T

Tabasco Sauce (tuh-BAS-koh) – It is a commercially made hot sauce that is considered the “King of All Pepper Sauces.” Available worldwide, and made in Avery Island, Louisiana by the McIlhenny family since the 1880s. Used as a table sauce and as a cooking ingredient.

taco (tah-KOH) – Taco in Spanish means a sandwich made with a tortilla. Like a sandwich, it can be made with almost any thing and prepared in many different ways. The taco can be eaten as an entree or snack. They are made with soft corn tortillas or fried corn tortillas folded over.

tamale (tuh-MAL-ee) – Tamales are a Mexican dish consisting of seasoned chopped meats or vegetables enclosed in corn masa (dough) and wrapped in a softened cornhusk. The savory packages are steamed and the cornhusks are peeled away before eating.

In Mexico, tamales are often served for special occasions, and the tradition of cooking tamales is passed from generation to generation. For the preparation of tamales, everyone in the family has a single task, from the oldest, who will probably be the one who prepares the cornmeal dough, up to the youngest that will cut the rope to wrap them.

tapa (TAH-pah) – Any type of food can be a tapa – anything that is easy to eat so that the natural flow of conversation is not interrupted. It is Spanish food served in small appetizer-sized portions. The word translates as “cover.” In Spain, tapas are served between meals, or maybe before that late dinner that begins at 10:00 p.m., in tapas bars. Lunch in Spain is traditionally served at 2:00 p.m. and dinner no earlier than 10:00 p.m.

Tapas can be as simple as a bowl of olives or something more hearty such as stuffed potatoes. In many Spanish restaurants, tapas are served free with a drink, the purpose being to keep you sober, and keep you going. After all, when you went back to sip your drink you weren’t going to throw what covered the glass away. Just eat it! And get another tapa in the process.

tartar, tartare (tar-ter) – (1) Tartar sauce – refers to the sauce made of mayonnaise dressing with chopped pickles that is commonly served with seafood. Also called “sauce tartare” in other countries. In French, it is loosely translated as ‘rough,’ as the Tartars were considered rough, violent, and savage.

(2) Steak Tartare – When tartare follows the word steak, this dish typically consists of raw ground beef or beef chopped finely and mixed with spices and topped with a raw egg and bits of raw onion.

tarte tatin (tart tah-TAN) – A famous French upside-down apple tart made by covering the bottom of a shallow baking dish with butter and sugar, then apples and finally a pastry crust. While baking the sugar and butter create a delicious caramel that becomes the topping when the tart is inverted onto a serving plate. There is one rule for eating Tarte Tatin, which is scrupulously observed. It must be served warm, so the cream melts on contact. To the French, a room temperature Tarte Tatin isn’t worth the pan it was baked in.

History: two French sisters, Carolina and Stephine Tatin, created the tart. The sisters lived in Lamotte-Beuvron, a small rural town in the Loire Valley, owned and ran the hotel called “l’Hotel TATIN” in the late 1800s. The elder sister, Stéphanie, dealt with the kitchen. She was a particularly fine cook but was not the brightest of people.

Her specialty was an apple tart, served perfectly crusty, caramelized and which melted in the mouth. One day during the hunting season, during the midday scramble, Stephanie placed her tart in the oven the wrong way round. The pastry and apples were upside-down but, nevertheless, she served this strange dessert without giving it time to cool.

The French call this dessert “tarte des demoiselles Tatin – the tart of two unmarried women named Tatin.”

tea (tee) – True tea, also known as traditional or China tea, comes from one plant, a camellia-like bush native to Asia. Listed below are some of the more common teas:

Black tea – The most common form of tea worldwide. It is prepared from green tea leaves which have been allowed to oxidize or ferment in order to form a reddish brew.

Darjeeling tea – Tea grown in the Darjeeling region, a mountainous area around the Himalayas of India. These (generally black) teas are well known for their crisp astringency.

Earl Grey tea – Unfermented, dried tea, more commonly found in China and Japan.

Jasmine tea – Black tea scented with jasmine flowers. It is typically made with green Pouchong teas as the base.

Oolong tea – A form of tea characterized by lighter brews and larger leaf styles. This tea is typically understood as a lightly fermented tea, between green and black tea.

Orange pekoe tea – Referring to the size of leaf, not quality of flavor, this term indicates a larger-size grade of whole leaf teas.

Tex-Mex – The cultural blending of Southern Texas and Northern Mexico cuisine.

Texas Toast – Texas toast, as it is most often called, is toast served with lunch or dinner and usually larger in size and density then regular toast. Of course this is served in Texas!

