Glossary of Food and Cooking Terms - R

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Radicchio
A crisp bitter, peppery variety of chicory.

Ramekin
A small china or earthenware dish.

Reconstitute
To add liquid to dehydrated food in order to bring it back to its original form.

Reduce
To boil or simmer liquids in order to reduce its size.

Ragout
A dish made of pieces of meat, stewed, and highly seasoned; as, a ragout of mutton.

Render
To extract the fat from meat by slow cooking.

Rice Vinegar
A vinegar made from rice wine.

Roast
To cook meat or vegetables on an open pan inside an oven.

Roe
The eggs from a female fish (hard roe) or similar glands of a male fish (soft roe),

Roux
A general French term for equal portions of sweet butter and flour slowly cooked over low heat and used to thicken sauces and soups. Fats other than butter are sometimes substituted. The color of the roux varies with the amount of time it is cooked. ie. A roux brun is cooked long enough to be brown as opposed to a roux blonde which is only cooked to take on a light golden color.