Lifestyle/Food and Drink

Fruit

Golden Delicious – original tree was in West Virginia

Blenheim orange – apple grown in Oxfordshire

Pearmain is a generic name given to pear-shaped apple cultivars

Kumquat – small orange-yellow fruit of any of several evergreen trees native to East Asia and cultivated throughout the tropics. Means ‘gold orange’

Granny Smith apple – named after Maria Ana Smith, from Australia

Bramley apple – named after a Notts butcher, Matthew Bramley

Mangos are rich in vitamin A and vitamin C

Alphonso – type of mango

Cantaloupe – orange-fleshed melon

Ogen melon – named after a Kibbutz in Israel

Ogen melon – developed in Israel, this fruit has a smooth outer skin that changes from a green to gold-colored when it matures with yellowish-orange strips running the length of its oval shape. The inner flesh is pale green to cream

Yubari King – very expensive Japanese melon

Honeydew is a cultivar group of the muskmelon, which includes crenshaw, casaba, Persian, and winter

Oranges and bananas are native to South East Asia

Clementine – variety of mandarin orange. The traditional story is that it was ‘originally an accidental hybrid said to have been discovered by Father Clement Rodier in the garden of his orphanage in Misserghin, Algeria’

Plantain – related to the banana

Cavendish bananas are the most commonly sold bananas in the world market

Apricot – Prunus armeniaca, ‘Armenian plum’ in Latin

Kiwifruit is the edible berry of a cultivar group of the woody vine Actinidia deliciosa and hybrids between this and other species in the genus Actinidia. The Actinidia is native to South of China

Kiwifruit – Chinese gooseberry, originally known as yang tao

Pitaya (dragon fruit) is the fruit of several cactus species

Goldenberry – also known as Cape gooseberry, Inca berry, Aztec berry, Peruvian cherry

Durian – smelly fruit, known in Southeast Asia as the ‘king of fruits’

Jackfruit – largest tree-borne fruit in the world

Passion fruit – purple granadilla

Pear – genus Pyrus

Williams pear is known as Bartlett pear in USA

Avocado – ‘alligator pear’

Avocado (Persea americana) has the highest calorific value of any fruit

Ugli fruit – hybrid of tangerine and grapefruit

Auternique – tangerine and orange

Tangelo – cross of a tangerine and pomelo (grapefruit)

Nectarine – variety or mutation of the peach bearing fruit with smooth skin and (usually) yellow flesh

Carambola – starfruit. The fruit is oblong, with five deep flutings that run from top to bottom

Currant – dried grape

Granadilla – passion fruit (Genus – passiflora)

Papaya – also known as pawpaw

Tayberry – cross between a blackberry and a raspberry

Tayberry – named after the River Tay

Loganberry – cross between a blackberry and a raspberry

Loganberry – created by James Harvey Logan

Boysenberry – created by crossing a raspberry, blackberry, and a loganberry

Boysenberry – first cultivated on Rudolph Boysen's farm

Lingonberry – also known as cowberry and European cranberry

The sultana grape is cultivated in the United States under the name Thompson Seedless

Persimmon – also known as sharon fruit. Red in colour

Bing – a variety of cherry with juicy, sweet, deep red to nearly black fruit

Picota Cherries are a brand or marketing name for a grouping of sweet cherries

Cavendish – type of banana

Bananas use ethylene to stimulate fruit ripening

Ananas comosus – pineapple

Kiwi fruit – brought from China to New Zealand

Warwickshire Drooper, Kirke’s Blue – varieties of plum

Bartlett pear – also known as a Williams’s pear

Goldfinger – type of banana from Honduras

Warden pear – used to make warden pies

Guavas – plants in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae). The skin is usually green before maturity. Guava fruit generally have a pronounced and typical fragrance, similar to lemon rind but less sharp. Guava pulp may be sweet or sour, tasting something between pear and strawberry

Currants are dried berries of small, sweet, seedless grape variety Black Corinth

Cherimoya – a fruit which generally is thought to be native to the Andes

Greengage, also known as a Reine Claude, is the edible drupaceous fruit of a cultivar group of the common European plum

Prune – a plum preserved by drying

Vegetables

Tomato originated in South America

Potatoes were first eaten in Peru

Yam is sweet potato

Rhubarb leaves are poisonous as they contain oxalic acid

Allium porrum – leek

Allium cepa – onion

Allium sativum – garlic

Estima – variety of potato

Mooli – a long white radish

Radicchio, sometimes known as Italian chicory, is grown as a leaf vegetable which usually has white-veined red leaves

Scallion – spring onion

Cucumbers are usually more than 90% water

Carrots were originally purple. Orange-coloured carrots appeared in the Netherlands in the 17th century

Forced rhubarb is out-of-season rhubarb grown indoors

Pomodorini – cherry tomatoes

Tom Thumb, crisphead (iceberg), romaine (cos) – varieties of lettuce

The vegetable called salsify is usually the root of purple salsify

Vidalia onion – a sweet onion of certain varieties, grown in a production area defined by law in Georgia

Runner bean is known as scarlet runner bean since most varieties have red flowers and multicoloured seeds

Soubise – sauce made from onions

Boltardy – variety of beetroot

Parmetier potatoes are named after Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, a vocal promoter of the potato as a food source (for humans)

There are three commonly grown types of broccoli. The most familiar is Calabrese broccoli. Other types – Sprouting broccoli and Purple cauliflower

Woolton pie – dish of vegetables, created at the Savoy Hotel. It was one of a number of recipes commended to the British public by the Ministry of Food during the Second World War to enable a nutritional diet to be maintained despite shortages and rationing of many types of food, especially meat. It was named after Frederick Marquis, 1st Lord Woolton, who became Minister of Food in 1940

Sprout – type of cabbage

Champagne, Prince Albert, Strawberry – varieties of rhubarb

Kohlrabi – comes from the German Kohl (‘cabbage’) plus Rübe ~ Rabi (Swiss German variant) (‘turnip’)

Sauerkraut – known as ‘Liberty cabbage’ in USA in World War I

Cornichon – pickled gherkin

Arugula – American name for rocket

Gentleman's Relish is a type of anchovy paste. It is also known as Patum Peperium

Shiitake, morrell, button – types of mushroom

Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) – the Latin pleurotus (sideways) refers to the sideways-growth of the stem with respect to the cap while the Latin ostreatus (and the English common name, oyster) refers to the shape of the cap which resembles the bi-valve of the same name

Porcini – type of mushroom. Means ‘piglet’ in Italian

Duchess potatoes – finely shredded cooked potato, which is formed into shapes and baked, or used as a border on dishes

Baked beans – haricot beans

Fava bean – broad bean

Bean sprouts – mung beans

Swede is called a rutabaga in the US

Big Boy and Tiny Tim – varieties of tomato

Cranberry bean is a variety of common bean first bred in Colombia. Borlotti bean is a variety of cranberry bean bred in Italy to have a thicker skin

Butter bean – also known as lima bean

Herbs

Coriander – member of the carrot family

Coriander is known as cilantro in America

Rosemary – ‘for remembrance’

Tarragon is known as the ‘king of herbs’ in France

Tarragon is one of the main components of Bearnaise sauce. Fresh sprigs of tarragon may be steeped in vinegar to impart their flavor

Fines herbes is a combination of herbs that forms a mainstay of Mediterranean cuisine. The ingredients of fines herbes are fresh parsley, chives, tarragon and chervil

Chia is a species of flowering plant in the mint family. Chia is grown commercially for its seed, a food that is rich in omega-3 fatty acids

Chervil – an annual Eurasian herb in the parsley family, having aromatic leaves

Spices

Scoville scale is a measurement of the spicy heat of a chili pepper, due to its capsaicin content. The chilis with the highest rating on the Scoville scale exceed one million Scoville units and include specimens of naga jolokia or bhut jolokia and its cultivars, the ‘Dorset naga’ and the ‘Ghost chili’

Capsaicin is the active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus Capsicum

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is known as a peppercorn when dried. Black peppers are native to India

Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that can be used in both sweet and savoury foods

Star anise – spice that closely resembles anise in flavour, obtained from the star-shaped pericarp of Illicium verum, a small native evergreen tree of southwest China. The star shaped fruits are harvested just before ripening

Star anise – ingredient of five-spice powder

Paprika – a spice made from the grinding of dried fruits of Capsicum annuum (e.g., bell peppers or chili peppers)

In medieval Europe, turmeric became known as Indian Saffron, since it was widely used as an alternative to the far more expensive saffron spice

