Purée
Encyclopedia
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s or legumes, that have been ground, pressed, blended
Blender
A blender is a kitchen appliance for chopping or liquefying food.Blender may also refer to:Media:* Blender , a music-themed magazine* Blender , a free and open-source software program for 3D modeling, animation, and rendering...
, and/or sieve
Sieve
A sieve, or sifter, separates wanted elements from unwanted material using a woven screen such as a mesh or net. However, in cooking, especially with flour, a sifter is used to aerate the substance, among other things. A strainer is a type of sieve typically used to separate a solid from a liquid...
d to the consistency of a soft creamy 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 as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
origin, where it meant in Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
(13th century): purified or refined.
Purées overlap with other dishes with similar consistency, such as thick soup
Soup
Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...
s, cream
Creaming (food)
Creaming is used to refer to several different culinary processes.- In baking :Creaming, in baking, is the technique of blending ingredients — usually granulated sugar — together with a solid fat like shortening or butter. The technique is most often used in making buttercream, cake...
s (crèmes) and gravies
Gravy
Gravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. In North America the term can refer to a wider variety of sauces and gravy is often thicker than in Britain...
—although these terms often imply more complex recipes and cooking processes. Coulis
Coulis
A coulis is a form of thick sauce made from puréed 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. Fruit coulis are most often used on desserts...
(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 food preparation consisting of some type of cereal—oat, wheat or rye flour, or rice—boiled in water or milk. It is a thinner version of porridge that may be more often drunk than eaten and need not even be cooked...
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 dry roasted peanuts, popular in North America, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and parts of Asia, particularly the Philippines and Indonesia. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, sometimes in combination as in the peanut butter and jelly...
. The term "paste" is often used for purées intended to be used as an ingredient, rather than eaten.
Purées can be made in a blender, 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.-Construction:...
, 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.
It is common to purée entire meals (without use of salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
or other additives) to be served to toddler
Toddler
A toddler is a young child, usually defined as being between the ages of one and three. Registered nurse, midwife and author, Robin Barker, states 'Any time from eight months onwards your baby will begin to realise he is a separate person from you...
s and babies as sufficient, nutritious meals.
Common purées
Common purées include: apples, plums, and other fruits smashed or mashed for their juice content- Baba ghanoushBaba ghanoushBaba ghanoush, baba ganush, baba ghannouj or baba ghannoug is a Levantine dish of aubergine mashed and mixed with virgin olive oil and various seasonings. A popular preparation method is for the eggplant to be baked or broiled over an open flame before peeling, so that the pulp is soft and has a...
(eggplant) - BisqueBisque (food)Bisque is a smooth, creamy, highly-seasoned soup of French origin, classically based on a strained broth of crustaceans. It can be made from lobster, crab, shrimp or crayfish...
(shellfishShellfishShellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
) - ChampChamp (food)Champ is an Irish dish, made by combining mashed potatoes and chopped spring onions with butter and milk, and optionally, salt and pepper. It is simple and inexpensive to produce...
- Ful medamesFul MedamesFūl medammis , or simply fūl, is an Egyptian dish of cooked and mashed fava beans served with olive oil, chopped parsley, onion, garlic, and lemon juice. A staple meal in Egypt, it is popular in the cuisines of the Levant, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Saudi Arabia.-History:The roots of fūl...
(fava beans) - HummusHummusHummus is high in iron and vitamin C and also has significant amounts of folate and vitamin B6. The chickpeas make it a good source of protein and dietary fiber; the tahini consists mostly of sesame seeds, which are an excellent source of the amino acid methionine, complementing the proteins in the...
(chickpeaChickpeaThe chickpea is a legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae...
) - Legume soups such as Pea soupPea soupPea soup or split 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 Pisum sativum.Pea soup has been eaten since antiquity; it...
