glossary

Walnut: A popular, oil rich nut with many culinary applications.

Warrigal greens: Leafy vegetable resembling spinach, with elongated leaves, a slightly acidic flavour and cooked in the same way as spinach. Warrigal greens may also be called Warrigal spinach or Tetragon.

Wasabi: The root of an Asian plant, similar to horseradish and used in Japanese cuisine. When ground and mixed with water Wasabi becomes green-coloured with a sharp, pungent and fiery flavour.

Water chestnut: Refer Chinese water chestnut.

Watercress: A herb with small, delicate leaves on slender stems, used for soups and salads.

Water ice: Refer Sorbet.

Wattleseed: These seed of the wattle tree, the flavour develops when the seeds are toasted.

Wiener Schnitzel: Thin slices of veal or pork, breaded and fried in butter. Traditional garnishes are lemon butter, anchovies and capers.

Wellington: Refer Beef Wellington.

Wenslydale cheese: A semi-hard cows milk cheese, originating in Yorkshire, England, Wenslydale cheese affords a lightly salted taste with a hint of honey.

Western king prawn: A variety of prawn.

Western rock lobster: A variety of Rock lobster.

West Indian lime: A variety of Lime.

Wheat: A cereal grain, predominately grown to process flour into bread. Hard wheat flour has a high gluten or protein content (i.e durum wheat), and is used in the production of pasta and bread. While soft wheat flour is used in the production of cakes and biscuits. Cracked wheat can be prepared like rice, while wheat flour is available wholemeal or white, bleached or unbleached.

Wheat bran: The outer husk of the wheat grain, removed during the milling process.

Wheatgerm: Small flakes milled from the germ or embryo of wheat-grain, removed in the production of white flour, and added to cakes, breakfast cereals and breads.

Wheatstarch: Refer Corn flour.

Whelk: A mollusc with a spiral shell.

Whey: The liquid part of milk, drained off from the curd during cheese making.

Whisk: A culinary term meaning 'To aerate or beat to a foam' using a whisk or a fork.

Whisky: All whiskies are distilled from grain, and several types are available. They include Scotch (blended and malt); Irish; Canadian; American (bourbon, rye and Tennessee); Japanese; Australian. American whiskies are spelt 'whiskey', while other countries use 'whisky'.

White-bait: A small fish affording delicate, white lean flesh. Due to their small size, whitebait are generally eaten whole after being dusted with flour and deep-fried. May also be called Jollytail or Minnows.

White burgundy: A rich yet dry white wine, made famous in the Burgundy region of France, and made from chardonnay grapes.

White cabbage: Refer Peppercorn.

White Piedmontese truffle: A variety of Truffle.

White radish: Refer Radish.

Whiting and King George Whiting: A delicate, moist and slightly sweet white fleshed fish, suitable for most cooking methods.

Wild lime: A native fruit, found in tropical and dry areas of Australia. Both the fruit and the skin are edible, and wild limes afford a powerful, astringent lime flavour.

Wild rice: A grass that produces a long brown grain, from Northern America.

Wild Rosella: Refer Rosella flower.

Windsor black pumpkin: A variety of pumpkin with a dark blue skin and rich orange flesh.

Wine: An alcoholic drink made from fermented grape juice.

Wine Cooler: Refers to a drink of fruit juice blended with wine.

Wine vinegar: Vinegar distilled from wine.

Winkle: A mollusc with a round shell and edible flesh.

Winter puslane: A leafy herb, dainty looking with triangular leaves and fresh mild flavour. The leaves and flowers are used raw in salad. Winter puslane is also known as Miner's lettuce and Spring beauty.

Witchetty or Witjuti grub: The larvae of an Australian moth, and a popular 'Bush Tucker'.

Wok: A round bottomed frying pan used in Asian cookery.

Won ton: A small Chinese dumpling, made from thin dough and filled with a mixture of finely minced meats, poultry, seafood and/or vegetables.

Won ton wrapper: A thin square or circular, pastry-like wrapper, often filled to make won tons and other dumpling products.

Worcestershire sauce: A spicy sauce used to flavour sauces and cocktails (like Bloody Mary's), or used as a condiment to flavour foods. Made from vinegar, molasses, golden syrup, salt, tamarind, anchovies, spices, onion powder, garlic powder, lemon oil and water.

Wrap (wrapping): A protective film, often plastic (i.e plastic wrap or cling film), used for packaging and protecting chilled or frozen food.

Wrapped or sealed: A method of packaging food. The food product is wrapped in impermeable material, or sealed in a container and then refrigerated.

Wurst: The German word for sausage.