Curcumin – gives yellow colour to turmeric. E100

Cardamon is the world's third most expensive spice by weight, outstripped in terms of its market value by only saffron and vanilla

Nutmeg – comes from the Spice Islands

Seafood

Kipper – herring that has been gutted, salted or pickled, and cold smoked over smoldering woodchips

Manx kipper – herring

Bloater – lightly smoked, ungutted herring

Buckling – a form of hot-smoked herring similar to the kipper and the bloater. The head and guts are removed but the roe or milt remain

Buckling is hot-smoked whole, bloaters are cold-smoked whole; kippers, are split and gutted, and then cold smoked

Silver Darling – Scottish nickname for a herring

Rollmops are pickled herring fillets, rolled (hence the name) into a cylindrical shape around slices of onion, pickled gherkin, or green olive with pimento

Soused herring usually means 'soaked in a mild preserving liquid', and can be used to refer to raw herring in a mild vinegar pickle or the famous Dutch brined herring

Vongole – clams

Fish sauce is a staple ingredient in Thai and Vietnamese cuisine

Ormer – species of mollusc also known as the abalone, from the Channel Islands

In Jewish cuisine, Gefilte Fish consisting of chopped fish mixed with matzo meal, eggs and seasoning takes its name from the Yiddish for 'filled fish'. Popular in the Ashkenazi Jewish community

Arbroath Smokie – type of haddock

Finnan haddock – cold smoked haddock, representative of a regional method of smoking with green wood and peat in Northeast Scotland

Scampi – Dublin Bay prawn, and Norway lobster

Fair maids – Cornish term for pilchards

Holy fish – halibut

Stargazy pie – a Cornish dish made of baked pilchards (sardines) covered with a pastry crust

Ceviche is typically made from fresh raw fish marinated in citrus juices such as lemon or lime and spiced with chili peppers

Lox – salmon fillet that has been cured

Lutefisk is made from whitefish and has an extremely strong, pungent odour

Gambas Al Ajillo – Spanish style garlic shrimp

Omelette Arnold Bennett – created at the Savoy Hotel. Contains smoked haddock

Coral – culinary term for the ovary of a scallop, this is orange in colour

Stockfish – unsalted fish, especially cod, dried by cold air and wind on wooden racks , mainly in Norway

Traditionally, the term caviar refers only to roe from wild sturgeon in the Caspian and Black Sea (Beluga, Ossetra and Sevruga caviars)

Pasta

Anellini – ring-shaped pasta

Capelli d'angelo, literally angel hair, is very thin pasta

Ditalini – type of pasta. Short tubes

Fettuccine (literally ‘little ribbons’ in Italian) is a type of pasta popular in Roman Cuisine. It is a flat thick noodle made of egg and flour wider than but similar to the tagliatelle typical of Bologna

Orecchiette – ear-shaped pasta

Pappardelle are large, very broad fettuccine

Rigatoni – tube-shaped pasta, with ridges

Tagliatelle – pasta, inspired by the hair of Lucretia Borgia

Pasta carbonara – contains bacon

Pasta Alla Norma – pasta with eggplant and tomato

Arrabiata – pasta sauce containing tomatoes

Al dente describes pasta that has been cooked so as to be firm but not hard. The term comes from Italian and means ‘to the tooth’

Spaghetti alla puttanesca (literally ‘whore's style spaghetti’ in Italian) is a spicy, tangy, somewhat salty Italian pasta dish

Cheese

Double Gloucester – crafted from a mixture of morning and evening milk

Cornish Yarg – a type of cheese, wrapped in nettle leaves

Windsor red – cheddar cheese with red wine

Only cheese produced in the three counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire, and made according to a strict code, may be called ‘Stilton’

Blue cheese is a general classification of cow's milk, sheep's milk, or goat's milk cheeses that have had cultures of the mold Penicillium added so that the final product is spotted or veined throughout with blue, blue-gray or blue-green mold

Blue Vinny cheese – from Dorset

Red, white, and blue – types of Cheshire cheese

Sage Derby – type of cheese

Cathedral City is a brand of Cheddar cheese manufactured by Dairy Crest, and the most popular brand of cheese in the United Kingdom. It is produced from a 25-year-old recipe at Davidstow in Cornwall

Mozzarella cheese – from buffalos

Mozzarella is the best-selling cheese

Parmesan – a hard granular cheese, also known as Parmigiano-Reggiano

Pecarino – a family of hard Italian cheeses made from sheep's milk. The word pecora, from which the name derives, means ‘sheep’. Most are aged and sharp

Dolcelatte – a blue veined Italian soft cheese. The cheese is made from cow's milk, and has a sweet taste

Formaggio – Italian cheese

Bel Paese – soft cheese from Lombardy

Port Salut is a semi-soft pasteurized cow's milk cheese from Brittany with a distinctive orange crust and a mild flavour. The cheese was originally invented by Trappist monks during the 19th century

Roquefort is a sheep milk blue cheese, supposedly discovered in a cave

Gruyere – Swiss cheese, has smaller holes than Emmental

Jarlsberg cheese is from Norway

Brunost or mysost (Norwegian) is a caramelised brown Scandinavian whey cheese. A variant, made using goat milk, is referred to and sold as geitost

Halloumi – Cypriot cheese. It is made from a mixture of goat's and sheep milk

Manchego cheese – a sheep milk cheese made in the La Mancha region of Spain

Limburger is a cheese that originated during the 19th century in the historical Duchy of Limburg, which is now divided among modern-day Belgium, Germany, and Netherlands

Havarti is a semi-soft Danish cow's milk cheese

Camembert is made in Normandy

Brie is a soft cow's milk cheese named after Brie, the French region from which it originated (roughly corresponding to the modern department of Seine-et-Marne

Pecorino Romano – a hard, salty Italian cheese, often used for grating, made out of sheep milk

Stinking Bishop – a soft washed-rind cheese produced since 1972 by Charles Martell and Son at Laurel Farm, Dymock, Gloucestershire

Brocciu is a whey cheese produced from sheep milk or goat milk. Produced on the island of Corsica

Production of Lymeswold cheese ceased in 1992. Similar to Brie

Velveeta – soft processed American cheese

Raclette is both a type of cheese and a Swiss and French dish based on heating the cheese and scraping off the melted part

Annatto – used to colour cheeses, notably Red Leicester

Meat

Dunmow Flitch – a side of bacon. Dunmow is in Essex

Lorne sausage – square sausage eaten in Scotland

Foie de veau – calf’s liver

Rognon – kidneys in a French dish

Pancetta – Italian bacon that is cured with salt, pepper, and other spices

Bridie – meat pie from Forfar

Tournedos Rossini – steak dish

Carpetbag steak contains oysters

Pigs in blankets – chipolata sausages wrapped in bacon

Filet Mignon (French) is a steak cut of beef taken from the tenderloin of the cow. The same cut of beef can also be called: French – chateaubriand, tournedos, filet de bœuf, English – medallions, tenderloin steak

Chateaubriand is named after a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian

A faggot is traditionally made from pig heart, liver and fatty belly meat or bacon minced together, with herbs added for flavouring and sometimes breadcrumbs

The stuffed pig's trotter or zampone is a specialty of Modena

Cuts of beef –

  The forequarter, or shoulder, of the animal is known as the chuck or blade

  The centre of the back is where the sirloin and fillet come from

  The rump is not the buttock, but the area just in front of it – the small of the back

  The topside from the top of the inside leg, the silverside from the outside of the thigh

  The leg joint comes from the hind leg, with the shin from the foreleg

  The brisket comes from the lower part of the animal’s front end

  Thick flank – the joint from the front of the thigh

  Thin flank – the area beneath the sirloin

Clod – between the neck and the shin

Baron of beef – a joint consisting of two sirloins left uncut at the backbone

Jerky is meat that has been cut into strips trimmed of fat, marinated in a spicy, salty or sweet liquid, and then dried with low heat

Oggy – Cornish pasty

Bigos – Polish meat dish

Chittlins – made from pig’s intestines

Pluck – heart, liver and lungs of a slaughtered animal

Bath chap – made from pig cheeks

Carpaccio is a dish of raw beef, veal or tuna traditionally thinly sliced or pounded thin served as an appetizer. Carpaccio was invented at Harry's Bar in Venice. The dish was named Carpaccio by Giuseppe Cipriani, the bar's former owner, in reference to the Venetian painter Vittore Carpaccio

Bresaola – air-dried salted Italian beef that has been aged about 2-3 months until it becomes hard and a dark red

Shropshire Black ham is made exclusively to a recipe originally created by Lord Bradenham in 1781

