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CALABAZA (west indian pumpkin, green pumpkin): Pumpkins belong to the squash family, and in most parts of the Caribbean the term calabaza, or pumpkin, is used to mean a squash. Sizes, shapes and skin coloring vary, but calabazas usually have firm yellow flesh and a delicate flavor somewhat like that of Hubbard or butternut squash. Available in some Latin American markets.
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CALLALOO: Caribbean-wide soup made with callaloo greens and crab meat. The word may also be used to mean CALLALOO GREENS.
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CALLALOO GREENS: The term is used both for the young leaves of the DASHEEN or TARO plant and for the Oriental potherbs known as Chinese spinach. Available in some Latin American markets.
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CANE SYRUP, PURE (ribbon cane syrup): Sweet dark-brown sugarcane syrup, with a flavor somewhat like that of dark-brown sugar. As a substitute, combine two parts dark corn syrup with one part dark molasses.
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CAPSICUM: See PEPPERS.
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CARAMBOLA (star fruit): Tropical fruit of an ornamental shrub of Asian origin, about 4 inches long, with thin, waxy, yellow-green rind and star-shaped in cross section. The mild-tasting watery pulp may be sweet or sour according to variety. Best eaten raw or used in iced drinks. Occasionally available in Florida and Southern California markets.
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CARAWAY SEED: This ancient dried seed is excellent for baking fresh breads. In Eastern Europe it is popular in sauerkraut.
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CARDAMOM, POD: Dried fruit of a plant of the ginger family. The pod is about the size of a large pea and may be buff colored if it was bleached; green if dried in an oven; or brown if dried in the sun. Most cardamom pods available in the U.S. are of the bleached variety, but Indian cooks prefer green cardamom. The outer pod itself is not used in cooking bur is broken away from the seeds inside and discarded.
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CARDAMOM, SEED: Small aromatic black seed found in the cardamom pod. (Each pod contains from 15 to 20 seeds.) The pungent, somewhat lemon-like flavor is most pronounced in the seed of the green cardamom. Available in the pod, decorticated (with pod removed), and ground. The seeds of four whole pods measure approximately ¼ teaspoon.
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CASHEW: Plump kidney-shaped nut native to Brazil and the West Indies, first introduced into India in the 16th Century by early Portuguese explorers. It grows at the base of a pear-shaped fruit called a cashew apple, which is borne in clusters on the low growing cashew tree.
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CASSAREEP: Juice squeezed from fresh grated cassava root, which is boiled down and used as a thickening agent and a bitter-sweet flavoring in Trinidadian PEPPER POT.
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CASSAVA (manioc, yuca, mandioca): Long, irregularly shaped root at least 2 inches in diameter with a dark-brown rough barklike skin and hard white starchy flesh. The bitter variety is poisonous until cooked. It is the base for tapioca and manioc meal, but in the Caribbean is chie/ly used to make starch. The root used in the recipes in this book is the sweet variety, which is available year round in most Latin American and Puerto Rican groceries. Refrigerated, the root will keep safely for 2 or 3 weeks.
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CASSAVA, BITTER: See MANIOC MEAL.
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CASSAVA, SWEET: See YUCA.
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CELERY CABBAGE: A variety of Chinese cabbage that grows like celery but has crisp, tightly packed, yellow-white stalks 14 to 16 inches long and 4 to 5 inches wide. Sold fresh by the bunch or weight in Oriental specialty stores and some vegetable stores and supermarkets. Store, refrigerated, for about 2 weeks. Substitute savoy cabbage.
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CELLOPHANE NOODLES (glass noodles, sai fun, bean threads, long rice): Thin, translucent noodles made from ground mung beans. Dried in looped skeins and sold in 2- to 6-ounce packages in Chinese specialty stores. Wrap to store. No substitute.
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CHAKCHOUKA (Tunisia): A spicy vegetable mixture used as a base in soups.
