A
amuse-bouche - a small bite served before the dinner is served, its purpose being to whet the appetite even while it satisfies immediate hunger. Not quite an appetizer, though the line is clearly a blurry one. Very similar to amuse-geule, which is in fact the same thing but served in a bistro or brasserie, not a fine restaurant. I always say that I'm serving an amuse bouche, or just an amuse.

appelation - in the French sense, a particular designator for a type of wine. Appelations (a shorthand for Appelation d'Origine Controllée) are more or less strictly designated. Growing methodology, yield, alcohol content, and most importantly, region, all can be regulated. The appelations exist to protect wine makers from impostors. Thus sparkling wine can only be called Champagne if it comes from a particular region in North-Central Franche.

appenzeller - a sharp Swiss cheese. Not as pungent as Tete de Moine, but definitely more flavorful even than artisanal Gruyère. Try adding some to a cheese fondue for a hefty kick.

aspic - think Jell-O, but fancy. Basically a liquid into which you put gelatin, and then let set, this has a number of purposes in the culinary world. It can be used as a glue in a terrine, or as an interesting tool for presentation. Eggs encased in aspic is featured in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, for instance.

auslese - one of the ripeness levels for fine German wines. Relatively late harvest, I nonetheless consider this a better match with the cheese course than dessert. Still, it could go quite well with a very light, not very sweet dessert.

B
bain-mairie - there are two similar concepts that generally fall under this heading. One incarnation is just like a double boiler. A pot of water underneath, a pot above where your product is, and the water brought to a steam or light simmer. Arguably the same thing with different size pots is to put some water into a roasting pan or some similar object, and then put your baking dish into the pan. You want enough water to come about halfway up. Move carefully or you'll end up with very wet food.

Battle Droid - my name for the 3-4 foot tall smoker we got as a wedding present from our friends Tom and Carol. A black cylinder that billows forth smoke for hours, it lacks only the glowing red eye to make it truly a sci-fi prop.

beerenauslese - one of the ripeness levels for fine German wines. Later harvest than auslese wines, this is definitely a dessert wine. Hard to find here in the US, you might very well experience sticker shock when you go to buy even a half-bottle of this luscious little wine. Wait til you see a trockenbeerenauslese! Often abbreviated as BA.

botrytis - "noble rot". A grayish mold which infects grapes and sucks the juice out of them. Believe it or not, this is often a desirable thing, as it concentrates the sugars in the grapes. Both Sauternes and Trockenbeerenauslesen are made with grapes infected thusly (botrytized).

C
chaptalization - adding sugar to unfermented grape juice to increase the final alcohol level. A common enough practice in much of the world, but one that is often not openly discussed.

consommé - a soup which is essentially just clarified stock. The test for consommé at the CIA is that you should be able to read the date on a dime at the bottom of a gallon

D

E
eiswein - one of my absolute favorite dessert wines! The grapes for this are not picked until after the first frost, resulting in odd pictures of bunches of grapes with a mound of snow on them. While Germany produces the best samples of this kind of wine in the world (it is considered the finest achievement by a winemaker), other spots are high enough in latitude that they don't have a monopoly. I've had Canadian ice wines and Washington State ice wines, and enjoyed them all.

F

G

H

I
ice wine - see eiswein

J

K
kabinett - a level of ripeness in fine German wine. This is the lowest level of ripeness in the QmP wines. Karen MacNeil, in her Wine Bible considers Kabinett Riesling one of the most food-friendly wines in the world, and many wine professionals are in agreement with her.

L
larding - in general, taking a piece of fat and using a needle to thread it into a piece of meat. The fat melts and permeates the food, enriching the flavor along the way

M
malolactic fermentation - a process wherein bacteria convert the malic acid of grapes into lactic acid. This has the effect of softening the wine a bit, and can lead to a milky or even buttery taste in white wines. White wines sometimes go through it; all red wines do. (paraphrased from The Wine Bible)

mignardise - a little sampling of confections and cookies served at the very end of the meal, after dessert as you're enjoying your coffee and dealing with the bill paying.

mirepoix - the classic base for stocks and soups. It traditionally consists of onion, celery, and carrot.

` N
new world - when used in reference to wine, this term refers to every winemaking region which is not in Europe. North America, South America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand. All of those are New World regions.

O
old world - when used in reference to wine, this term refers to Europe. This is a bit of a sore spot with South Africans, as that country has been producing wine for hundreds of years as well, though only recently have they been noteworthy. Still, that's the way it goes.

P

Q

qualitätswein bestimmter anbaugebiete - basically a wine that has passed the minimal government standards for wine in Germany. Often abbreviated as QbA, these wines are usually fairly simple and intended to be everyday wines.

qualitätswein mit prädikat - the designator for quality German wines. The ripeness levels discussed elsewhere on this page are all for QmP wines.

R
riesling - a wine grape. One of the "noble grapes", this is the principal grape in German wines. It's also grown in Alsace and Washington State, among others.

roux - roughly equal parts of fat and flour which are cooked together and used as a thickener for sauces. In particular, bechamel sauce is milk thickened with a roux, and velouté is stock thickened with roux.

S
sauternes - a wonderful dessert wine, this is grown in the Bordeaux region from botrytized grapes. While there are many fine examples of Sauternes to be found, the undisputed king of Sauternes is Chateau d'Yquem. When the 1855 Classification happened for Sauternes, d'Yquem was so good that they created a separate category (Premier Cru Supérieur) just for it.

Selles-sur-Cher - a goat cheese produced in the Loire valley in France. One of the world's great cheeses. Pairing it with Sancerre is supposedly a classic pairing, but your favorite Sauvignon Blanc is probably also a good fit.

spatlese - one of the levels of ripeness of fine German wines. Harvested later than kabinett wines, they are usually but not always somewhat sweeter as a result. I find they go fantastically with the cheese course (unless it involves hard cheeses), which is when I usually serve them.

syrah - the sole red grape of the Northern Rhone, the grape is also blended in Southern Rhone wines. Another major area of production is Australia, where it goes by the name of Shiraz. Finally, California produces a fair amount. In its Old World renditions, I often find it peppery, leathery and musty. In the New World it has a wonderful fruitiness. In both cases, it is a robust grape which I find more food friendly than powerhouses like Cabernet Sauvignon.

T
terroir - lacking a good translation in English, this is a French word which encompasses the many (usually natural) facets which make a wine (or cheese) unique. The soil, certainly, but also things like the sunshine and winds might be encompassed in this sweeping term.

Tete de Moine - an extremely pungent but flavorful cheese from Switzerland. As much as I love the cheese, my favorite thing about Tete de Moine is the girolle, a device designed for the sole purpose of properly cutting Tete de Moine, its cutting edge pulling a fine ribbon off the top of the cheese. Unfortunately, girolles are about $80, so even the most fanatical cheese people I know don't have one.

trockenbeerenauslese - one of the finest dessert wines in existence. Made from botrytized grapes, and harvested very late, a good TBA is like a message from god. If you choose to pair it with food (and some say you shouldn't; you should just enjoy the wine on its own), I recommend delicate tarts or caramel.

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Other
1855 Classification - a classification of Bordeaux wines, made in, wait for it, 1855. This classification organized the various wines into "growths" based on the selling history of those wines over the previous 100 years. While this may seem a self-fulfilling way to organize wines, geologic research has shown differences between the different growths that bears out the classifications. The highest is First Growth, the lowest Fifth Growth.