Welcome to the Schwartz glossary, an A to Z guide to cookery terms. Whether it's herbs and spices, names of dishes or cooking techniques, you'll find them here, along with suggested recipes and links to more information.
- Kecap Manis
- In Indonesia, soy sauce is known as Kecap (also ketjap or kicap), from where it is thought the English word ‘ketchup’ may have been derived. Kecap Manis is an Indonesian sweet soy sauce which is thick, black and syrupy. It has a powerful aroma with a treacle-like flavour, due to the generous addition of palm sugar. Available in large supermarkets, in the Asian aisles. If you can’t find it, try pomegranate molasses or dark soy sauce. (See also Pomegranate Molasses or Soy Sauce, Dark)
- A process in the making of bread, used to mix together the ingredients and add strength and texture to the bread. The process of kneading warms and stretches the gluten in the bread and creates springy and elastic dough. Kneading also allows the bread to hold the tiny pockets of air created by the leavening agent, such as yeast or baking powder, and without this, the bread will collapse and leave you with a heavy and dense loaf. Kneading can be performed with a breadmaker or by hand. If you are doing it by hand, place the dough on a floured surface, then press and stretch it with the heel of your hand, fold it over, and rotate and repeat the process until the dough is elastic and smooth. The dough can then be covered with a warm tea towel and allowed to rise or "prove". Similar to kneading is ‘knocking back’ or ‘punching down’, this is performed after the dough has been proved. Punch the dough once or twice, and then continue to knead gently for a short time. This will remove any large air pockets which have formed in the dough whilst proving and will redistribute the leavening agent, allowing fermentation to continue. The dough can then be proved a second time.
- These fruits belong to the fortunella species, a species similar to that of the citrus fruit. Kumquats are small oval shaped fruits with a thin orange rind that is edible. The pulp is bitter-sour, but the rind quite sweet, so eaten together they provide a delicious sweet-sour sensation. Kumquats can be eaten whole or sliced in salads or stir-fries. Delicious with duck, chicken, brandy and Cinnamon.
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