FOOD GLOSSARY - Viande to Watercress

VIANDE (French):  Meat.

VICHYSSOISE:  Creamy potato and leek soup served cold, sprinkled with minced chives. Created by Chef Louis Diat, then of the Ritz-Carleton in New York, in 1941.

VIENNA BREAD:  An American name for a rich French-style bread made in many shapes.

VIENNA COFFEE:  Coffee served with thin cream and garnished with whipped cream.

VIENNA ROLLS:  Crisp rolls like French rolls.

VIENNA COFFEE RING:  A yeast-raised sweet bread.

VINAIGRETTE (French):  A sauce made of oil, vinegar, chopped eggs, chopped pickle, chopped onion or shallots, herbs, etc. Served with vegetables, meats, fish, etc.

VOLATILLE (French):  Poultry - that is, all domesticated birds such as chicken, duck, goose, turkey, etc.

VOL-AU-VENT (French):  Literally "flying with the wind"; large puff pastry patties filled with fish, meat, or poultry in a rich cream sauce.

VORSPEISEN (German):  Appetizers.

WAFER:  A thin, crisp cooky.

WAFFLE:  A batter cake cooked in a waffie iron, a special baker now usually made of aluminum consisting of two patterned griddles hinged together so that the waffle bakes between them. A waffle is a modified pancake (griddle cake) with a richer batter and a crispier product.

WALDORF SALAD:  Apples, celery, and nuts cut in small pieces or chopped and mixed with a suitable dressing. Popularized in the hotel for which it was named.

WASHINGTON PIE:  Traditionally, sponge cake layers put together with jelly or jam, sprinkled on top with confectioners' sugar; however, the name is often applied to cake layers put together with custard, choco- late, and the like.

WASSAIL or WASSEL:  From "was hael" or good health. An old English punch of stewed apples, beer, ale, or wine, served hot from a big bowl at holiday time.

WATER CHESTNUT:  The water chestnut, so popular in Oriental cooking, resembles in general texture and shape the ordinary chesthut. It is the fruit kernel of a variety of related water plants with floating leaves, small white flowers, and the nut-like fruit. Water chestnuts can be bought canned.

WATERCRESS:  A plant of the mustard family, whose leaves are used in salads, soups, etc. It grows in water or wet soil.