French for 'everything in its place' - prepping and measuring all your ingredients before you start cooking. The habit that makes cooking calm instead of frantic.

Adding liquid to a hot pan to lift the browned bits stuck to the bottom. Those bits are pure flavor and become the base of a pan sauce.

Combining fat and liquid into one stable mixture, like a vinaigrette or mayonnaise, so they do not separate.

The browning of proteins and sugars under heat that creates deep, savory, roasted flavor. Different from caramelizing, which is sugar alone.

Briefly boiling then plunging into ice water. Sets color, loosens skins, and par-cooks vegetables while keeping them crisp.

Simmering a liquid to evaporate water, concentrating flavor and thickening it into a sauce.

Gently combining a light mixture into a heavier one to keep air in it - the opposite of vigorous stirring.

Adjusting salt and acid at the end until the dish tastes balanced. Trust your palate over the recipe's exact amounts.