Learn Cooking Techniques: 78 Flashcards from Poaching to Brunoise

Cooking vocabulary is easy to recognize and surprisingly hard to define precisely: what separates poaching from simmering, or braising from stewing? Deck IK1438 — Cooking Techniques answers that in 78 cards, many with exact temperatures. The trick is to study it in contrast pairs, not in the order given.

Eight cards worth knowing cold

What the deck covers

• Heat methods: roasting, baking, boiling, simmering, steaming, frying, deep frying, shallow frying, pan frying, sautéing, stir-frying, braising, stewing, poaching, grilling, broiling, smoking, sous vide, confit, en papillote, bain-marie, flambé, parboiling.
• Browning chemistry and sauces: searing, Maillard reaction, caramelization, fond, deglazing, reduction, roux (white, blond, brown), emulsions (mayonnaise, vinaigrette), coulis, glaze, jus, gastrique, clarified butter, smoke point.
• Knife work and prep: julienne, brunoise, chiffonade, mincing, dicing, scoring, trussing, butterflying, pounding, scaling, filleting, supreming, zest, mise en place, mirepoix, bouquet garni.
• Meat, dough and coatings: dry vs wet aging, brining, dry rubs, marinating, basting, rendering, proofing, kneading, folding, creaming, tempura, breading, dredging.

Tip 1 — reorder into contrast ladders

The deck scatters near-synonyms across its length. Build three ladders and review each as one set: water temperature (poaching 70-80°C → simmering 85-95°C → boiling 100°C), fat quantity (sautéing → pan frying → shallow frying → deep frying → confit, where fat is the cooking medium at low heat), and heat direction (grilling from below vs broiling from above). Do the same for braising vs stewing: same liquid, but braising uses large seared pieces partly covered, stewing smaller pieces fully submerged.

Two links are hidden by the card order. Fond (card 56) is what deglazing (card 23) lifts — read 56 first. Blanching (18) and shocking (38) describe the same ice-water plunge; merge them into one card with the "why" from card 19 (color, texture, loosening tomato and peach skins).

Tip 2 — add the numbers the deck leaves out

Card 78 defines smoke point but gives no values; add a card with rough figures (unrefined butter ~150°C, clarified butter ~250°C, refined sunflower or avocado oil above 220°C) to make card 44 meaningful. The Maillard and caramelization cards would also benefit from temperatures: Maillard browning becomes fast above roughly 140°C, sucrose caramelizes around 160°C — which explains why boiled meat never browns. Finally, card 34's brunoise at 1-2 mm is what most chefs call fine brunoise; classic brunoise is about 3 mm.

Keep going

Many of these terms are French or Japanese; pair this deck with the international culinary terms guide to cover the menu side of the kitchen.

Open IK1438 — Cooking Techniques in the library on Flip It.