Arròs negre: Translates to “black rice.” I’m dying to try Lucia’s version! Traditional arròs negre is kind of like paella—another classic Spanish dish with seafood and rice—but with a Catalan twist: cuttlefish and squid ink that colors everything black and gives a lightly salty taste.
Bain-marie: Or as Clara calls it, baño de María. A technique where you pour a shallow amount of water into a walled pan and then place ramekins or a small baking dish inside—the water keeps the temperature around the dish consistent while it’s in the oven. A must for any soufflé . . . or perfect flan.
Black sausage: Sounds weird, but it’s actually really good. These are made from blood and the . . . leftover parts of a pig, and flavored with onions and spices.
Bugnes: Delightful, thin little French doughnuts that often look like squared-off O’s or even leaves, which are fried in oil and then sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Café con leche: Literally “coffee with milk,” but is so much more with Lala’s addition of Mexican cinnamon. (Café au lait is also a term for coffee with milk, just French and usually made with really strong coffee.)
Cafecito: Cuban coffee. For Papi and me, it means any coffee that is tasty, sweet, and has some cream. But it is also the special name for coffee made with expresso and topped with crema (a tasty sugar foam whipped with a splash of coffee).
Café créme: French expresso with a touch of heavy cream.
Caldo de gallina: Like Lala called it, this “food to revive the dead” is a chicken soup that is believed to be able to heal sicknesses incredibly fast. And when it tastes anything like my Lala’s, I believe it works!
Canelés: Little French pastries that look a little like tall bundt cakes without the hole, but don’t be fooled by appearances; they are much more complex. Flavored with vanilla and rum, with a custard center and a dark tan, caramelized outside . . . so good.
Cascos de guayaba: One of my favorites! This popular dish from Cuba is made of guava shells cooked in a syrup with cinnamon (or a similar spice) until they’re tender, then topped with whatever you like.
Cassoulet: A stew-like casserole made with white beans, pork in a seasoned tomato sauce (called ragù), and a type of meat (I use the traditional duck) that is cooked in a deep, round pot. It’s pretty much the perfect French comfort food.
Cerverlas sausage: Like we had it at the bouchon, these are sometimes served with mayonnaise. It’s a mild pork or pork and beef sausage with garlic, mustard, and herbs that when aged becomes a French version of summer sausage.
Champignon: Usually called white or button mushrooms in America. They’re probably what you first think of when you think of mushrooms, since they’re the most common ones at grocery stores.
Chitterling: A very French sausage, also called andouillette, that is made from pig.
Clafoutis: A French dessert of fruit arranged in a buttered dish, then covered in a thick batter. Once it’s out of the oven, you cool it until it’s lukewarm and dust it with powdered sugar before serving. I also like to add a little whipped cream on the side.
Compote: Fruit cooked in syrup, and amazing as a dessert topping.
Confit: Meat—usually duck, if you’re in France—slowly cooked in its own fat.
Coq au vin: A family favorite. An amazing stew of chicken cooked in red wine, alongside vegetables like pearl onions and mushrooms. Tastes even better the second day!
Crème brûlée: The transformation of cream, sugar, eggs, and vanilla into a velvety custard, with a final sprinkle of sugar on top that is caramelized by that wonder of all kitchen gadgets, the blowtorch.
Crème caramel cup: A custardy dessert with an oozing caramel topping that looks a lot like a French flan.
Croquetas: Also called croquettes in French, these are made from bechamel (a creamy white sauce) mixed with pieces of meat or other ingredients, then rolled in breadcrumbs and lightly fried. Lala’s bacalao croquettas had cod and were deliciosas, though Clara’s ham version was also to die for.
Estofat de pop i patata: This delicious octopus stew is popular throughout Catalonia. The pop (the Catalan word for octopus) simmers for a long time so it’s tender, then stewed with potatoes and onions in a tomato-based sauce.
Fleur de courgette: Literally, it means “zucchini flower,” and it’s a dish similar to a squash blossom, where the light orange flower is stuffed, coated in a flour and egg batter, and fried. Very tasty.
Fleur de sel: This is a somewhat coarse salt that is sprinkled on food to finish it or used as a garnish.
Fraisier: The ultimate strawberry cake, and a work of art if you ask me. Made of two layers of Genoise sponge (a type of eggy cake) coated with a sugar syrup that is flavored with alcohol, which is then filled with a layer of French pastry cream and topped with almond paste. The best part: thin slices of strawberries decoratively placed around the outside edge of the cream.
Fricassée: A method of cooking meat by cutting it up and braising it slowly in a cooking liquid.
Guisado: The Spanish word for stew; it can be made from almost anything, but the result is almost always a tasty, complex layer of flavors.
Kołaczki: Polish pastry-like cookies that are made from soft, buttery, flaky dough wrapped around a jammy or cream cheese filling. While Jakub wants them year-round, they’re usually baked for the holidays.
