When the Thermomix® TM7™ can do the job, you'll also see the setting the recipes on this site use, like sauté 3 min/120°C (250°F)/speed 1. Everything else is still work for a knife, a skillet or the oven, just as it has always been, and each term tells you which one.
Cutting
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Chop (picar) | Cut into bite size pieces, about 1 to 2 cm (1/2 to 3/4 in). They don't need to be perfect. In the TM7, onions, peppers and garlic chop in seconds: chop 5 sec/speed 5. |
| Dice (picar en cubitos) | Cut into even little cubes, usually about 1 cm (1/2 in), so they all cook at the same time. Cut slices first, then sticks, then cubes. |
| Mince (picar fino) | Cut as fine as you can, almost to a paste, usually garlic, ginger or herbs. In the TM7: chop 5 sec/speed 7. |
| Slice (rebanar) | Cut across into flat pieces of the same thickness, like the rounds of plantain for tostones. |
| Julienne (juliana) | Cut into long, thin matchsticks, like carrots for a salad. This one is knife work: slice thin, stack the slices and cut them into strips. |
| Peel (mondar) | Take off the skin with a peeler or a small knife. For green plantains, cut off the ends, slit the skin lengthwise and pull it off. |
| Grate (rallar) | Rub against a grater for fine shreds: cheese, carrots or citrus peel (only the colored part; the white underneath is bitter). In the TM7, a hard cheese like Parmesan grates fine: chop 10 sec/speed 10. |
| Seed (quitar las semillas) | Remove the seeds and the white ribs from peppers and ají dulce before you chop them. |
Cooking with heat
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Boil (hervir) | Heat a liquid until big bubbles break the surface nonstop, at 100°C (212°F) at sea level. Pasta, potatoes and eggs cook in boiling water. |
| Simmer (cocinar a fuego lento) | Cook in liquid with small, gentle bubbles, just below a boil. Stews, beans and soups simmer so the meat turns tender without falling apart. In the TM7: cook 30 min/98°C (210°F)/reverse/speed soft. |
| Sauté (sofreír) | Cook in a little hot oil, stirring, until soft and fragrant, usually onion, garlic, peppers or sofrito at the start of a recipe. In the TM7: sauté 3 min/120°C (250°F)/speed 1. |
| Brown (dorar) | Cook until the outside turns golden brown, which adds a lot of flavor. The TM7 browns onions, garlic or small pieces of meat: brown 5 min/160°C (320°F)/speed 1. For a deep crust on a steak or chicken, use a hot skillet on the stove. |
| Sear (sellar) | Brown the surface of meat fast in a very hot skillet for a tasty crust. Searing doesn't seal in the juices, as people often say; it adds flavor and color. A stove job. |
| Braise or stew (guisar) | Cook slowly, covered, in a flavorful liquid until tender, often after browning, like carne guisada or pollo guisado. In the TM7, stews cook on reverse at speed soft so the pieces stay whole: cook 30 min/100°C (212°F)/reverse/speed soft. |
| Deglaze (desglasar) | Pour a little liquid, like broth, wine or water, into the hot pan after browning and scrape up the brown bits stuck to the bottom. Those bits are pure flavor for your sauce. |
| Reduce (reducir) | Simmer a sauce with the lid off so water evaporates and it gets thicker and tastier. In the TM7, place the simmering basket on the lid instead of the measuring cup so the steam can escape. |
| Steam (cocinar al vapor) | Cook with the steam from boiling water, without the food touching the water, so vegetables keep their color and texture. In the TM7: steam 20 min/Varoma/speed 1 with the Varoma in position. |
| Blanch (blanquear) | Dip vegetables in boiling water for a minute or two, then straight into ice water. They stay bright and crisp. |
| Fry (freír) | Cook in hot oil: a little in a skillet, or enough to cover the food in a caldero for deep frying. Tostones, alcapurrias and bacalaítos fry at 175°C to 180°C (350°F to 360°F). Frying is a stove job. |
| Roast and bake (asar al horno, hornear) | Cook with the dry heat of the oven: you roast meat and vegetables, and bake cakes, bread and casseroles. Always preheat the oven first. |
Baking and mixing
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Cream (acremar) | Beat soft butter with sugar until pale and fluffy. The sugar cuts tiny air pockets into the butter, and they help the cake rise. In the TM7: mix 2 min/speed 4, scrape down the sides and mix 2 min/speed 4 more. |
