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This month’s recipe from Chef Ferrán Adrià of El Bulli called for a 1/3 scant cup white rum. This was a term that was new to us, so maybe it is for you too.
In other uses, scant can mean barely sufficient: as in “He paid scant attention to the lecture”. When you see the term ‘scant’ in a recipe, it means just falling short of a specific measure, or “not quite”. It is put in recipes where the measurement is important – don’t be tempted add a dash more like some people are prone to do.
The first word to be featured on this monthy post on cultinary terms is à la Nage – which directly translated from French means ‘In the Swim’, which refers to the method of poaching.
Cooking à la nage means poaching food, usually seafood, in a court bouillon and serving the court bouillon and the vegetables around the food as part the garniture. When making a court bouillon to use for cooking à la nage, you should cut the vegetables in a decorative manner, such as julienne style. The most notable of these dishes is lobster à la Nage.