H bone – cut of beef

Coronation chicken – prepared for coronation in 1953

Jubilee chicken – prepared for the silver jubilee of George V in 1935

Scotch pie – a small, double-crust meat pie filled with minced mutton or other meat

Serrano – Spanish ham

Humble Pie – a pie formerly made by servants from the edible organs (umbles) of a deer or hog

Chorizo – a term encompassing several types of pork sausages originating from the Iberian Peninsula

Panaculty is a dish originating from the North East of England. It is a form of tinned corned beef (bully beef) hash, but started out as using any left over meat from the Sunday dinner and served the next day

Ragout – a main-dish stew

Boudin – a number of different types of sausage

Goujon – a small strip of fish or chicken, coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried

Scouse is a type of lamb or beef stew. The word comes from lobscouse, a stew commonly eaten by sailors throughout Northern Europe. Blind scouse contains no meat

Kofta – a Middle Eastern, South Asian and Balkan meatball or meatloaf

Guard of honour – two racks of lamb stood facing each other with the bones interweaved

Head cheese or brawn is a terrine or meat jelly made with flesh from the head of a calf or pig, and often set in aspic. A version pickled with vinegar is known as souse

Fajita – any grilled meat usually served as a taco on a flour or corn tortilla

Blue steak – very rare steak

Saltimbocca is a southern European dish made of veal lined or topped with prosciutto and sage

Angels on horseback – oysters wrapped in bacon

Devils on horseback – prunes wrapped in bacon

Sweetbreads – the thymus or pancreas glands of veal, young beef, lamb and pork

Beef tripe is usually made from only the first three of a cow's four stomach chambers, the rumen (blanket/flat/smooth tripe), the reticulum (honeycomb and pocket tripe), and the omasum (book/bible/leaf tripe). Abomasum (reed) tripe is seen much less frequently

Meguez – North African sausage

Tortier – meat pie

Noisette – lamb dish

Marbled meat is meat, especially red meat, which contains various amounts of intramuscular fat, giving it an appearance similar to a marble pattern

Gala pie – pork pie containing a hard boiled egg

Rocky Mountain oysters – bull calf testicles

Cuy – the animal and the meat of a guinea pig in the Andes

Pulled pork is a method of cooking pork where what would otherwise be a tough cut of meat is cooked slowly at low temperatures, allowing the meat to become tender enough so that it can be "pulled", or easily broken into individual pieces

Soup

Cullen Skink – soup, contains haddock

Parten Bree – Scottish soup containing crabs

Cock-a-leekie – chicken and leek soup flavored with thyme and thickened with barley

Mock turtle soup – made from head of a calf

Chicken soup – known as ‘Jewish penicillin’

Gumbo – thick spicy soup made with okra

Pho – a Vietnamese noodle soup, usually served with beef (pho bo) or chicken (pho ga)

Borscht – a soup of Ukrainian origins that is popular in many Eastern and Central European countries. In most of these countries, it is made with beetroot as the main ingredient

Cawl is the Welsh word for soup or broth. The term is used in English to refer to traditional Welsh stews, usually containing meat and vegetables

Bread

Puri – unleavened bread

Matzo – unleavened bread

Bara brith, sometimes known as ‘speckled bread’ (the literal meaning of the original Welsh-language name), can be either a yeast bread enriched with dried fruit or something more like a fruitcake made with self-rising flour

Soda bread – sodium bicarbonate (otherwise known as baking soda) is used as a raising agent rather than the more common yeast

Farl – any of various roughly triangular flat breads and cakes, traditionally made by cutting a round into four pieces

Farl – a thin Scottish griddle cake made of oatmeal or flour and cut into triangular wedges

Sourdough starter is traditionally made with a small amount of old dough, preferably saved from a prior batch. Used as a leavening agent

Cottage loaves are a particular shape of bread in which larger and smaller roughly spherical balls are squashed together, forming a cottage shape

Panettone is a typical bread loaf of Milan, usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year

Laverbread is made from laver (an algae often considered to be a seaweed)

Langos – a Hungarian food speciality, a deep fried flat bread made of a dough with flour, yeast, salt and water

Wig – spiced bread

Challah – Jewish braided bread

Pita (or pitta) – a round pocket bread widely consumed in many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines

Indian

Bhindi – okra, ladies fingers

Biryani – derived from a Persian word which means ‘fried’ or ‘roasted’. Biryani is a family of Middle Eastern, South Asian dishes made from a mixture of spices, rice (usually basmati), meat/vegetables and yogurt

Brinjal – aubergine (eggplant)

Burfi – Indian cheesecake

Chapati – an unleavened flatbread

Dhal – dried peas, beans and lentils

Dhansak – sweet and sour curry with a lentil sauce, and coriander

Dopiaza – curry with extra onions

Gobi – cauliflower

Gulab Jam – fried balls of dough in syrup

Keema – minced meat, usually lamb

Kheer – rice pudding

Jalfrezi – hot dish cooked with fresh green chilies

Korma – prepared with single cream and coconut milk

Matar Paneer – curried peas and cheese

Murgh – chicken

Naan – a leavened, oven-baked flatbread

Pakoras are created by taking two or three ingredients, such as chicken, onion, aubergine, potato or spinach dipping them in a batter of gram flour and then deep-frying them

Paneer – curd cheese

Raita – dish of yogurt and chopped cucumbers and spices

Rogan Josh – lamb stew

Roti – an Indian bread made from stoneground wholemeal flour

Saag – spinach

Tikka – meat that has been marinated and cooked on skewers in a tandoor

Japanese

Menrui – Japanese dish containing noodles

Udon are the thickest of the noodles served in Japanese Cuisine

Miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt

Nori – Japanese edible seaweed

Sushi – cold cooked rice dressed with vinegar that is shaped into bite-sized pieces and topped with raw or cooked fish

Sashimi – very thinly sliced raw fish

Teriyaki – a Japanese dish of grilled or broiled slices of marinated meat or shellfish

Wasabi – Japanese green horseradish powder. Turned into Wasabi Paste by stirring in water, drop by drop and used for dipping sauce with soy sauce when eating sushi and sashimi

The meat from wagyu cattle is known worldwide for its marbling characteristics, increased eating quality through a naturally enhanced flavor, tenderness and juiciness, and thus a high market value. In several areas of Japan, beef is shipped with area names, e.g. Kobe

Mishima – type of beef

Bento – a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine

Ramem – a Japanese noodle soup dish

California roll – a kind of sushi roll containing cucumber, crab meat, and avocado

Chinese

Five-spice powder – ingredient of Chinese cuisine

Hoisin sauce – means ‘seafood sauce’, is a Chinese dipping sauce for dishes including Peking duck, spring rolls and barbecued pork. Made from fermented soybeans

Chow mein – stir-fried noodles

Lo mein – a Chinese dish with wheat flour noodles

Pak choi – Chinese cabbage

French

Tarte Tatin – an upside-down tart in which the fruit (usually apples) are caramelized in butter and sugar before the tart is baked. Created accidentally at the Hotel Tatin in France in the 1880s by the Tatin sisters

Marron glace is a confection consisting of a chestnut candied in sugar syrup and glazed

Galette is a term used in French cuisine to designate various types of flat, round or freeform crusty cakes

Bisque – a smooth, creamy, highly-seasoned soup of French origin, classically based on a strained broth (coulis) of crustaceans)

Marmite – French cooking pot

Du Barry – dish served with cauliflower

Creme anglaise (French for ‘English cream’) is a light pouring custard used as a dessert cream or sauce

Chantilly – French whipped cream

Farci – French for ‘stuffed’ (food)

Mirepoix – the French name for a combination of onions, carrots, and celery

Macaron – a French sweet confectionery made with egg whites, icing sugar, granulated sugar, and almonds

Sous-vide (French for ‘under vacuum’) is a method of cooking food sealed in airtight plastic bags in a water bath for a long time

Crudites – traditional French appetizers comprising sliced or whole raw vegetables which are sometimes dipped in a vinaigrette or other dipping sauce

Sole meuniere – French dish consisting of sole that is dredged in flour, pan fried in butter and served with the resulting brown butter sauce and lemon

Tuile – a thin, crisp, sweet or savoury wafer made of dough or cheese. Originally from France, tuile means tile in French, and is named after the shape of French roof tiles it is supposed to resemble

Potage (from Old French pottage; ‘potted dish’) is a type of soup where meat and vegetables are boiled together with water until they form into a thick mush

