Outdated/Confusing Kitchen Language

It’s amazing how imprecise celebrity cooking hosts can be with their cooking patter. Never a day goes by when I hear them use outdated words when describing how they prepare those delicious dishes:

Tin foil – Good lord, we haven’t used tin foil since just after World War II, when the “tin” in tin foil was replaced by cheaper and more durable aluminum. Additionally, tin foil made food taste a little bit funny. Eww.

Icebox – Really now, who still buys huge blocks of ice to keep one’s food cold in an insulated box in the home kitchen? The word is a throw-back to pre-1930 days when refrigerators weren’t in common usage. It’s amazing that the word has survived to this day and is still being used.

Stove – People, a stove burns fuel. Kitchen stoves use wood or coal in a sealed combustion chamber that heats up the top of the appliance, where your pots and pans sit. It’s an old term that still has its application, but in my opinion, that appliance you use in the kitchen is a range. Not that I don’t call mine a stove.

Pop – When you put something in the oven, do you hear a “pop”? Nope, didn’t think so. So why do people say they’re going to “pop it in the oven”?  Isn’t putting something in the exact opposite of something popping?

Ton – This one cracks me up. Why do refer to quality and quantity of flavor in terms of weight? They’re intangible and cannot be weighed. Therefore, technically, there’s no such thing as a “ton of flavor.”

Earthy – When something has an earthy aroma or imparts an earthy flavor, what exactly does that mean? Grassy? No, we’d say “grassy,” if that’s what we mean. Robust? No, I’d rather say “robust.”  The word “earthy” connotes a characteristic of earth. And what exactly is earth? It’s DIRT!

So … let me get those leftovers out of the icebox, wrap it in tin foil and pop it on the stove, which will give it a ton of earthy flavor.