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Purée and (more rarely) mash are general terms for food, usually vegetable
Vegetable

The term "vegetable" generally means the Eating parts of plants. The definition of the word is traditional rather than scientific, however, and therefore the usage of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of food selection and food preparation....
s or legume
Legume

A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae , or a fruit of these specific plants. A legume fruit is a Fruit#Simple fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually Dehiscence on two sides....
s, that have been ground, pressed, and/or strained to the consistency of a soft paste or thick liquid. Purées of specific foods are often known by specific names, e.g. mashed potatoes or apple sauce. The term is of French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
 origin, where it meant in Ancient French (13th century) purified or refined.

Purées overlap with other dishes with similar consistency, such as thick soup
Soup

Soup is a food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables in Stock or hot/boiling water, until the flavor is extracted, forming a broth....
s, cream
Creaming (food)

Creaming is used to refer to several different culinary processes....
s (crèmes) and gravies
Gravy

Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. It is a smooth, non-chunky liquid. Ready-made bouillon cube and powders can be used as a substitute for natural meat or vegetable extracts....
 — although these terms often imply more complex recipes and cooking processes.






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Purée and (more rarely) mash are general terms for food, usually vegetable
Vegetable

The term "vegetable" generally means the Eating parts of plants. The definition of the word is traditional rather than scientific, however, and therefore the usage of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of food selection and food preparation....
s or legume
Legume

A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae , or a fruit of these specific plants. A legume fruit is a Fruit#Simple fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually Dehiscence on two sides....
s, that have been ground, pressed, and/or strained to the consistency of a soft paste or thick liquid. Purées of specific foods are often known by specific names, e.g. mashed potatoes or apple sauce. The term is of French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
 origin, where it meant in Ancient French (13th century) purified or refined.

Purées overlap with other dishes with similar consistency, such as thick soup
Soup

Soup is a food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables in Stock or hot/boiling water, until the flavor is extracted, forming a broth....
s, cream
Creaming (food)

Creaming is used to refer to several different culinary processes....
s (crèmes) and gravies
Gravy

Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. It is a smooth, non-chunky liquid. Ready-made bouillon cube and powders can be used as a substitute for natural meat or vegetable extracts....
 — although these terms often imply more complex recipes and cooking processes. Coulis
Coulis

A coulis is a form of thick sauce made from pur?ed and strained vegetables or fruits. A vegetable coulis is commonly used on meat and vegetable dishes, and it can also be used as a base for soups or other sauces....
 (French for "strained") is a similar but broader term, more commonly used for fruit purées. The term is not commonly used for paste-like foods prepared from cereal flours, such as gruel
Gruel

Gruel is a type of preparation consisting of some type of cereal, wheat or rye flour, and also rice, boiled in water or milk. It is similar to porridge, but is more often drunk than eaten....
 or muesli
Muesli

Muesli is a popular breakfast cereal based on uncooked rolled oats, fruit and nuts. It was developed around 1900 by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner for patients in his hospital....
; nor with oily nut pastes, such as peanut butter
Peanut butter

Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground roasted peanuts, with or without added oil. It is popular throughout the world and is also manufactured in some emerging markets....
. The term paste
Paste

Paste may refer to:*Glue, an adhesive, which may be a paste*Paste , a Mexican pastry*Paste , an American music and entertainment magazine*Paste , substances rheologically similar to toothpaste...
 is often used for purées intended to be used as an ingredient, rather than eaten.

Purées can be made in a blender
Blender (device)

A blender, or liquidiser in British English, is a kitchen appliance used to mix ingredients or puree food. The term typically refers to a stationary, upright electrical device, which is to be distinguished from a hand-powered or electric mixer that may be used for similar purposes....
, or with special implements such as a potato masher
Potato masher

A potato masher or bean masher is a food preparation utensil used to crush soft food for such dishes as mashed potatoes, apple sauce, or refried beans....
, or by forcing the food through a strainer, or simply by crushing the food in a pot. Purées generally must be cooked, either before or after grinding, in order to improve flavour and texture, remove toxic substances, and/or reduce their water content.

Common purées

Common purées include:

  • Applesauce
    Applesauce

    Apple sauce is a pur?e made from apples. It can use peeled or unpeeled apples and a variety of spices or additives such as cinnamon or sugar....
    .
  • Bisque
    Bisque (food)

    Bisque is a thick, creamy, highly-seasoned soup of France origin, classically of puree crustaceans. It can be made from lobster, crab, shrimp or crayfish....
     (shellfish
    Shellfish

    Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton bearing aquatic invertebrate used as food, including various species of Molluscas, crustaceans, and echinoderms....
    ).
  • Champ
    Champ (food)

    Champ is an Irish cuisine, made by combining mashed potatoes and chopped scallion with butter and milk, and optionally, salt and pepper. It is simple and inexpensive to produce....
    .
  • Ful medames
    Ful Medames

    Ful medames also Foul Mudammas is one of the national dishes of Egypt, often eaten at breakfast. It consists of brown fava beans, partially or completely mashed, which are slow-cooked and served with olive oil, chopped parsley, onion, garlic, and lemon juice....
     (fava beans).
  • Hummus
    Hummus