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CHAYOTE, CHOCHO (christophine, chuchu, xuxu): A round or pearshaped white to dark-green tropical squash. May be smooth or corrugated, 3 to 8 inches long, sometimes covered with soft spines. The firm, crisp flesh is more delicate in flavor than the familiar summer squash. Available in some Latin American markets the year round. Keeps two to four weeks in refrigerator.
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CHICHARRONES: Fried pork cracklings available packaged in most Latin American markets.
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CHICK PEAS: See DAL, CHANA.
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CHICKEN STOCK: A chicken soup or stock made from chicken backs and necks, carrots, yellow onions, celery, and a bit of salt and pepper and allowed to simmer for a good hour or so. It is then strained and served. See our recipe.
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CHILIES AND PEPPERS: Every podded pepper-sweet, pungent or hot-has a New World origin. The chili-pepper family, called CAPSICUM, includes Hungarian paprika as well as the fiery peppers of Indian curry, the pickled peppers of the Middle East and the common sweet bell pepper. There are a number of groups within the family-Cayenne and tabasco are examples-and within each group there are hundreds of varieties of different shapes and hotness. Growers and canners of chilies rate the pungency, or heat, of chili peppers on a scale of 1 to 120. Ajalapeno, which to our palates is a relatively hot chili, measures 15 on this scale. The chilies and peppers listed here appear in the recipes in AllEasyRecipes.com. They are described here by appearance, size, flavor and pungency. Remember that chilies lose their flavor quickly. Even dried chilies must be stored in a cool, dry place-preferably the refrigerator-in a tightly covered jar or tin.
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CHINESE EGGNOODLES: Long thin noodles no more than 1/8 inch wide, made of wheat flour, eggs and water. Sold by weight in Oriental specialty stores. May be stored in plastic bags in the freezer for months or in the refrigerator for a week. Substitute dried Chinese egg noodles or any other narrow egg noodle, cooked according to package instructions.
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CHINESE PARSLEY: See CORIANDER.
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CHINESE SAUSAGE: Sweet, mildly seasoned cured sausage of fat and lean pork, thumb-thick and about 6 inches long. Sold by weight (about 4 pairs per pound) in Oriental markets. No substitute.
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CHOCOLATE, MEXICAN: Solid bars of granular sweet chocolate, flavored with almonds and cinnamon. Available in some Latin American specialty stores in 15-ounce packages of two bars each. Keeps indefinitely in plastic wrap or tightly covered container. No substitute.
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CHORIZO (spanish sausage): Lightly smoked sausage of coarsely chopped pork, generally seasoned with garlic, sweet red pepper and hot paprika. Varies in piquancy. Will keep refrigerated for several months but should not be frozen. Available in 4-inch links at Latin American or Spanish groceries. Also available packed in lard in tins ranging in size from 5 ounces to 4½ pounds. Occasionally found as estiio Cantimpalos, a 10-inch dried sausage. Substitute any smoked, spiced, uncooked French, Italian or Polish sausage.
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CHRISTOPHENE (chayote, chocho): Tropical squash, round or pearshaped, ranging from white to dark green; 3 to 8 inches long. It may be smooth or corrugated and is sometimes covered with soft spines. The firm, crisp flesh is more delicate in /lavor than summer squash. Available in some Latin American markets the year round.
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CILANTRO: See CORIANDER.
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CINNAMON STICK: Dried reddish brown bark peeled from a tree of the evergreen family, and rolled into long slender "quills" or "sticks." Available usually in 4-inch lengths, stick cinnamon has a more pronounced and aromatic flavor than ground cinnamon.
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CITRIC, OR SOUR SALT: A crystalline product extracted from lemons and limes that imparts an acidulous taste.
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CITRUS LEAVES: See DJERUK PURUT.
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CLOUD EAR: Small, crinkly, dried fungus, about 1 inch long. Sold by weight in Oriental specialty shops. Store in a covered jar. No substitute.
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COCIDO: Spanish word for stew.
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COCONUT MILK: Liquid produced by grinding fresh coconut meat and hot water together, then squeezing the pulp or meat completely dry. This process is often repeated with additional water to produce a second coconut milk. The term coconut milk is sometimes applied to the natural liquid inside the fresh nut, but this liquid is not used in Asian cooking.
