Aquafaba, cotija, fond: a taste of food terms added to dictionary

Can you say kabocha? How about kombucha? What do you do with aquafaba?

And, really, who doesn’t like an Arnold Palmer?

These are just a few of the new food words that MerriamWebster has added to the dictionary mix. More than 850 new words and their definitions were added recently, and many of them are culinary terms.

“In order for a word to be added to the dictionary it must have widespread, sustained and meaningful use,” said Emily Brewster, associate editor at Merriam-Webster, in a statement. “These new words have been added to the dictionary because they have become established members of the English language and are terms people are likely to encounter.”

At merriam-webster.com, they identified “the richest source of these newly adopted foreignlanguage words has been the world of food — or, perhaps we should say: the food of the world.”

A taste of some of the new food words that have been added:

Aquafaba: “The liquid that results when beans are cooked in water.” One of the more popular bean liquids that is being used is that of the canned chickpeas. Its popular use is as an egg replacement in recipes such as waffles and pancakes. Chickpea liquid is also said to whip up nicely for meringue.

Arnold Palmer: A cold beverage mix of iced tea and lemonade. Created by golfer Arnold Palmer, the idea struck the late golf champion in the early 1960s. “I wanted something that would be refreshing and realized that lemonade would be a natural complement to iced tea, since most people add a lemon wedge to their tea” according to merriam-webster.com. Palmer explained that a serverwho knew it was his regular drink started calling it an Arnold Palmer.

Cotija: A hard, white, crumbly Mexican cheese made from cow’s milk noted for its saltiness and similar to Parmesan.

Fond: Small particles of browned food and especially meat that adhere to the bottom of a cooking pan and are used especially in making sauces. These concentrated browned bits form on the bottom of the pan when food is sautéed or roasted. When you deglaze the pan with a liquid, the bits are scrapped up to flavour the sauce.

Harissa: A spicy North African paste made from dried chilies, salt, oil and other seasonings. Harissa is used as a condiment with meats and vegetables.

Kombucha: A gelatinous mass of symbiotic bacteria (as Acetobacter xylinum) and yeasts (as of the genera Brettanomyces and Saccharomyces) grown to produce a fermented beverage held to confer health benefits.

Natto: Fermented soybeans with a pungent flavour and gluey texture that is eaten chiefly in Japan and usually served over rice.