Food tech

• Additives


  Natural or synthetic chemical substances added to food during manufacture or processing to improve the quality, flavour, colour, texture, or stability of the product
• Aeration


  Incorporating air into a mixture
• Agitate


  To stir, shake, or disturb a liquid
• Al dente


  'Firm to the bite', a description of the texture of correctly cooked pasta
• Allergies


  An immune system reaction that occurs soon after eating a certain food and can cause severe symptoms
• Ambient


  Foods that can be stored at room temperature (19-21 Celsius) in a sealed container; all foods found on supermarket shelves are ambient foods
• Amino acids


  The building blocks of proteins
• Anaemia


  Diet related health condition caused by lack of iron in the body, where the body lacks enough healthy red blood cells or haemoglobin
• Animal welfare


  A duty of care on people to ensure that animals are treated as well as possible
• Antioxidant


  A molecule that is able to stop the oxidisation process in other molecules and therefore can be useful in stopping foods from deteriorating; they can prevent or slow down damage to the body which can otherwise lead to other diseases such as heart disease; and they can improve our immune system
• Antioxidant vitamins


  • Vitamins A, D, and E; found in fruit and vegetables
• Au gratin


  A dish sprinkled with breadcrumbs or cheese and breadcrumbs then browned under the grill
• Bacteria


  Pathogenic microscopic living organisms, usually single-celled, that can be found everywhere; they can be dangerous, such as when they cause infection, or beneficial, as in the process of fermentation (wine)
• Baking


  Convection & conduction, cooking food in a hot oven
• Balanced diet


  A diet which provides all the necessary nutrients in the correct amount/proportions to meet the body's needs
• Basal Metabolic Rate (MBR)


  The amount of energy (in kilo joules, kJ) the body needs to stay alive
• Baste


  When fats or juices are poured over something (usually meat) while cooking in order to keep it moist, e.g. roasting meats
• Batter


  A mixture of flour, milk or water, and usually an egg
• Best before date


  Date on food products after which a non-high risk food will be safe to eat, but not be at its best
• Bind


  To bring the ingredients in a mixture together using an ingredient, e.g. an egg
• Biological catalyst


  Substance which speeds up a chemical reaction without getting used up in the process
• Biological raising agent


  Using yeast to produce carbon dioxide gas as a raising agent
• Biological value


  The number pf amino acids that a protein food contains
• B group of vitamins

  • Vitamin B1 (Thiamin); enables energy to be released from carbohydrates in the body, found in a variety of foods, e.g. meat, dairy, fruit, wholemeal products, etc. Deficiency of this is called Beri Beri
• Blanching


  A method of cooking where food is cooked very quickly in boiling water for a short period of time. It stops enzyme actions which can cause loss of flavour, colour, and texture. conduction & convection
• Bone health


  Health of the skeleton
• Braising


  Conduction & convection; sealing meat/vegetables in hot fat, then cooking slowly in a covered dish with some cooking liquid
• Bridge hold


  Use thumb and forefinger and grip either side of the ingredient, use knife under the bridge to cut
• Buddhism


  An Eastern religion; its followers consider living beings to be sacred so many Buddhists are vegetarian or vegan
• Calcium


  Main mineral in the body, teeth, and bones; it needs vitamin D to help absorption
• Caramelisation


  Breaking up of sucrose molecules (sugar) when they are heated. This changes the colour flavour, and texture of the sugar as it turns brown into caramel
• Carbohydrates


  Macronutrients required by all animals; made in plants by the process pf photosynthesis
• Carbon footprint


  Used to measure the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are released throughout the whole process of producing and consuming food
• Cardiovascular disease (CHD)


  A narrowing of the arteries that supply your heart with oxygen-rich blood, due to the build up of fatty deposits within the artery walls
• Casserole


  Food that is completely covered in liquid and the cooked in the oven
• Caught ingredients


  Animals, birds, fish, and shellfish hunted and caught in the wild for eating
• Chemical raising agent


  Uses baking powder or bicarbonate of soda t produce carbon dioxide gas
• Cholesterol


  Carried in the blood attached to proteins called lipoproteins. There are two main forms: LDL (low density lipoprotein) and HDL (high density lipoprotein)
• Choux pastry


  A light, crisp, hollow pastry used to make profiteroles, eclairs, and gougeres.
• Claw grip


  Tips of fingers and thumb tucked under to hold the ingredient before chopping