Salpicon

Definition

Finely diced ingredients (meat, fish, vegetables) bound with a sauce, used as a filling or garnish. It's basically everything chopped up and moistened.

Example Usage

The stuffed mushrooms were filled with a delicate salpicon of shrimp and mushrooms.

Origin

Spanish 'salpicón' (chopped mixture); possibly from Latin 'sal' (salt) + Spanish/Arabic influence

Fun Fact

Salpicon is rarely used as a term anymore—chefs just say 'finely diced filling' because salpicon sounds like they're trying too hard.

Source: Classical Spanish/French culinary technique

Related Terms

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truffle

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denier

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