| Whip (batir, montar) | Beat fast to fill cream or egg whites with air. In the TM7, with the butterfly whisk inserted: whip 3 min/speed 3.5. |
| Stiff peaks (punto de nieve) | Egg whites or cream whipped until a peak stands straight up when you lift the whisk; at soft peaks, the tip folds over. A trace of yolk or grease keeps whites from whipping, so use a very clean bowl. |
| Fold (envolver) | Mix gently by hand with a spatula, cutting down through the center and lifting from the bottom, so the air you whipped in stays in. It's how the flour goes into a sponge cake. |
| Knead (amasar) | Work a dough by pressing and folding it until it's smooth and stretchy, for bread and pizza. In the TM7: knead 2 min/dough mode. |
| Sift (cernir) | Pass flour or powdered sugar through a fine strainer to break up lumps and add air. In the TM7, mix 5 sec/speed 6 blends and aerates the dry ingredients. |
| Mash (majar) | Crush soft cooked food with a fork, a masher or a pilón, like potatoes, or the fried plantains for mofongo. In the TM7, a few seconds at a low speed gives a rough mash: chop 6 sec/speed 4. |
| Temper (temperar) | Whisk a little of a hot liquid into beaten eggs to warm them slowly, so they don't scramble when they go into the pot. |
| Water bath (baño de María) | Cook a dish set inside a bigger pan of hot water, so the heat stays gentle and even. Flan and cheesecake bake this way and come out creamy, without cracks, like the flan de queso. |
| Room temperature (temperatura ambiente) | For baking, take butter, eggs and milk out of the fridge about 1 hour ahead. Soft butter dents easily under your finger but still holds its shape. |
Seasoning and serving
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Season (sazonar) | Add salt, pepper, herbs or spices to bring out the flavor. Season a little at a time and taste as you go. |
| To taste (al gusto) | The amount is up to you: add some, taste and adjust. |
| Marinate (adobar, marinar) | Let meat, chicken or fish sit in a seasoning, wet or dry, so it soaks up flavor, like the adobo in a pernil. Always marinate in the fridge, never on the counter. |
| Al dente | Italian for to the tooth: pasta cooked until tender but still a little firm in the center. Start tasting a minute or two before the time on the package. |
| Rest (reposar) | Let cooked meat sit before you cut it, so the juices settle back in instead of running onto the board. Rice, dough and custards rest too. |
| Garnish (decorar) | A final touch on the plate, like chopped cilantro, a lime wedge or a drizzle of olive oil. |
Puerto Rican kitchen words
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Sofrito | The green seasoning base of Puerto Rican cooking: peppers, ají dulce, onion, garlic, culantro and cilantro, ground fine. Rice, beans and stews start with a few spoonfuls. Make a batch with the sofrito recipe and freeze it. |
| Recaíto | A green blend very close to sofrito, made mostly with culantro (recao), cilantro, ají dulce, onion and garlic. Many cooks use both names for the same thing. |
| Recao (culantro) | A long leaf with a saw edge and a stronger flavor than cilantro, a must in sofrito. Look for it in Latin markets. |
| Ají dulce | A small sweet pepper that looks like a tiny habanero but has little or no heat, only a lot of aroma. |
| Adobo | The seasoning for meat and chicken: garlic, salt, oregano and black pepper, with oil and vinegar or citrus for a wet adobo. Dry adobo is a seasoned salt sold in shakers. |
| Achiote (annatto) | Small red seeds that tint oil a deep orange. Achiote oil gives rice and pasteles their color. |
| Sazón | A seasoning blend colored with achiote, usually with garlic, cumin and ground coriander. It gives arroz con gandules its golden color. |
| Alcaparrado | Green olives and capers, sometimes with pimientos, sold together in a jar for guisos and picadillo. |
| Guiso, guisado | A stew: meat, chicken, beans or fish simmered in a sauce with sofrito, like habichuelas guisadas. |
| Pegao | The golden, crispy rice stuck to the bottom of the caldero, the part everyone wants. It needs a caldero on the stove: rice cooked in the TM7 comes out soft and separate, without pegao. |
| Caldero | A heavy pot, traditionally of cast aluminum, with rounded sides and a tight lid. It's the pot for rice, beans and stews, and the one that makes the best pegao. |
| Pilón | A wooden mortar and pestle for crushing garlic and mashing mofongo by hand. |
Keep learning: Basic kitchen equipment and Kitchen tips for beginners.