    Hummus is a Levantine cuisine dip or spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic....
     (chickpea
    Chickpea

    The chickpea is an edible legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Chickpeas are high in protein and one of the earliest cultivated vegetables....
    ).
  • Legume
    Legume

    A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae , or a fruit of these specific plants. A legume fruit is a Fruit#Simple fruit that develops from a simple carpel and usually Dehiscence on two sides....
     soups such as Pea soup
    Pea soup

    Pea soup is soup made, typically, from dried peas. It is, with variations, a part of the cuisine of many cultures. It is greyish-green or yellow in color depending on the regional variety of peas used; all are cultivars of Pea....
    , bean
    Bean

    Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genus of the Family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed.The whole young pods of bean plants, if picked before the pods ripen and dry, can be tender enough to eat whole, whether cooked or raw....
     soup, lentil soup
    Lentil soup

    Lentil soup is a soup of lentils, served hot. It is popular all over the Middle East. Usually it is vegetarian, but can also be made with meat stock....
    .
  • Purée Mongole
    Purée Mongole

    Pur?e Mongole, also called Cream Mongole, is a creamed split pea-tomato soup of unknown origin that dates back to the at least the late 1800's....
     (a mixed pea
    Pea soup

    Pea soup is soup made, typically, from dried peas. It is, with variations, a part of the cuisine of many cultures. It is greyish-green or yellow in color depending on the regional variety of peas used; all are cultivars of Pea....
     and tomato
    Tomato soup

    Tomato soup is a soup made from tomatoes. It is commonly used as an ingredient in more complex dishes, and, unlike most savory soups, it may be served either hot or cold....
     soup).
  • Mashed potatoes
  • Tomato purée
    Tomato purée

    The definitions of tomato pur?e vary between regions. In the USA Tomato pur?e is a processed food product, usually consisting of only tomato, but can also be found in pre-seasoned form....
     (see also Tomato paste
    Tomato paste

    Tomato paste is a thick paste made from ripened tomatoes with skin and seeds removed. Originally it was an artisan product that is still made the traditional way in parts of Sicily, Southern Italy and Malta....
    ).
  • Pimento
    Pimento

    The pimento, pimiento, or cherry pepper is a variety of large, red, heart-shaped chili pepper that measures 7 to 10 cm long and 5 to 7 cm wide ....
     (Spanish Olives)
  • Mango
    Mango

    Mangoes belong to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous species of tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae....
These vegetables are also often served as purées:

  • Arracacha
    Arracacha

    The arracacha is a garden root vegetable originally from the Andes, somewhat intermediate between the carrot and celery. Its starchy taproot is a popular food item in South America, especially in Brazil where it is a major commercial crop....
  • Cassava
    Cassava

    The cassava, cassadaIn page 25, Darwin says "Mandioca or cassada is likewise cultivated in great quantity."See it also in ,yuca, 'manioc, 'mogo...
  • Pumpkin
    Pumpkin

    Pumpkin is a gourd-like Squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It is a common name of or can refer to cultivars of any one of the following species: Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata....
  • Rutabaga
    Rutabaga

    The rutabaga, swede , or yellow turnip is a root vegetable that originated as a cross between the cabbage and the turnip. Its leaves can also be eaten as a leaf vegetable....
  • Squash
    Squash (fruit)

    Squashes generally refer to four species of the genus Cucurbita native to Mexico and Central America, also called marrows depending on variety or the nationality of the speaker....
    , Buttersquash, etc..


See also

  • Gruel
    Gruel

    Gruel is a type of preparation consisting of some type of cereal, wheat or rye flour, and also rice, boiled in water or milk. It is similar to porridge, but is more often drunk than eaten....
  • Mash
    Mash

    Mash may mean:* Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, a United States Army medical unit serving in a combat area of operations** M*A*S*H, a media franchise based on a U.S. Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War:...
  • Muesli
    Muesli

    Muesli is a popular breakfast cereal based on uncooked rolled oats, fruit and nuts. It was developed around 1900 by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner for patients in his hospital....
  • Polenta
    Polenta

    Polenta is a dish made from boiled cornmeal. Although the word is borrowed into English language from Italian language, the dish is popular in Italian cuisine, Slovenian cuisine, Savoyard, Swiss cuisine, Austrian cuisine, Portuguese cuisine, Bosnian cuisine, Croatian cuisine , Cuban cuisine, American cuisine, Hungarian cuisine , Serbian cui...
  • Pesto
    Pesto

    Pesto is a sauce originating in Genoa in the Liguria region of northern Italy . The name is the contracted past participle of pest? , in reference to the sauce's crushed herbs and garlic....
  • Red bean paste
    Red bean paste

    Red bean paste or Azuki bean paste is a sweet, dark red bean paste originating from China. It is used in Chinese cuisine, wagashi, and Korean cuisine....
  • Peanut butter
    Peanut butter

    Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground roasted peanuts, with or without added oil. It is popular throughout the world and is also manufactured in some emerging markets....
  • Potato masher
    Potato masher

    A potato masher or bean masher is a food preparation utensil used to crush soft food for such dishes as mashed potatoes, apple sauce, or refried beans....