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COCONUT SYRUP: Heavy opaque caramelized syrup of sugar and coconut milk. Available bottled at gourmet food stores.
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CONCH (lambi): A large edible mollusk with a beautiful spiral shell found throughout the islands; its firm flesh is generally tenderized by pounding before being served in salads or chowders. Usually pronounced "conk" in the Caribbean.
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CONFECTIONERS' SUGAR (icing sugar): A very finely ground powdered white sugar. Some icing sugar may contain 2 percent corn flour which acts as a free flowing agent. Often the percentage of corn flour is increased in cheaper brands.
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CONKIES: Cornmeal mixed with chopped meat, raisins, coconut and spices, wrapped and cooked in envelopes of banana leaves. A traditional Barbadian specialty.
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CORIANDER (cilantro, coriandro, culantro, chinese parsley): Aromatic herb that resembles flat-leaf parsley in appearance, but has a much more pungent flavor. Round pale to yellowish-brown ridged seed of the herb coriander, slightly smaller than a peppercorn. Do not wash or remove roots before storing. To some it suggests the taste of lemon peel and sage, to others a mixture of caraway and cumin. Keeps indefinitely in a tightly covered jar. Any of the above may be found in Middle Eastern, Indian, and Mediterranean cuisines. In Asian cooking the fresh leaves are preferred. Thai cooks sometimes use just the root or stems. Also used in Mexican cooking where it is known as cilantro. Find in supermarkets or in the markets of the above cultures.
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CORN, DRIED: Coarsely cracked pearly-white corn, in ¼-inch bits.
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CORN, FLOUR: Yellow or white corn, milled to the texture of wheat flour. It tastes like cornmeal.
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COURT BOUILLON: In the French islands of the Caribbean, the term describes a traditional recipe for poached fish. Not to be confused with the classic court bouillon of French cooking: the liquid in which fish or other food is poached.
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COUSCOUS (North Africa, Asia): Tiny pasta like pellets usually made with semolina and water. Also the cooked dish of steamed couscous with sauce, or other accompaniment.
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COUSCOUSSIER (North Africa, Asia): A pot like a double boiler with openings like a sieve in the bottom of the top pot. COUSCOUS grains steam uncovered in the top pot, while the accompanying sauce or stew simmers in the bottom pot. Available in specialty cookware stores.
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CRANBERRY BEANS, DRIED: Similar to pinto beans but plumper and deeper pink, mottled with reddish-brown, about ½ inch long.
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CRANBERRY BEANS, FRESH (shellouts): Sold in pods to be shelled and cooked during brief season, which varies with locality. Pods are mottled beige and red; shelled beans are flat and about ½ inch long. Available in some neighborhood Latin American and Hungarian markets.
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CRAPAUD: French for the large frog found on Dominica and Montserrat, where it is also called mountain chicken and considered a delicacy.
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CRAWFISH (crayfish): Fresh-water crustacean, highly valued for the sweet white meat.
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CREOLE MUSTARD: Pungent prepared mustard made from brown mustard seeds. As a substitute, use any strong flavored prepared brown mustard.
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CUBANELLE PEPPER: A mild light-green pepper. Probably the closest thing in flavor to a real Hungarian pepper. Found in a good supermarket or in Caribbean markets. You can substitute fresh green Anaheim peppers. They are just a tiny bit hotter, but nothing serious.
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CUMIN (comino): Yellowish-brown seed of a plant of the parsley family, strongly aromatic and reminiscent of caraway. Shaped like a miniature corn kernel. Often used in curries. Available in small packets, whole or ground, in Latin American food stores and gourmet shops. Keeps indefinitely when tightly covered. No substitute. Can be purchased by the can in powder form, or buy the whole seed and grind it. The flavor is much brighter with the whole seed. Used extensively in Mexican and Indian cooking.
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CURAQAO: Liqueur produced in the Dutch islands from the peel of bitter oranges.
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CURING SALT: A salt that has nitrates added and is used as a preservative in sausage making. Available in some supermarkets and specialty shops.
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