A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

P

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Literally, a p

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Paella

A traditional Spanish dish of rice and saffron that usually includes tomatoes, chicken and seafood

Pak choi

Also known as bok choi, this leafy green Chinese vegetable belongs to the cabbage family. It is best suited to brief stir-frying or steaming to keep its mild flavour.

Pancakes

Also known as cr

Pancetta

Cured belly pork used in Italian cookery, usually either in thin slices or thicker cubes. Its flavour is salty, sweet and slightly aniseed. Either dry fry in its own juices or fry in oil and then use to flavour the rest of the dish. It can be grilled until crisp and then crumbled over pasta, rice, salads and soups. If unavailable, use thinly sliced, unsmoked, streaky bacon rashers.

Panettone

A large round yeasted fruit cake from Italy, traditionally eaten at Christmas and Easter. It can be served as a dessert, accompanied by a sweet wine.

Panna cotta

The name for this cold dessert from Italy means cooked cream, although not all recipes call for the cream to be actually cooked. To make panna cotta, cream is added to gelatine and then flavoured with a wide variety of ingredients such as vanilla or cinnamon. The mixture is then cooled until it sets and is served with a sweet sauce.

Papaya

Also called a paw paw. A fruit with green skin, fragrant and sweet orange flesh and black seeds.

Papillote (en)

The term en papilotte is used to describe a dish cooked in a parcel that protects the food from the high heat of the oven and keeps in the aroma and flavour. The dish is usually served in the parcel so that each diner can unwrap their own. Greaseproof paper is the better wrapping to use as foil does not puff up as well.

Paprika

Milder than cayenne, paprika is the ground red powder of mild and hot peppers and is an important ingredient in Hungarian goulash and in Spanish sausages and salamis.

Parboil

To boil vegetables until half cooked. Used to part-cook potatoes and other hard root vegetables prior to roasting them at a high temperature to ensure that the inside is cooked while the outside crisps up well.

Parmesan

Hard, grainy cow's-milk cheese extensively used in Italian cuisine, often grated over dishes, as in spaghetti bolognese. Parmigiano reggiano is the true parmesan cheese, manufactured from 15th April to 11th November in the province of Parma and also Bologna and Mantua. Parmesan is always best grated just before use.

Parsley

Herb used as flavouring and garnish or eaten as a vegetable. Available as curly or flat-leafed varieties.

Pashka

A traditional Russian dessert for celebrating Easter. Made from curd cheese, cream, almonds, chocolate and dried fruit.

Passata

A smooth tomato sauce that you can buy in bottles or packets, with or without herbs.

Pasta

A dough made from durum-wheat semolina, water and often eggs which is kneaded and cut into a wide variety of shapes. Eaten with sauces, stuffed, or added to soups for bulk. Bought fresh or dried, it is used in dishes from Italy to China. It is sold dried or fresh.

Patty pan

Small, circular, green or yellow courgette with fluted edges.

Patty tin

Baking tin with 6, 9 or 12 shallow round compartments used for making individual pies and tarts.

Peanut

Also known as a groundnut. This edible nut is the seed of a member of the pea family, not a true nut. The pods mature underground and each contain 2-4 seeds. Peanuts can be roasted, salted and eaten whole or used in cooked dishes. Peanut or groundnut oil is widely used in cooking and margarine manufacture.

Pecan

A North American nut related to the walnut, high in vitamins and minerals. Widely used in sweets, especially pecan pie, but can be used in savoury dishes.

Pectin

A natural gelling agent found in ripe fruit. Pectin is an important ingredient in making jams and jellies. Some fruit have high pectin levels

Penne

Pasta tubes shaped like quills.

Perry

An alcoholic drink, similar to cider, made from varieties of perry pears; the single variety perry is still and made by artisan producers who may be hard to find, but sparkling perry is readily available in supermarkets.

Pesto

A green Italian sauce for pasta, typically made from pine nuts blended with fresh basil, Parmesan cheese, garlic and olive oil. The sauce can be stirred into freshly cooked pasta, spooned on to thick soups, toasted on bread or added to mayonnaise and salad dressings. Red pesto contains grilled red pepper or pimiento.

Petit four

A small fancy biscuit or cake often served at the end of a meal.

Pilchard

Pilchards are an oil-rich fish. Sardines, which are baby pilchards, are sold whole, fresh or frozen while pilchards are mainly processed and canned.

Pine nut

Or pine kernel. The small edible seed of the stone pine which grows in the Mediterranean region. Pine nuts are rich in protein and oily - so they tend to go rancid quite quickly. They are used in many savoury dishes, especially vegetarian ones.

Pink fir apple

A knobbly, pinky-beige skinned, waxy potato, good for use in salads.

Piri-Piri

Piri-piri is an African word for chilli and also a hot chilli sauce used in Portuguese, African and Brazilian cookery. The Portuguese introduced chillies to their African colonies after discovering them in Brazil so piri-piri plays a major part in the fiery food of Mozambique

Pistachio

Nuts that have a distinctive open shell, allowing them to be roasted and salted whole. Eaten as a snack or used for cooking. Pistachios go best with veal, port and poulty. The green colour makes it very popular for creams and ice-creams. In confectionery it is especially associated with nougat.

Pita bread

A Middle Eastern flat bread which can be opened up to form a pocket which cab be stuffed with a variety of fillings. Throughout the Middle East, pitas are served with meals or cut into wedges and used to dip in dishes such as baba ganoush and hummus.

Pitahaya

The fruit of a central American cactus, the pitahaya has a deep pink, dense flesh and mild sweet flavour. It adds vibrant colour to fruit salad.

Plaice

Orange-spotted flat sea fish available whole or in fillets. Can be grilled, fried or poached.

Polenta

A cornmeal porridge that is the traditional basic dish of northern Italy. Polenta can be eaten fresh or, when set, cooked in a variety of ways.

Portabello mushroom

Flat dark open mushroom, good for roasting, baking and stuffing.

Poussin

A small immature chicken, sometimes called a spring chicken. As the bird is only four to six weeks' old, the flavour has not developed and there is not much flesh on the bones, but one bird is perfect for a single serving. Poussins benefit from a rich stuffing to add flavour.

Praline

A sweet made of almonds and sugar invented for the French Comte du Plessis-Praslin by his cook in the 1600s

Prawn

Shellfish available in different varieties, fresh or frozen, in or out of shell. Can be boiled, steamed, fried or barbecued.

Preserved lemons

Popular in Moroccan dishes, these are lemons that have been preserved in brine.

Prickly pear

The fruit of a type of cactus containing yellow or pink edible seeds with a sweet and mild flavour; care needs to be taken when handling this fruit as the prickly needles in the skin can stick into your hands.

Profiterole

A small bun made with choux pastry and usually filled with cream and covered with chocolate.

Prosciutto

The Italian word for ham, used in the names of raw hams such as prosciutto di Parma. Parma ham is served in very thin slices.

Puff pastry

A very light pastry made in layers that expand when cooked, leaving large air pockets inside. Used for sweet or savoury dishes.

Pur

Used to describe either the act of making a smooth sauce or paste from various ingredients or the final result.

Puy lentils

Small slatey-blue lentils grown in France and Italy that keep their shape during cooking.