Thousand Island Dressing – It is made from bits of green olives, peppers, pickles, onions, hard-boiled eggs and other finely chopped ingredients.

tiramisu (teara-mi-SUE) – In Italian, tiramisu means, “pick me up.” It is a popular Italian dessert, which combines layers of rum-soaked lady fingers (delicate cookies), zabaglione, (Italian custard), mascarpone cheese, and chocolate. It is also known as Tuscan Trifle. This is a simple dessert that is easy to make and doesn’t need to be cooked.

toad-in-the-hole – A British dish consisting of a Yorkshire Pudding batter and cooked link sausages. When baked, the batter puffs up around the sausage. The best English sausages to use for this dish are Lincoln or Cumberland sausages.

tofu (TOH-foo) – Made from soybean curd, tofu is rich in high-grade protein. It is a cheese-like food made by curdling fresh soymilk. The curds are pressed into cakes and textures vary from soft to firm depending on how much water is extracted during processing. It also has no cholesterol and is easily digestible.

Tofu varieties include “cotton” and “silk,” firm and soft, respectively. Tofu is stored in water and should be thoroughly drained just before cooking.

Changing the water daily will keep it fresh longer. In addition to being served chilled, tofu appears in soups, nabe (refers to a variety of communal one-pot meals), and simmered, and deep-fried dishes.

torte (tohrt) – Torte is the German word for “cake.” It is a cake that uses groundnuts as the predominant dry ingredient in place of most or sometimes all of the flour. Although they may be single layered, tortes are often sliced into several layers and filled with whipped cream, jam, or butter cream. Tortes make a great dessert for the Jewish holiday of Passover, when flour can’t be used.

tortellini (tohr-tl-Eennee) – A filled pasta that has been twisted to form a ring usually two inches in diameter. They are stuffed with meat, vegetables, or most commonly, cheese.

tortilla (tore-TEE-yu) – (1) In Spain it is an omelet; (2) In Tex-Mex cooking, it is a round, unleavened thin bread made of either corn flour or wheat flour. Tortillas in Mexico almost always mean corn tortillas.

tournedos (TOOR-nih-doh) – It is a beef steak cut from the tenderloin, measuring ¾- to 1-inch thick and 2- to 2 ½-inches in diameter. Because they tend to be very lean, tournedos are often wrapped in pork fat or bacon prior to grilling or broiling. The classic way to serve them is on fried bread rounds and topped with a mushroom sauce.

trifle (TRI-fuhl) – It is a cake well soaked with sherry and served with boiled custard poured over it. The English call this cake a Tipsy Cake or Pudding and Tipsy Hedgehog. The word “trifle” comes from the Old French “trufle,” and literally means something whimsical or of little consequence.

truffle (TRUHF-uhl) – (1) A chocolate truffle is a confection made with chocolate, butter or cream, and other flavorings, such as liquers or coffe, rolled into a ball and often coated with cocoa, nuts, or more chocolate. They were named “truffles” because the finished candy somewhat resembled the famous fungus.

(2) The truffle is a fungus that grows from 3 to 12 inches underground near the roots of trees (usually oak, but also chestnut, hazel, and beech), never beyond the range of the branches. It is a tuber of unusual flavor and aroma, and is mainly round in shape, arrive in various sizes and are black, brown, white, and sometimes gray in color.

There are 70 varieties of truffles, 32 of which are found in Europe. It is savored in Italian and French cookery, and due to its scarcity, draws a very high price. They are highly prized for their exceptional flavors.

The high price of truffles, is due to the methodically slow and labor intensive harvesting process which involves the use of specially trained animals to route out the hard to find fungus. As truffles grow under the earth, they are located using the sensitive noses of specially trained dogs, which carefully dig them up with their paws. These dogs are referred as “tabui”, which strangely enough means “bastards”.

black truffle – These are the truffles of Perigord, often called black diamonds. They are the black diamonds” of French cuisine. They are the most revered truffle and have a black flesh with a network of white veins inside. The black truffle requires cooking to allow the flavors to be fully achieved. They are in season from January to March.

white truffle – These are the truffles of Piedmont, often called autumn truffles or fruit of the woods. The white truffle is best when shaved directly on the dish before eating. Their season is from October to December.

Oregon truffles

truffle oil – Truffle oil is extra-virgin olive oil that is infused with the essence of gourmet mushrooms. It is the most economical way to enjoy the flavor of truffles; a drop or two of this oil will enhance sauces, pastas, and salads.