Bearnaise sauce – made of clarified butter emulsified in egg yolks and flavored with herbs. From the Bearn region of France

A Mornay sauce is a Béchamel sauce with shredded or grated cheese added. Invented by Philippe De Mornay, who was known as ‘Pope of the Huguenots’

Vichyssoise soup is a thick soup made of pureed leeks, onions, potatoes, cream, and chicken stock

Veronique – dish prepared with grapes

Traditionally, a mille-feuille (vanilla slice) is made up of three layers of puff pastry (pâte feuilletée), alternating with two layers of pastry cream (crème pâtissière)

Vinaigrette – salad dressing made from oil and vinegar

Lyonnaise – dish which is ‘cooked with onions’

Poire belle Hélène is a dessert made from pears poached in sugar syrup and served with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, and crystallized violets. It was created around 1864 by Auguste Escoffier and named after the operetta La belle Hélène by Jacques Offenbach

Aioli – garlic sauce from Provence

A la crecy – dish garnished with carrots

Florentine dish – French for ‘in the style of Florence’ and referring to dishes (usually of eggs or fish) that are presented on a bed of spinach and topped with Mornay sauce

Crepe Suzette consists of a crêpe with a hot sauce of caramelised sugar, orange juice, lightly grated orange peel and liqueur (usually Grand Marnier) on top, which is subsequently lit

Nicoise salad is a specialty of the region of Nice in France and is composed of raw vegetables, hard boiled eggs, anchovies and tuna, and olive oil

Nougat – from Montelimar

Croque-monsieur – a hot ham and cheese (typically gruyère) grilled sandwich. A croque-monsieur served with a fried egg on top is known as a croque-madame

A la normande – dish containing apples or (for fish) served with Normandy sauce and garnished with shrimps, truffles, crayfish, or mussels

Bouillabaisse is a traditional Provencal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille

Tartare sauce is made from mayonnaise and finely chopped pickled cucumber, capers, onions (or chives), and fresh parsley

Rouille – a sauce that consists of olive oil with breadcrumbs, garlic, saffron and chili peppers. It is served as a garnish with fish, fish soup and, notably, bouillabaisse

A mirepoix can be a combination of celery, onions, and carrots. Similar combinations of vegetables are known as holy trinity in Creole cooking, refogado (braised onions, garlic and tomato) in Portuguese, soffritto (onions, garlic and celery) in Italian, sofrito in Spanish

Quenelle – a mixture of creamed fish, chicken, or meat, sometimes combined with breadcrumbs, with a light egg binding

Ganache – a glaze, icing, sauce, or filling for pastries made from chocolate and cream

Savarin – rum baba

Parfait – a rich cold dessert made with whipped cream, eggs, and fruit

Black truffle or black Perigord truffle (Tuber melanosporum) is named after the Perigord region in France and grows exclusively with oak

In preparing a veloute sauce, a light stock, such as chicken, veal or fish stock, is thickened with a blond roux

Sauce Espagnole is a fortified brown veal stock sauce, thickened with a brown roux

A dish bearing the name DuBarry indicates the presence of cauliflower. Named after Comtesse Du Barry, the last mistress of Louis XV, who was guillotined in 1793

Hollandaise sauce is an emulsion of egg yolk and butter, usually seasoned with lemon juice, salt, and a little white pepper or cayenne pepper

Escoffier defined the five fundamental ‘mother sauces’ – Bechamel, Espagnole, Veloute, Hollandaise, and Tomate

Tapenade is a Provencal dish consisting of pureed or finely chopped olives, capers, anchovies and olive oil

Italian

Cassata – ‘little cones’, Italian dessert

Pannacotta is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set. It generally refers to a creamy, set dessert from the Northern Italian region of Piedmont

Frittata – Italian omelette

Zuppa Inglese – English trifle

Tortini – an Italian ice cream made with eggs and cream, typically served in a small cup and topped with chopped almonds or crumbled macaroons

Prosciutto or Parma ham is a dry-cured ham that is usually thinly sliced and served uncooked; this style is called prosciutto crudo in Italian and is distinguished from cooked ham, prosciutto cotto

Crostini – (meaning ‘little toasts’ in Italian) is an Italian appetizer consisting of small slices of grilled or toasted bread and toppings

Bruschetta – an antipasto from Italy whose origin dates to at least the 15th century. It consists of grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with olive oil, salt and pepper

Granita – an Italian semi-frozen dessert made from sugar, water and various flavorings

Gelato – Italian word for ice cream. Made from whole milk and eggs

Cassoeula – cabbage dish popular in Lombardy

Ossobuco is a Milanese specialty of veal shanks braised with vegetables, white wine and broth

Grissini – breadsticks

Caprese salad – mozzarella, tomatoes and basil

White truffle or Alba madonna (Tuber magnatum) comes from the Langhe area of the Piedmont region in northern Italy and, most famously, in the countryside around the city of Alba

Balsamic vinegar is made by fermenting grapes. From Modena and Reggio Emilia

Greek

Greek salad is made of sliced or chopped tomato, cucumber, bell pepper and red onion, seasoned with salt, black pepper, and oregano and dressed with olive oil. Common additions include feta cheese, capers and kalamata olives

Saganaki – a salty and aromatic cheese-based Greek appetizer of fried or broiled cheese

Gyro or gyros – a Greek dish, consisting of meat, tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce, and is served with pita bread

Tzatziki is made of strained yoghurt (usually sheep’s-milk or goat's-milk in Greece and Turkey) mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, usually olive oil, pepper, sometimes dill, sometimes lemon juice and parsley, and sometimes mint added

Souvlaki – a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer

Spanakopita or spinach pie is a Greek savoury pastry

Cakes

Pontefract cakes – (also Pomfret Cakes and Pomfrey Cakes), are small discs of liquorice sweetened with sugar

Sachertorte is a chocolate cake invented by chance by Austrian Jewish Franz Sacher in 1832 in Vienna. The cake consists of a dense chocolate cake meringue based with a thin layer of apricot jam on top, coated in dark chocolate icing on the top and sides

Lamingtons are sponge cake (or more traditionally, butter cake) cubes, coated in a layer of traditionally chocolate icing then desiccated coconut, and are commonly found in Australia

Madeira sponge cake – made with zest of lemon. The Madeira cake is sometimes mistakenly thought to originate from the Madeira Islands; however, that is not the case as it was instead named after the wine

Simnel cake – topped with marzipan, eaten at Easter. On the top of the cake, around the edge, are eleven marzipan balls to represent the true apostles of Jesus; Judas is omitted. In some variations Christ is also represented, by a ball placed at the centre

Simnel Cake – traditionally eaten on Mothering Sunday

Parkin – a soft cake associated with Yorkshire, traditionally eaten on Bonfire Night

Fat Rascal, also called the Yorkshire tea biscuit or Turf Cake, is a type of cake, similar to the scone

Pound cake refers to a type of cake traditionally made with a pound of each of four ingredients: flour, butter, eggs, and sugar

Dobos torte – a Hungarian sponge cake layered with chocolate buttercream and topped with caramel

Bundt cake – a cake that is baked in a Bundt pan, shaping it into a distinctive ring shape. The shape is inspired by a traditional European fruit cake known as Gugelhupf

Entremet – a multi-layered mousse-based cake

Stollen – from Dresden

A typical Victoria sponge consists of raspberry jam and whipped double cream or vanilla cream

Tottenham Cake was originally sold by the baker Henry Chalkley (who was a Friend or Quaker) at the price of 1 old penny. The pink colouring was derived from mulberries found growing at the Tottenham Friends burial ground

Opera cake was invented in 1955 by Cyriaque Gavillon from French patisserie house Dalloyau. It is made with layers of almond sponge cake soaked in coffee syrup

Black bun – a type of fruit cake completely covered with pastry. It is Scottish in origin, originally eaten on Twelfth Night but now enjoyed at Hogmanay

Almonds are used to decorate Dundee cake

Other food

Bosintang – Korean dog stew

Kimchi – a traditional Korean fermented dish made of vegetables with varied seasonings

Guinea Pig – national dish of Ecuador

Top vanilla produces – Indonesia, Madagascar, and China

Acorn, Butternut, Custard – types of squash

Carob – caffeine-free substitute for chocolate

Pesto – basil, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts and parmesan

Salep – flour made from the tubers of the orchid genus Orchis. Salep flour is consumed in beverages and desserts, especially in places that were part of the Ottoman Empire

Ensaimada – bun from Majorca

Macaroon biscuits contain almonds

Abernethy biscuit named after a Scottish surgeon

Baba Ghanoush – aubergine dip

Hummus – chick peas and tahini (ground sesame seeds)

