It would be natural to assume that everyone’s favorite brunch dish (isn’t it?), Eggs Benedict, was named after an actual person. But, there are so many stories about who this person we simply can’t be certain who invented the dish. Also possible is that the dish is a modern rendering of an old French dish, and … Read more
One of the most common cooking questions concerns the difference between a stock and a broth. Further confusion is added by the addition of consommé. It is often claimed that there is no difference between a stock and a broth, or that a stock is a fancy broth or vice versa. Most professional chefs would … Read more
The kitchen brigade is an organizational hierarchy for professional kitchens organized by the legendary French chef, Georges-Auguste Escoffier. Dubbed by Kaiser Wilhelm as “the emperor of chefs,” he is one of the most important figures in the development of modern French cusine, and one of the fathers of haute cuisine. See also: Classic Dining Room Brigade Escoffier was born … Read more
An à la carte restaurant menu is one in which each item is listed separately with its own individual price. A true à la carte, therefore, would have you choose every item you wanted to eat. For example, you might order a steak, a baked potato, a side vegetable, and a salad, and pay separately for … Read more
The origin of the word culinary, part of the name of this website, really doesn’t require a lot of explanation. It has a very direct origin from the Latin word for kitchen or cookstove: culina. Culina itself is derived from the Latin word coquere, meaning “to cook.” The words concoct, precocious, and concoction also come from coquere. Concoction means to “cook … Read more