Vatapá is a thick, very rich tasting Brazilian sauce based on puréed shrimp. The ingredients are dried shrimp, onion, dende oil, peanuts, coconut milk, plus spices and seasonings. It is thickened with bread. You can use Vatapá as a sauce on top of rice, or as a filling for acarajes, or a condiment to top…
Condiments
Vegemite
Vegemite is a yeast spread, an Australian competitor to British-made Marmite. It is a very shiny, very dark, reddish, deep-brown spreadable paste. It is so thick that if you were to tip a jar up, it might take hours or days for it to run out of the jar. It is salty-tasting, but milder than…
Velouté Sauce
Velouté Sauce is a sauce in classical French cooking that is used both a sauce in its own right, and as a component in other sauces. It is a simple sauce, but somewhat labour intensive. It is made from veal or chicken stock, thickened with a roux. The mixture is brought to a boil, then…
Verjuice
Verjuice is unfermented grape juice made from unripe green grapes. It is very acidic, making it tart like sour apples, but less tart and acidic than vinegar. It is currently enjoying a small amount of popularity, as it can be used in places where vinegar can’t be. A salad with a vinaigrette dressing can’t be…
Vietnamese Fish Sauce
The Fish Sauce produced in Vietnam (called “nước mắm” in Vietnamese) is a golden-coloured one that is fermented for a year in wooden vats in the dark. In Vietnamese, “nuóc” means “water”; “mám” means “salted fish.” Vietnamese fish sauce was essentially off the market outside of Vietnam from 1975 until the United States lifted trade…
Vinaigre d’Orléans
Vinaigre d’Orléans is vinegar made in Orléans, France. It is 7% acid. To make it, 240 litre barrels are laid on their side, with the bung hole (the hole that can be plugged) on the side that is up. Holes in each end of the barrel, above what will be the 3/4 full mark when…
Vinaigrette
A Vinaigrette is a salad dressing made from oil and vinegar. Use two parts of oil to one part vinegar: any higher amount of oil and it won’t emulsify into the vinegar. The addition of mustard and of finely chopped ground herbs, onions or garlic will help to both blend everything together and stabilize it…
Vinegar
Vinegar is an acidic liquid used in cooking for its sour taste, as well as its cleaning, sanitizing, and preservative qualities. The vinegar making process starts with fermented liquids such as wine, ale, beer, cider, or fermented fruits and grains. The alcohol level must be less than 18%, or the process won’t start: if necessary,…
Vinegar Day
The 1st of November is Vinegar Day. You can hold a vinegar tasting, or make a vinegar pie, or put vinegar on your French fries.
Volkswagen Ketchup
The Volkswagen car company makes spiced ketchup called “Volkswagen Gewürz Ketchup”, or “Volkswagen Spiced Ketchup”. It is particularly designed for use in the German dish, “currywurst”.
Walnut Sauce
Walnut Sauce is a speciality in Liguria, Italy. It is a simple, thick, uncooked sauce, made from walnuts, marjoram, garlic, olive oil or water, and grated Parmesan. It is often served on chestnut gnocchi, or drizzled over a triangular-shaped, cheese-stuffed pasta called “pansotti al preboggion.” It can also be used as a dip for crudités…
Wasabi
Wasabi is a small perennial green plant that grows in the wild along streams. It is a member of the watercress family. It will grow about 18 inches (45 cm) tall. It is harvested for its root, which is green inside, after at least two years of growth. It is also cultivated, usually in water….
Wasabi Powder
Wasabi Powder is, in theory, a hot-tasting powder made from the dried, ground roots of Wasabi plants. In practice, however, the pure powders made from actual Wasabi roots are quite expensive, so almost all brands are “fake” Wasabi Powder, actually containing powdered horseradish rather than real wasabi roots, with pale green colouring to imitate the…
Whey Vinegar
Whey Vinegar is an amber-coloured vinegar made using whey left over from making cheese, or from skim milk. The whey is first made alcoholic by adding a yeast such as “Kluyveromyces fragilis” to induce fermentation. Then, then after it’s alcohol, a starter culture such as “Acetobacter pasteurianus” is added to convert the alcohol to acetic…
White Balsamic Vinegar
White Balsamic Vinegar is not officially a balsamic vinegar. It is thinner, and a pale gold or amber colour. It is less sweet than proper balsamic, having a mellow flavour with a bit of tang at the end. It is made from must from white grapes, usually Trebbiano grapes and / or Lambrusco grapes, combined…
White Meat and Gravy
Poorer folk in the American South used to make a breakfast dish they called “white meat and gravy.” While some innocents infer that the “white meat” was chicken or turkey (not realizing how expensive chicken was back then) and some wise-acres guess alligator, it was actually salt pork fat. The salt pork would be boiled…
White Miso
White Miso is a fermented paste made from soybeans, salt and either rice or barley. It also comes with other seasonings added such as pepper, ginger, etc. It is not actually white; it is more yellow or beige, and smooth and creamy. It has a mild, savoury taste. It is perhaps the easiest miso for…
White Sauce
White Sauce © Randal Oulton White Sauce is the English term for what the French call “Béchamel” sauce, a simple foundation sauce whose liquid is milk. A white sauce is very easy to make. It has just three ingredients: flour and butter and milk. All you have to do is memorize this table of proportions,…
White Vinegar
White Vinegar © Denzil Green White vinegar can be a generic term for any vinegar which is clear or light yellow in colour. In North America, however, it usually means white distilled vinegar. All throughout North America, this is the one vinegar that you can count on finding in the cupboard. It is one of…
White Wine Vinegar
White Wine Vinegar is a tangy vinegar made from white wine. It is used in light-coloured sauces (such as Hollandaise and Béarnaise), and light-coloured dressings, where a darker vinegar such as red-wine vinegar would give the wrong colour. It has a subtler, less harsh taste than the standard white distilled vinegar popular throughout North America….
Worcestershire Sauce
Lea & Perrins © Denzil Green Worcestershire Sauce is a commercially-made seasoning sauce. The sauce is brown, and thin. It has a somewhat tart, meaty taste with a pungent vinegary smell. The most well-known brands include French’s and Heinz, and Lea & Perrins. Different brands will use different ingredients; some of the ingredients commonly used…
XO Sauce
XO Sauce is a spicy seafood sauce that can be used as an ingredient or a table condiment. It is made from dried shrimp, dried scallop, garlic, chile, onion, dried fish, and oil. In restaurants, the sauce may include some brandy, either in the sauce or by virtue of brandy being in the dish it’s…
Yakiniku Sauce
Yakiniku Sauce is a range of sauces used to accompany a Japanese or Korean Yakiniku-style meal. Most Westerners, though, tend of think of a garlic-flavoured sauce when they think of Yakiniku Sauce. They can be made or bought: there are many commercial brands available. Many are soy based, though some such as Akadare made by…
Yakitori Sauce
Yakitori Sauce is a Japanese sauce for barbequing. Items are brushed with it before grilling, then brushed with it a few times more while cooking. The sauce is also served at the table as a dipping sauce. There are many different versions: some will add fish stock, others chicken stock. Yakitori Sauce can be bought…