, beanBeanBean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed....
soup, lentil soupLentil soupLentil soup, which is usually served hot, may be vegetarian, but can also be made with meat stock or pieces of meat. Red or green lentils may be used. Other ingredients may include vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, celery, parsley, and onion. Common added flavorings include garlic, cumin,... - Purée MongolePurée MongolePurée Mongole, also called Cream Mongole, is a creamed split pea-tomato soup of unknown origin that dates back to the at least the late 19th century. Popular during the period between the 1920s–1940s, it is similar to boula....
(a mixed peaPea soupPea soup or split 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 Pisum sativum.Pea soup has been eaten since antiquity; it...
and tomatoTomato soupTomato soup is a soup made from tomatoes. It may be served hot or cold, and can be made in many styles. It may be smooth in texture, but there are recipes which include chunks of tomato, cream and/or chicken stock. Popular toppings for tomato soup include sour cream, and croutons. Tomato soup is...
soup) - PimentoPimentoA pimento or cherry pepper is a variety of large, red, heart-shaped chili pepper that measures 3 to 4 inches long and 2 to 3 inches wide . The flesh of the pimento is sweet, succulent and more aromatic than that of the red bell pepper...
(oliveOliveThe olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
s)
These fruits and vegetables are also often served as purées:
- PotatoPotatoThe potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
- AppleAppleThe apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
- TomatoTomatoThe word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
- ArracachaArracachaThe arracacha is a garden root vegetable originally from the Andes, somewhat intermediate between the carrot and celery...
- Sweet corn
- CassavaCassavaCassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
- PumpkinPumpkinA pumpkin is a gourd-like squash of the genus Cucurbita and the family Cucurbitaceae . It commonly refers to cultivars of any one of the species Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita mixta, Cucurbita maxima, and Cucurbita moschata, and is native to North America...
- RutabagaRutabagaThe rutabaga, swede , turnip or yellow turnip is a root vegetable that originated as a cross between the cabbage and the turnip; see Triangle of U...
- PeaPeaA pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the pod fruit Pisum sativum. Each pod contains several peas. Peapods are botanically a fruit, since they contain seeds developed from the ovary of a flower. However, peas are considered to be a vegetable in cooking...
- SquashSquash (fruit)Squashes generally refer to four species of the genus Cucurbita, also called marrows depending on variety or the nationality of the speaker...
, buttersquash, etc.
See also
- GruelGruelGruel is a food preparation consisting of some type of cereal—oat, wheat or rye flour, or rice—boiled in water or milk. It is a thinner version of porridge that may be more often drunk than eaten and need not even be cooked...
- GuacamoleGuacamoleGuacamole , is an avocado-based dip that originated in Mexico. It is traditionally made by mashing ripe avocados with a molcajete with sea salt. Some recipes call for limited tomato, spicy Asian spices such as white onion, lime juice, and/or additional seasonings.-History:Guacamole was made by...
- MashingMashingIn brewing and distilling, mashing is the process of combining a mix of milled grain , known as the "grain bill", and water, known as "liquor", and heating this mixture...
- MuesliMuesliMuesli 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...
- PolentaPolentaPolenta is a dish made from boiled cornmeal. The word "polenta" is borrowed from Italian.-Description:Polenta is made with ground yellow or white cornmeal , which can be ground coarsely or finely depending on the region and the texture desired.As it is known today, polenta derives from earlier...
- PestoPestoPesto is a sauce originating in Genoa in the Liguria region of northern Italy , and traditionally consists of crushed garlic, basil and pine nuts blended with olive oil and Parmigiano Reggiano and Fiore Sardo...
- Red bean pasteRed bean pasteRed bean paste or Azuki bean paste is a sweet, dark red bean paste originating from China. It is used in Chinese cuisine, Japanese confectionery, and Korean cuisine. It is prepared by boiling and mashing azuki beans and then sweetening the paste with sugar or honey...
- Peanut butterPeanut butterPeanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground dry roasted peanuts, popular in North America, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and parts of Asia, particularly the Philippines and Indonesia. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, sometimes in combination as in the peanut butter and jelly...
- Potato masherPotato masherA 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.-Construction:...