Couscous – pasta of North African origin made of crushed and steamed semolina

Falafel – a Middle Eastern specialty made up of small, deep-fried croquettes or balls made of highly spiced, ground chickpeas (garbanzos). A yogurt or tahini-based sauce is often served with falafel

Harissa – hot paste used in North African cuisine, particularly in Tunisia

Mansaf – traditional Jordanian lamb dish

Melba toast – named after Dame Nelly Melba

Blinis – pancakes eaten by Russians. Known as buckwheat pancakes in America

Potato is the main ingredient of latkes (Jewish pancakes)

Arepas – maize pancakes in Venezuela

Marzipan consists primarily of sugar and almond meal (ground almonds)

Albert sauce contains horseradish

Stovies – Scottish dish containing meat, onions and potatoes

Maids of Honour – lemon and almond tartlets made for Anne Boleyn, in Richmond (Surrey)

Caraway used to flavour bread in Germany and Austria

Honeycomb – type of tripe

Tripe is usually eaten with onions

Helianthus tuberosus – Jerusalem artichoke

Sussex Pond pudding has a lemon in the middle

Arrowroot – used as a thickening agent

Gingili oil – sesame oil

Dulce – edible red seaweed

Compared to other common edible nuts such as almonds and cashews, macadamias are high in fat and low in protein. They have the highest amount of beneficial monounsaturated fats of any known nut. Originally from Australia

Scotch woodcock – a savoury dish consisting of scrambled eggs on toast with anchovies or anchovy paste

Singing hinnies – hotcakes, from Northumberland

Halva refers to many types of dense, sweet confections, across the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, the Balkans, and the Jewish world

Halva – a sweet dish or candy made from ground sesame seeds, fruit or vegetables

Barley sugar – boiled sweet, yellow or orange in colour, with an extract of barley added as flavouring

Russia grows the most potatoes

Coconut – largest seed

Fenugreek is cultivated worldwide as a semi-arid crop and is a common ingredient in dishes from the Indian Subcontinent, where it is known as methi

The caffeine-filled kola nut was originally an ingredient in Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola

Grits – broken corn grains that are boiled into porridge

Succotash is a food dish consisting primarily of corn and lima beans or other shell beans

Semolina – the coarse, purified wheat middlings of durum wheat

Tapioca – starchy root of the cassava plant

Cassava is also called yuca or manioc

Vegemite – made from brewer’s yeast

Kamut (QK-77) – type of wheat

Licorice flavored stalks from the Angelica plants are candied and used primarily in pastry making. Angelica is also used to flavor liqueurs

Dragee – a bite-sized, colourful form of confectionery with a hard outer shell, e.g. Jordan almonds

Globe artichoke – a species of thistle

Jerusalem artichoke – a species of sunflower

Chinese artichoke – a species of woundwort

Caesar salad is a salad of romaine lettuce and croutons dressed with Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, egg, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper

Caesar salad – invented by Mexican chef Caesar Cardini in 1924

Syllabub – a beverage made from a mixture of sweetened milk/cream, wine and spices

Pretzel – a baked snack that is traditionally twisted into a unique knot-like shape, which according to some people is meant to resemble two hands folded for prayer. The pretzel dough is made from wheat flour and yeast. During baking, a Maillard reaction then gives the pretzel its characteristic brown color and distinctive flavour

Turron – Spanish nougat

Paella is a typical Valencian rice dish, traditionally eaten on Sundays

Eton mess – type of strawberry dessert

Pinhead – type of oats

Succotash – native American stew consisting of kernels of corn, lima beans, and tomatoes

Pie and mash served with liquor (parsley) sauce

Risotto made from arborio rice

Partan bree – contains crab meat

Soul food is typically associated with African Americans of the Southern United States, e.g. black-eyed peas

Pie floater – Australian meat pie floating on pea soup

Frangipane is custard flavored with almonds and/or crushed macaroons

Garum, also called liquamen, is a type of fish sauce condiment that was popular in Ancient Roman society

Ful Medames – one of the national dishes of Sudan and Egypt, often eaten at breakfast. It consists of brown fava beans, partially or completely mashed, which are slow-cooked and served with olive oil, chopped parsley, onion, garlic, and lemon juice

Rojak is a fruit and vegetable salad dish commonly found in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (where it is called Rujak)

Sofrito is a Spanish word for a well cooked and fragrant sauce

Queen of Puddings is a traditional British dessert, consisting of a baked, breadcrumb-thickened egg custard, spread with jam and topped with meringue

Meze – a selection of small dishes served to accompany alcoholic drinks as a course or as appetizers before the main dish in the Near East and the Balkans

Pearl barley – barley processed to remove its hull and bran

Pearl barley is used to thicken Scotch broth

Nice biscuit – named after the French city. Coconut flavoured

Bread sauce contains cloves and nutmeg

Figgy pudding – a pudding resembling something like a white Christmas pudding containing figs

Turkey is world’s largest producer of figs

Mojo – several types of sauces, varying in spiciness that originated in the Canary Islands

Garibaldi biscuit was first manufactured by the Bermondsey biscuit company Peek Freans in 1861

Fidget pie – bacon, onions and apples

Bulgur – a cereal food made from several different wheat species, but most often from durum wheat

Baba ghanoush – Arab dish of eggplant (aubergine) mashed and mixed with various seasonings

Tamale – a traditional Latin American dish made of masa (a starchy dough, often corn-based), which is steamed or boiled in a leaf wrapper

Borek – a family of baked or fried filled pastries made of a thin flaky dough known as yufka (or phyllo). It became a popular element of Ottoman cuisine

Olive oil is graded on its level of acidity: the lower the level of acidity, the more refined the oil will be. The best grade is extra virgin, with a maximum acidity of 1%

Nam Pla – Thai fish sauce

Melba sauce – made from fresh raspberries

Boxty is a traditional Irish potato pancake

Quorn is the leading brand of mycoprotein food product in the UK and Ireland. The mycoprotein used to produce Quorn is extracted from a fungus, Fusarium venenatum, which is grown in large vats

Scurly – onions and oatmeal

Satay sauce contains peanuts and coconut

Ackee and saltfish is the national dish of Jamaica. Ackee is a type of fruit

Marshmallow – the confection is the modern version of a medicinal confection made from Althaea officinalis, the marshmallow plant

Brochan – Scottish porridge

Praline can refer to confections made from nuts and sugar syrup, whether in whole pieces or a ground powder, or to any chocolate confection containing the ground powder or nuts

Mealie, corn – alternative names for maize

Ingredients of mince pies were traditionally a mixture of minced meat, suet, a range of fruits, and spices such as cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg

Baking blind is the process of baking a pie crust or other pastry without the filling

Guarana contains about twice the caffeine found in coffee beans

Yakult ,is a Japanese probiotic yogurt-like product made by fermenting a mixture of skimmed milk and sugar with a special strain of the bacteria Lactobacillus casei. It was invented by Kyoto University doctor Minoru Shirota in 1930

Rosti – a Swiss dish consisting mainly of potatoes

Mac Blacks – black raspberries grown in Britain. Rich in ellagic acid, anthocyanins and antioxidants

Rumbledethumps – traditional dish from the Scottish Borders. The main ingredients are potato, cabbage and onion

Aspic – a clear jelly typically made of stock and gelatin and used as a glaze or garnish or to make a mold of meat, fish, or vegetables

Filo is paper-thin sheets of unleavened flour dough used for making pastries in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisine

Date is 50% sugar. Fruit of the date palm tree

Valencia, Jordan – types of almond

Saffron bun – a rich yeast dough bun that is flavoured with saffron and cinnamon or nutmeg and contains currants. In Sweden, no cinnamon or nutmeg is used in the bun, and raisins are used instead of currants

Paschka – Russian cheesecake, popular at Easter

Marie biscuit created by Peek Freans in London in 1874 to commemorate the marriage of the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia to the Duke of Edinburgh

Blutwurst – German black pudding

Cajun cuisine is the style of cooking named for the French-speaking Acadian or Cajun immigrants deported by the British from Acadia in Canada to the Acadiana region of Louisiana

Tofu, also called bean curd, is made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks

Asafoetida, also known as devil’s dung and stinking gum, has a pungent, unpleasant smell when raw, but in cooked dishes, it delivers a smooth flavor, reminiscent of leeks

Galangal is a rhizome of plants in the ginger family. The rhizomes are used in various Asian cuisines

