Different methods of cooking :

Bake : Cook in an oven

Bake in a bag - also called baking 'en papillote', to place something( normally fish) in a sealed foil or paper bag with seasonings and a littlel iquid and baking it in the oven until cooked.

Baste - to spoon hot fat or stock from the roasting tray over whatever you're roasting to moisten it and to encourage caramelisation

Bat out - to bash a piece of meat with a wooden mallet or a metal meat baton even a saucepan to make it thinner, before cooking.

Blacken - to coat a piece of fish or meat in a mixture of seasonings and cook in a hot pan without oil so the surface burns and turns black giving a charred flavour.

Blanch - to immerse briefly in boiling water either to cook (for vegetables) or to remove fat or salt (for meat)

Boil - to cover with cold water, bring to a rolling boil and cook until tender.

Braise - to cook meat or veg slowly, in a pot with a little liquid and a lid on until tender, either in the oven or on the stove

Broil - To grill

Brown - to fry or roast something in fat until it caramelises on the outside

Caramelise - to get the sugar on the surface of something to turn into caramel by frying, roasting, grilling or even blow torching in the case of tarts, poached fruit, meringues or crème brulees.

Ceviche - thinly sliced fish marinated in lemon or lime juice to partially cook it before eating. A method of cooking without heat.

Char - to burn part or all of the surface of whatever you are cooking until it turns into carbon

Chargrill - to cook something on heavy iron bars above a charcoal or gash eat. The surface of the food touching the bars chars and gives a smoky barbecue flavour

Cook down - to cook an ingredient or mixture of ingredients in a pan with the lid off until it reduces in volume

Deep fry - to immerse in hot oil and cook until crisp

Emulsify - to combine fat or oil and other liquids to make a stable suspension, often using egg yolks (mayonaisse)

Fry - to cook by placing in hot shallow pan with a little fat. Whatever you are cooking should end up slightly crisp and caramelised.

Grill - to cook by placing under a hot electric or gas element

Infuse - to immerse aromatic things like lemon zest, cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods or bunches of herbs, in hot liquids so that the liquid will take on their flavours.

Marinate - to immerse meat or fish in a seasoned liquid (a marinade), possibly containing oil, lemon juice or vinegar, spices, herbs and sometimes wine to tenderise and flavour it before cooking.

Par boil - to cover ingredients (normally vegetables) with cold water, bring to the boil and drain, to part cook them, often before roasting.

Poach - to immerse in hot liquid and simmer gently until cooked and/or tender

Pot roast - to roast in a pot with the lid on or off, with a little liquid added to baste the roast, keeping it moist and helping it caramelise.

Puree - a very smooth vegetable mash usually passed through a sieve to remove any lumps.

Reduce - to boil a liquid in a saucepan without a lid so that it evaporates, reduces in volume and concentrates in flavour.

Refresh - to immerse in ice cold water after blanching to preserve colour( in vegetables), and stop the cooking process.

Render - to cook a piece of fat, or meat with fat around it by a frying, steaming, boiling or roasting so that the fat melts and can be either discarded or kept for cooking purposes.

Rest - to take a piece of meat out of the oven once it's finished cooking and keep it warm for 10 minutes or so before serving. The fibres of the meat which are tensed up by the heat of the oven relax and the meat becomes more tender.

Roast - to cook in the oven with fat to help whatever you're cooking caramelise and crisp.

Roux - a mixture of butter and flour fried together to thicken a sauce (like Bechamel), stew or soup.

Rub - mixture of herbs and spices which is rubbed on food before cooking to give it a tasty crust.

Sear - to fry in very little oil, briefly on a fierce heat.

Season - to flavour with salt and pepper before or after cooking.

Simmer - to boil very gently so only a few bubbles appear on the surface of the liquid .

Slowcook - to roast, simmer, braise or stew very gently for a long time.

Soak - to immerse dried things like beans, lentils, salt cod or mushrooms in water until they're ready to be cooked.

Steam - to place ingredients in a pot or basket with small holes in the bottom over a pan of boiling water so they cook in the steam.

Stew - to cook meat or veg slowly, covered with liquid, in a pot either in the oven or on the stove.

Sweat - to cook vegetables, gently, in a pot until they are soft and squashy without any colour. A lid and a cartouche help this process by keeping any steam generated inside the pot.

Tray bake - a method of cooking where the meat or fish and the accompanying vegetables are all cooked in the one tray in the oven.