Chef Techniques: Blanch, Braise, Deglaze, Sear and Flambé

Ten techniques that turn a home cook into a confident one: sear meat in a hot pan, deglaze the pan with wine or stock to lift the browned bits, reduce the sauce, braise tough cuts slowly, blanch vegetables in boiling water and then ice water, poach eggs and fish gently, sauté, caramelize onions, emulsify a vinaigrette and flambé with a splash of spirit.

No word is diagonal, and caramelize, the longest at 10 letters, runs straight down.

Advanced Cooking Techniques Vocabulary: 10 Words to Find

Words run across, up and down; 6 of the 10 read backwards. The longest word is Caramelize, with 10 letters.

Blanch: To boil food briefly and then plunge it into ice water, to set its color and stop the cooking.
Braise: To brown food and then cook it slowly in a little liquid in a covered pot.
Caramelize: To cook food until its sugars brown, as with slow-cooked onions.
Deglaze: To pour liquid into a hot pan and scrape up the browned bits to make a sauce.
Emulsify: To blend oil and a watery liquid into a smooth, stable mixture, like mayonnaise.
Flambee: Another spelling of flambé: food set alight with a spirit.
Poach: To cook food gently in liquid just below a simmer, like eggs or fish.
Reduce: To boil a liquid so some water evaporates and the flavor concentrates.
Saute: Sauté: cooking quickly in a little fat, tossing the food so it jumps in the pan.
Sear: To brown the surface of meat quickly over very high heat.

How to Solve the Advanced Cooking Techniques Word Search

"Caramelize" and "deglaze" are the only words with a Z, and both run straight down. "Emulsify" has the only Y and runs upward, like "blanch" and "braise". "Poach", "reduce" and "saute" read backwards.

Cooking Class Ideas for Chef Techniques

Match each technique to a dish: blanched green beans, braised beef, poached egg.
Demonstrate deglazing after searing a piece of meat.
Sort the techniques into wet heat and dry heat.