Au gratin means that a dish is topped with cheese or breadcrumbs and browned under a grill.
Au gratin is used for:
soups, such as French onion
meats, such as veal
vegetable dishes, such as cauliflower.
Béchamel is a foundation white sauce. It is made by combining equal amounts of fat and flour (for example, 50g butter to 50g flour) plus milk.
Béchamel is used as a base for sauces such as cheese sauce, onion sauce, mustard sauce and parsley sauce.
Bouquet garni is a bunch of herbs, usually tied in muslin, used to flavour dishes such as sauces, soups and stews.
Typical herbs in a bouquet garni are bayleaf, thyme, parsley.
Jus refers to pan juices thickened by reducing them down.
To make a jus, bones are browned off in the oven and combined with vegetables and liquid to form the base of a stock. This is then reduced to a sauce consistency.
The term mise en place means to ‘put in place’. In cookery it refers to all the preparation needed before cooking or serving food.
Because of the nature and speed of a kitchen/food serving area, much of the preparation or mise en place needs to be done before the arrival of any orders. It is too busy to do this during service time.
Preliminary preparations in the kitchen can include preparing food, such as fish, sauces and vegetables or setting up equipment, such as tasting spoons, fry pans and knives.
A large part of kitchen mise en place is also the preparation of garnishes.
Some mise en place, however, will be ongoing and relate to the nature of the items being used, for example, thawing portions of meat or making coffee.
A roux is a mixture of fat and flour that is cooked and then used to thicken a sauce.
To make a roux, the fat is melted. The flour is then added over a moderate heat and the mixture stirred together.
The roux is allowed to cook out until it reaches the consistency and colour required.
Before adding any extra liquid it should be cooled slightly.