Lardon: This is a term for small pieces of fatty bacon or salt-cured pork fat, and they’re used in a lot of French dishes to add flavor.
Mallorcas: Rolls of sweet, fluffy, egg-based bread that usually have powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Is perfect for breakfast, but the less-sweet version also works great as a sandwich base.
Mise en place: This refers to all the items you need for a dish, laid out and prepped so you can simply throw them in as you need them—like your diced veggies, spices, salt, and so on.
Mille crêpe cake: Very tasty, as my family’s “sampling” shows, and also very difficult to make perfectly. The name translates to “one thousand crêpe cake,” and while that number of layers is an exaggeration, it is a stack of around twenty identical, thin crêpes with an equally thin layer of light pastry cream between each one, creating a delicate and almost ethereal dessert.
Mont Blanc: The flavors are a lot like the one I made for the final test, just all in one piece. This dessert is pureed sweetened chestnuts that are piped and topped with a little whipped cream. It earned its name because it looks like a snow-capped mountain when it’s done.
Napoleon: Rectangular, delicate bar made from several layers of puff pastry with pastry cream or custard, and jam, sandwiched between each one, with a thin layer of vanilla icing and thin ribbons of chocolate on top. Délicieux!
Orxata: A cold drink popular in Spain that is made from water, milk, and chufa, which are also called tiger nuts—these are actually the bottom of a weedlike plant and not nuts at all. Because of the added cinnamon and sugar, it tastes a lot like a sweet milkshake.
Paella: Practically the national dish of Spain. Rice is cooked in chicken stock inside a special shallow pan along with shrimp, chicken, chorizo sausage, mussels, peppers, onions, and tomatoes.
Pain au chocolat: A heavenly, flaky bread with a rich chocolate center, and sometimes chocolate drizzles on top as well.
Palmiers: Buttery, flaky, crisp cookies made from puff pastry dough that is usually sprinkled with coarse sugar then folded inward by each side into a roll, cut, and baked to create heart-shaped delights.
Parmigiano-Reggiano: A very special Italian cheese that has earned its place as king. It’s a dry, hard, straw-colored cheese made from skimmed cow’s milk, with a pale-gold rind and a sharp, slightly salty flavor that hits every tastebud just right. And only cheese wheels that pass a special list of criteria get to be called by this name. This is nothing like the parmesan that comes in a shakable can.
Patatas bravas: A Spanish dish of roughly cubed potatoes that are fried and served warm with a drizzled sauce.
Porcini: Nutty, delicious mushrooms that have a big, reddish-brown cap and a thick stem. Perfect gourmet addition, especially in French vegetable dishes.
Profiterole: Otherwise known as a cream puff in America. These are made from a cooked pastry dough called choux (pronounced “shoo”) that is piped and baked, then filled with cream, custard, or chocolate.
Provençal: This refers to a dish that is cooked in the style of the city of Provence—which usually means ingredients like tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, onions, mushrooms, and eggplant.
Quenelle: A French technique of forming something into a football-like shape using spoons, then poaching or frying it. You can do it with thick creams, or even a floury mixture with crushed fish—like the flathead quenelle we had at the bouchon.
Ratatouille: A vegetable stew made from a mix of seasonal vegetables (like eggplant and peppers) sautéed in French olive oil, which are then combined into a tomato sauce.
Roosevalt fondant: Not to be confused with cake covering; instead, this is French red-skinned potatoes called Roosevalts that have been cut, fried in butter, and then baked inside the oven in stock so the outside is golden and crispy and the inside is really creamy. The best roasted potatoes you’ll ever eat.
Salad Niçoise: A salad with tomatoes, spring onions, tuna or anchovies, olives, and hard-boiled eggs.
Sancocho: Every Latin American country, it seems, has a different way of making this stew, but Lala said all that matters is that is has large pieces of meat, potatoes, and vegetables in a rich broth. Which means it is perfect for experimenting with flavor.
Socca: A type of chickpea crêpe, or pancake, that is usually cooked in a wood oven, then cut into wedges and served hot or warm. (Must-have in Nice—they’ll bring from the oven to you by bicycle!)
Sofrito: An amazing sauce my Lala made with chopped onions, peppers, and tomatoes, some olive oil, garlic, and herbs.
Terrine: What is in a terrine varies a lot, but to earn that name the food has to be cooked in a rectangular, straight-sided dish that looks kind of like a loaf pan. Most have layers of meat, and some have vegetables, foie gras, or whatever the chef is inspired to add.
Tres leches: A sponge cake that is soaked in three kinds of milk—condensed milk, heavy cream, and evaporated milk—and often topped with a layer of whipped cream with grated cinnamon. It tastes soft and sweet and melts on your tongue.
Tripas frita: Tripe is the lining of a cow’s stomach; but when properly battered and fried, it’s not that bad. Just trust me.