Carrageenans – a family of polysaccharides that are extracted from red seaweeds. There are several varieties of carrageen used in cooking and baking

Safflower flowers are occasionally used in cooking as a cheaper substitute for saffron, and are thus sometimes referred to as ‘bastard saffron’

Coconut milk is the base of many Indonesian, Malaysian, Sri Lankan and Thai curries

Jambalaya – a Louisiana Creole dish of Spanish and French influence

Shish kebab (Armenian word for ‘skewer’) is a dish consisting of meat threaded on a skewer and grilled

Doner kebab, literally ‘rotating kebab’ in Turkish, is sliced lamb, beef or chicken, slowly roasted on a vertical rotating spit

Spanisch Brotli is a speciality pastry from Baden, Switzerland

Eve's pudding is a type of traditional British pudding now made from apples and Victoria sponge cake mixture

Self-raising flour is sold premixed with chemical leavening agents, that cause a foaming action which lightens and softens the finished product

Reuben sandwich – a hot sandwich of corned beef, Swiss cheese, with Russian or Thousand Island dressing, and sauerkraut

A digestive biscuit, sometimes referred to as a sweet-meal biscuit, is a semi-sweet biscuit. The term 'digestive' is derived from the belief that they had antacid properties due to the use of sodium bicarbonate when they were first developed

Cronut – a croissant-doughnut pastry

Larding – inserting strips of fat or bacon in meat before cooking

Proofing, also called proving, is the final dough-rise step before baking

Quebec produces 70% of world’s maple syrup

Turkey is the largest producer of hazelnuts

Manuka – honey produced in New Zealand and Australia from the nectar of the manuka tree

Blondie – brownie made with white chocolate

Gelatinous extracts of the Chondrus crispus (Irish moss) seaweed have been used as food additives for hundreds of years. Carrageenan is a vegetarian and vegan alternative to gelatin in some applications

Cranachan – a traditional Scottish dessert usually made from a mixture of whipped cream, whisky, honey, and fresh raspberries, with toasted oatmeal

Green sauce – the name of several different sauces containing mainly herbs, namely the Italian salsa verde, the French sauce verte

Cotton candy – candy floss

Viennoiserie – baked goods made from a yeast-leavened dough in a manner similar to bread, or from puff pastry, but with added ingredients, e.g. croissants

Condensed milk is cow's milk from which water has been removed. It is most often found in the form of sweetened condensed milk, with sugar added

Evaporated milk is milk with about 60% of the water removed from fresh milk. It differs from sweetened condensed milk, which contains added sugar

Sago – a starch extracted in the spongy centre, or pith, of various tropical palm stems. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea

Gumbo – a dish that originated in southern Louisiana from the Louisiana Creole people during the 18th century

Butterscotch is a type of confectionery whose primary ingredients are brown sugar and butter

Albumen – egg-white

Eggs – were sizes 0 to 7, now small, medium, large and very large (Europe)

Pickled Nasturtium seeds are known as ‘poor man’s capers’

Praline – named after the 17th century sugar industrialist Marshal du Plessis-Praslin

Chocolate tempering is a method of increasing the shine and durability of chocolate

Poutine is a dish originating in Quebec, made with french fries, topped with a light brown gravy-like sauce and cheese curds

Salted caramel is a caramel candy topped with sea salt. It was popularized by French chef Pierre Hermé in the 1990s

E Numbers

E numbers are codes for food additives and are usually found on food labels throughout the European Union. The numbering scheme follows that of the International Numbering System (INS) as determined by the Codex Alimentarius committee. Only a subset of the INS additives are approved for use in the European Union, giving rise to the 'E' prefix

E100 – E199 – colours (E100 – turmeric, E101 – riboflavin, E102 – tartrozine)

Carmine, also called Crimson Lake, Natural Red 4 or E120, is a pigment of a bright red colour obtained from the carminic acid produced by some insects, such as the cochineal

E200 – E299 – preservatives

E300 – E399 – antioxidants (E300 – E321), acidity regulators (E300 – ascorbic acid, E330 – citric acid)

E600 – E699 – flavour enhancers (E621 – monosodium glutamate)

Cocktails

Bellini cocktail – invented at Harry’s Bar, in Venice (1934). A mixture of sparkling wine (traditionally Prosecco) and peach puree

Manhattan cocktail – rye whisky, dry vermouth and angostura bitters

Angostura bitters is a concentrated bitters, or botanically infused alcoholic mixture, made of water, 44.7% alcohol, herbs and spices, by House of Angostura in Trinidad and Tobago. The bitters were first produced in the town of Angostura in Venezuela

Margarita cocktail – tequila, triple sec and lemon juice

Harvey Wallbanger cocktail – vodka, Galliano and orange juice

Whisky Mac – whisky and ginger wine

Tom Collins – made from gin, lemon juice, sugar and carbonated water

Old Fashioned – cocktail made by muddling sugar with bitters then adding alcohol, such as whiskey or brandy, and a twist of citrus rind

Pina Colada – white rum, coconut and pineapple juice

White lady cocktail – gin, cointraeu and lemon juice

Cuba Libre cocktail – rum, lime juice, cola. Originated after the Spanish-American war

Sea breeze cocktail – vodka, grapefruit juice and cranberry juice

White Russian cocktail – vodka, coffee liqueur (e.g., Kahlua or Tia Maria), and cream

Old Fashioned – cocktail based on bourbon

Blenheim cocktail was created for Winston Churchill’s ninetieth birthday – based on brandy

Pink Lady cocktail is gin-based

Mai Tai – rum-based cocktail topped up with pineapple juice

Gin and it – Gin and sweet vermouth

Gibson – cocktail made with gin and vermouth, and often garnished with a pickled onion

Planter's Punch is a rum-based cocktail

Moscow mule – cocktail made with vodka, ginger beer, and lime which was popular during the vodka craze in the United States during the 1950s. Often served in a copper mug

Mint julep is traditionally made of four ingredients: mint, bourbon, sugar, and water

Martini is a cocktail made with gin and dry white vermouth or sweet red vermouth, although substituting vodka for gin is now common. The drink is almost universally garnished with an olive

Three Wise Men cocktail – Johnnie Walker, Jack Daniels and Jim Bean

Gimlet cocktail – gin and lime juice

Daiquiri is a family of cocktails whose main ingredients are rum, lime juice, and sugar or other sweetener. There are several versions, but those that gained international fame are the ones made in the El Floridita bar in Havana

Cosmopolitan cocktail – vodka, lime juice, triple sec and cranberry juice

Screwdriver – orange juice and vodka

Kir is a popular French cocktail made with a measure of creme de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) topped up with white wine

Snowball is made of about one part of Advocaat, eight parts of lemonade, one part of lime juice, usually served over ice

Bloody Mary contains vodka, tomato juice, and usually other spices or flavorings such as Worcestershire sauce

Bloody Maria – tequila and orange juice

Jagerbomb – a cocktail that is mixed by dropping a shot of Jagermeister into a glass of Red Bull

Cheeky Vimto – port and Blue WKD

Stinger – a cocktail composed of brandy and white creme de menthe

Caipirinha –Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaca, sugar and lime. Cachaca is Brazil's most common distilled alcoholic beverage. Like rum, it is made from sugarcane

Mojito is a traditional Cuban highball which became popular in the United States during the late 1980s. A mojito is traditionally made of five ingredients: white rum, sugar (traditionally sugar cane juice), lime, carbonated water and mint

Grenadine is a red syrup, and was originally prepared from pomegranate juice or cherry juice, and sugar

Prairie Oyster – egg yolk, ketchup, Worcester sauce, lemon juice and salt

Wine

Cristal is the brand name of a well-known champagne produced by Louis Roederer. Cristal is easily recognized by its clear, ‘crystal’ bottle, anti-UV cellophane wrapper, and gold label

Champagne – Brut (driest), Sec, Demi-Sec, Doux (sweetest)

Veuve Clicquot was a woman who worked out how to remove sediment from champagne

A cuvée de prestige is a proprietary blended wine (usually champagne) that is considered to be the top of a producer's range

Cold Duck – mixing of all the dregs of unfinished wine bottles with champagne

Sauvignon Blanc grapes are mainly grown in the Loire Valley

Suhindol – Bulgarian wine-growing region

Russian River – wine producing region in Sonoma, USA

Pinotage – wine from South Africa

Hawkes Bay – wine producing region of New Zealand

Stellenbosch – South African wine-growing region

Barossa Valley, Hunter Valley – wine producing regions of Australia

While acreage of Malbec is declining in France, in Argentina the grape is surging and has become a ‘national variety’ of a sort that is uniquely identified with Argentine red wine. Grown in Mendoza region

