavor, color, or both, as in tea.

STERILIZE:  To free from living microorganisms by application of intense heat.

STEW or FRICASSEE:  To stew or fricassee means to simmer or cook food slowly in a small amount of liquid in a covered pan. The meat may or may not be browned first. "Stew" usually means meat; "fricassee" most often refers to chicken. Whatever the method is called, it is a fine way to cook tougher cuts of meat.