Sous-vide

Definition

Cooking vacuum-sealed food in precise temperature water baths—the cooking method that requires a PhD and creates suspiciously uniform results.

Example Usage

Sous-vide the steak at 129°F for two hours, then sear it for a crust.

Origin

French, meaning 'under vacuum'

Fun Fact

Sous-vide can cook food perfectly edge-to-edge but requires finishing with high heat to develop the Maillard crust.

Source: Modern culinary technique

Related Terms

Beginner

monkey dish

A small round ramekin used for holding sauces, prepped ingredients, or garnishes. Named either for their resemblance to dishes in a monkey's tea party or because you'd have to be as chaotic as a monkey to organize your station without them.

🍳 Food / Culinary

Beginner

gumbo

A thick, soul-warming Louisiana stew that's part soup, part cultural melting pot, traditionally thickened with okra or filé powder and filled with whatever proteins the cook has on hand. It's where French, African, Spanish, and Native American cuisines had a delicious collision. The dish that proves everything tastes better when you start with a good roux.

🍳 Food / Culinary

Beginner

on the fly

Kitchen code for 'we need this dish immediately because someone screwed up, a server forgot to ring it in, or a VIP just walked through the door.' Basically, emergency cooking mode.

🍳 Food / Culinary

Beginner

walk-in

The industrial refrigerator large enough to actually walk into, where both food and occasionally traumatized cooks go to chill out. Also where you discover forgotten experiments from previous regimes.

🍳 Food / Culinary

Advanced

nappé

The correct consistency for a sauce to coat the back of a spoon in a thin, even layer without immediately running off. It's thicker than water but thinner than your excuses for overcooking the sauce.

🍳 Food / Culinary

Intermediate

blonde

A roux cooked briefly until it reaches a pale, ivory color but before it develops any brown notes. It's for when you want the thickening power of a roux without commitment to flavor.

🍳 Food / Culinary

Translate This Term

See “Sous-vide” in Corporate Speak, Gen-Z Slang, Pirate Speak, and more.

Try the Translator

Share This Term

Post on X Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn

Discover a Term

Intermediate

trust

A legal arrangement where someone (the trustor) hands over assets to another party (the trustee) to manage for the benef...