Bekaa Valley is a wine-growing region in Lebanon

Tawny, ruby, vintage and white – types of port. Originally from the Duoro valley of Portugal

What makes Madeira wine production unique is the ‘estufagem’ aging process meant to duplicate the effect of a long sea voyage of the aging barrels through tropical climates

There are four major types of Madeira: Malvasia (also known as Malmsey or Malvazia), Bual (or Boal), Verdelho, and Sercial, the latter two being drier

There are four major categories of Italian wines:

  Vino Da Tavola (VdT, in the wine books) is the lowest class of wine

  Vino a Indicazione Geografica (IGT)

  Vino a Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC)

  Vino a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG)

Seco – Italian term for a dry wine

Retsina – a Greek wine that tastes strongly of the resin of particular trees, notably pine

En primeur – opening prices for a wine

Premier cru – first growth of a wine

Vino tinto – red wine

Commercial corked wine bottles typically have a protective sleeve called a capsule (commonly referred to as a ‘foil’) covering the top of the bottle

Must – freshly pressed fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit

Pomace or marc – the residue of skins seeds and pulp left after pressing white wine grapes

Acids in wine – malic and tartaric (also lactic and citric)

Tough wine has too much tannin

Farr Vintners – Britain's largest wholesale fine wine merchant

Wine was first drunk in Mesopotamia

Merlot grape takes its name from French word for ‘blackbird’

Shiraz grape – proper name is Syrah

Secondary fermentation – entails a second period of fermentation in a different vessel than what was used when the fermentation process first started

Champagne is fermented twice – once in the vat, and once in the bottle

Buck’s Fizz is named after London's Buck's Club where it was invented

Fortified wine – Brandy added to dessert wine

Marsala wine – from Sicily

Muscadet is a white French wine. It is made at the western end of the Loire Valley, near the city of Nantes in the Pays de la Loire region neighboring the Brittany Region. More Muscadet is produced than any other Loire wine

Muscadet – maximum alcohol content of 12%

Pinot noir, Pinot meunier and Chardonnay – grapes used to make champagne

Sherry – a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez, Spain. After fermentation is complete, sherry is fortified with brandy

Pinot noir grape is chiefly associated with the Burgundy region

Fino – type of sherry

Oloroso – rich, dark-coloured sweet sherry

Amontillado is a variety of sherry, characterized by being darker than fino but lighter than oloroso

Spain has the largest area of vines in Europe

Spumante – Italian sparkling wine

Malbec – Argentinian wine

Semillon – a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, most notably in France and Australia

Corsica has nine AOC regions and an island-wide vin de pays designation Vin de Pays de l'Ile de Beaute that accounts for two thirds of the island's entire wine production

Bardolino wine – from Italy

Frascati – white wine from the town of Frascati in the province of Rome in the Lazio region

Cava – sparkling wine, produced mainly in Catalonia. In the past, cava was referred to as ‘Spanish champagne’

Vinho verde – Portuguese wine from the Minho region. Known as green wine

Chablis – white wine from Burgundy, made from chardonnay grapes

Claret – red wine from Bordeaux

Sauternes – white wine from Bordeaux

Chateau d’Yquem – Sauternes wine

Saint-Emilion, Pomerol, Medoc and Graves are sub-regions of Bordeaux

Entre-deux-mers is a dry white wine made in Bordeaux. The appellation is one of the largest in the Bordeaux region and is situated between the Garonne and the Dordogne

Pradikatswein (formerly QmP) classification contains most high-quality German wines

Lacryma Christi (literally ‘tear of Christ’), is the name of a celebrated Neapolitan type of wine produced on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius in Campania, Italy. The name Lacryma Christi comes from an old myth that Christ, crying over Lucifer's fall from heaven, cried his tears on the land and gave divine inspiration to the vines that grew there

Chateauneuf-du-Pape is from the Rhone wine region. Means ‘The Pope's new castle’

Sangiovese is a red Italian wine grape variety whose name derives from the Latin sanguis Jovis, ‘the blood of Jove’. Though it is the grape of most of central Italy, outside Italy it is most famous as the main component of the Chianti blend in Tuscany

Soave – a dry white wine from the Veneto region in northeast Italy, principally around the city of Verona

Verdicchio a variety of white grape grown in the Marche region of Italy and gives its name to the varietal white wine made from it

Varietal – describes wines made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label. Examples of grape varieties commonly used in varietal wines are Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot

Montepulciano is a red Italian wine grape variety

Grenache – variety of grape, used for making rose

Muscat – variety of grapes widely grown for wine, raisins and table grapes

Zinfandel (also known as Primitivo) is a variety of black-skinned wine grape. The variety is planted in over 10 percent of California vineyards. The grapes typically produce a robust red wine, although a semi-sweet rose (blush-style) wine called White Zinfandel has six times the sales of the red wine in the United States

Italy produces the most wine

Gloog – mulled wine

Prosek – a sweet dessert wine that is traditionally from Dalmatia, Croatia

Very Special (or Superior) Old Pale. Port, sherry or brandy between 20 and 25 years old

Whisky

The two best-selling single malt whiskies in the world, The Glenlivet and Glenfiddich, come from Speyside. Speyside has the greatest number of distilleries of any of the whisky-producing areas of Scotland

Glenfiddich is owned and produced by William Grant & Sons in Dufftown

Talisker is the only distillery on the Isle of Skye

Laphroig is a whisky distillery on Islay

Single malt whisky is more than three years old and made from barley

Malt whisky is distilled in copper stills

Bourbon is named for Bourbon County, Kentucky. By United States law, it consists of at least 51% corn, typically about 70%, with the remainder being wheat and/or rye, and malted barley. It is distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof, and aged in new charred oak barrels for at least two years

Rye whiskey is, by law, made from a mash of at least 51% rye. The other ingredients of the mash are usually corn and malted barley. It is distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof, and aged in oak barrels

Jack Daniels – from Lynchberg, Tennessee

Atholl brose – whisky and honey

Beer

Beer is made from water, yeast, hops and malt

Fuggles and goldings – varieties of hops

Wheat beer is a beer that is brewed with a significant proportion of wheat. It is common for wheat beers to also contain malted barley. The addition of wheat lends wheat beers a light flavour and pale colour

Wort – the liquid extracted from the mashing process during the brewing of beer or whisky. Wort contains the sugars that will be fermented by the brewing yeast to produce alcohol

Small beer – weak beer, second brew made from the wort of the first brew

Foster’s Twist – beer with a hint of citrus

Carlsberg Edge – lager with citrus

Carling C2 – 2% lager

Newcastle Brown Ale is brewed by Heineken at the John Smith's Brewery in Tadcaster

Valhalla Brewery – the most northerly brewery in the UK, on the island of Unst in Shetland

Skull Attack – Brains beer

Batemans brewery – in Lincolnshire

Ringwood brewery – in Hampshire. Brewers of Fortyniner, Old Thumper, Porter 4X, Boondoggle and 21 Not Out

Spitfire, Bishop’s Finger – Shepherd Neame beers

Doom Bar Bitter is named after a sandbank at the mouth of the Camel Estuary in North Cornwall

Lambic is a very distinctive type of beer brewed only in the Pajottenland region of Belgium and in Brussels

Framboise – Belgian beer fermented using raspberries

Chimay Brewery is located in the Scourmont Abbey, a Trappist monastery. They make Chimay Rouge, Chimay Bleue, and Chimay Blanche beers and four varieties of cheese

Jupiler is the top selling beer in Belgium

Germany’s best-selling beer brands – Oettinger, Krombacher, Bitburger

Stella Artois first brewed in 1366

Orval is a Trappist brewery located within the walls of the Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval in the Gaume region of Belgium

Duvel Moortgat Brewery is a Flemish family-controlled brewery founded in 1871

Grolsch Brewery founded in Groenlo, Netherlands in 1615

Lime was put in Mexican beer to keep the flies out

Asahi has a 40% share of the Japanese beer market

Kirin beer – from Japan

Liqueurs

Liqueur – an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar

Limoncello is an Italian lemon liqueur mainly produced in Southern Italy

Advocaat – a rich and creamy liqueur made from eggs, sugar and brandy

A grasshopper is a sweet, mint-flavored, after-dinner drink. The name of the drink is derived from its green color which is provided by the Creme de menthe

Carthusian monks sell chartreuse

Chartreuse is composed of distilled alcohol aged with 130 herbal extracts. The liqueur is named after the Monks' Grande Chartreuse monastery

Gers – place famous for distillation of Armagnac

Drambuie flavoured by heather honey

Recipe for Drambuie given to Bonnie Prince Charlie

Van Der Hum – South African tangerine flavoured liqueur

Amaretto is a sweet almond-flavoured liqueur of Italian origin. It is made from a base of apricot or almond pits, or sometimes both, with added spices and flavors

Amaretto is produced in Saronno, near Lake Como. Created by a widow who posed for Renaissance painter Bernardino Luini in 1525

Galliano – a sweetish, golden, Italian liqueur with an herby, spicy taste

Triple Sec – orange-flavoured liqueur

Curacao – made from peel of bitter oranges

Creme de cassis – blackcurrant liqueur

Parmait amour – a purple liqueur that is flavored with citrus fruits, cloves and other spices

Southern Comfort is flavoured with peaches

Kummel – a sweet, colourless liqueur flavored with caraway seed, cumin, and fennel, made in regions bordering the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea

Pastis – an anise-flavored liqueur and aperitif from France which emerged following the ban on absinthe

Sambuca is an Italian anise-flavoured, usually colourless, liqueur. Sambuca is commonly served neat with some floating coffee beans and then set alight for a few seconds

Ouzo effect – a milky oil-in-water microemulsion that is formed when water is added to ouzo and other anise-flavored liqueurs and spirits

Raki is the national drink of Turkey. It is an anise-flavored liqueur known as ‘lion’s milk’

Brandy

Cognac is a brandy produced in the region surrounding the town. It must be made from at least 90% Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche, or Colombard grapes. It must be distilled twice in copper pot stills and aged at least two years in French oak barrels that are sealed air tight in order to be called cognac

Armagnac is a distinctive kind of brandy, made of mainly the same grapes as cognac and undergoing the same aging in oak barrels, but mainly with column still distillation (cognac and part of Armagnac is distilled in pot stills)

Calvados is an apple brandy from the French region of Basse-Normandie or Lower Normandy

Eau de vie is a French term for a colorless fruit brandy that is prepared via fermentation and double-distillation

Pisco – a strong, colorless grape brandy produced in Chile and Peru

Slivovitz – plum brandy

Grappa – brandy distilled from the fermented remains of crushed grapes

Applejack – brandy made by concentrating hard cider

Other alcoholic drinks

Juniper berries are used to flavour gin

Glog – drink in Sweden

Vermouth – an alcoholic drink consisting of wine flavoured with aromatic herbs, originally wormwood

Black Velvet – drink produced to mark the death of Prince Albert

Kumis – an alcoholic beverage made from fermented mare's milk; made originally by nomads of central Asia

Flor – a yeasty growth which is allowed to form on the surface of sherries after fermentation

Absinthe – la fee verte (the green fairy). Member of the Daisy family. Absinthe drinking was known as ‘strangling the parrot’ in Paris slang

Absinthe – a liqueur flavoured with wormwood and other herbs. Manufactured by Pernod

A perforated or slotted spoon is used to dissolve a sugar cube in a glass of absinthe, usually to sweeten the drink and counteract its mild bitterness

Schnapps is flavoured with caraway seeds

Metaxa is a Greek distilled spirit invented by Spyros Metaxas in 1888. It is a blend of brandy and wine

Muscadine, scuppernong – varieties of grape used in Cajun cookery

Tequila – an agave-based spirit

Akvavit or aquavit is a flavoured spirit that is produced in Scandinavia and typically contains 40% alcohol by volume. Its name comes from aqua vitae, the Latin for ‘water of life’

Perry – made from fermented pears

Magners cider originates from Clonmel

Campari is an alcoholic aperitif obtained from the infusion of herbs and fruit (including chinotto and cascarilla) in alcohol and water. It is a bitters characterized by its dark red colour

Grog – originally referred to a drink made with water or ‘small beer’ (a weak beer) and rum, which was introduced into the Royal Navy by British Vice Admiral Edward Vernon (nicknamed ‘Old Grog’ by the sailors) in 1740. Modern versions of the drink are often made with hot or boiling water

Cobbler is an old form of mixed drink that consists of a base spirit (originally some form of wine), sugar and fresh fruit

Negus – a beverage of wine, hot water, lemon juice, sugar, and nutmeg

Absolut Vodka is a brand of vodka, produced in southern Sweden. Absolut is owned by French group Pernod Ricard

Pimm's is a brand of fruit cups, but may also be considered a liqueur. It was first produced in 1823 by James Pimm and has been owned by Diageo since 1997. Pimm's No. 1 Cup is based on gin

Jagermeister is a German digestif made with 56 herbs and spices. The label on Jagermeister bottles features a glowing Christian cross seen between the antlers of a stag

Tea

Jagertee – drink made by mixing overproof rum into black tea

Earl Grey – contains Oil of Bergamot

Bergamot orange is a fragrant fruit the size of an orange, with a yellow colour similar to a lemon

Oolong is a traditional Chinese type of tea somewhere in between green and black in oxidation

The beverage Green tea is a ‘true’ tea (i.e., Camellia sinensis) that has undergone minimal oxidation during processing

Camomile tea – made from the flowers of Anthemis nobilis

Herbal tea, or tisane, is a herbal or plant infusion and usually not made from the leaves of the tea bush (Camellia sinensis)

Coffee

Coffee originated in Ethiopia

Nescafe – first instant coffee, in 1938

Starbucks and Costa were both founded in 1971

Blue Mountain coffee – from Jamaica

Americano – single shot of espresso

Ristretto – a short shot of espresso coffee made with the normal amount of coffee but extracted with about half the amount of water

Flat white – latte made with velvet micro-foam instead of stiff froth

Macchiato is an Italian word, meaning ‘stained’. It is frequently used to refer to two separate coffee drinks: Caffè macchiato – an espresso with a teaspoon of milk in it and a small ‘spot’ of foam on top of the crema, Latte macchiato – steamed milk served in a glass with ½ shot of espresso or less poured through it, leaving a 'spot' of crèma to indicate this is not a caffè latte

Frappuccino is a trademarked line of blended coffee beverages sold by Starbucks. It consists of coffee blended with ice and various other ingredients, usually topped with whipped cream

Caffe crema – old name for espresso

Caffè corretto, an Italian beverage, consists of a shot of espresso ‘corrected’ with a shot of liquor, usually grappa, brandy or sambuca

Kopi Luwak is coffee that is prepared using coffee cherries that have been eaten and partially digested by the Asian Palm Civet, then harvested from its fecal matter

Cafe Frappe – Greek shaken iced coffee

Other drinks

Perrier water – from Pergez, near Nimes

Dasani – Coca-Cola bottled water, withdrawn in 2004 as it was contaminated with bromate

Coca-Cola launched in 1886 as an ‘esteemed brain tonic and intellectual beverage’. Early version contained small quantities of cocaine. It has never been green

Merchandise 7X is the secret ingredient of Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola unveiled New Coke in 1985

VitaminWater is an energy water product distributed by Energy Brands, a subsidiary of Coca-Cola. Developed by 50 Cent using the product name Formula 50

Coca-Cola Life is sold in green cans and has fewer calories than Coke and less sugar due to a natural sweetener called stevia

Pepsi was first introduced as ‘Brad's Drink’ in New Bern, North Carolina, in 1898 by Caleb Bradham, who made it at his home where the drink was sold. It was later labeled Pepsi Cola, named after the digestive enzyme pepsin and kola nuts used in the recipe

Tizer – first soft drink available in cans, in 1970s

Cream soda is flavoured with vanilla

Dandelion and Burdock – Taraxacum and Arctium

Kvass – a fermented beverage made from black or regular rye bread

Root beer is a carbonated, sweetened beverage, originally made using the root of a sassafras plant (or the bark of a sassafras tree) as the primary flavour

The roots of the kava plant are used to produce a drink with sedative and anesthetic properties. Kava is consumed throughout the Pacific Ocean cultures of Polynesia

Fanta was created during World War II in Germany by the German Coca-Cola bottling company. Due to restrictions on shipping between Germany and the United States, the German bottling plant could not get Coca Cola syrup

Yerba mate is a species of holly, well-known as the source of the mate beverage (a traditional South American infused drink)

Irn-Bru is manufactured by AG Barr

Lassi – made by blending yogurt with water or milk and Indian spices. Traditional lassi is sometimes flavored with ground roasted cumin

A fruit cup, also known as a summer cup, is traditionally an English speciality drink designed to be made into a long drink with addition of a soft drink such as lemonade or ginger ale