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Welcome to the Schwartz glossary, an A to Z guide to cookery terms. Whether it's herbs and spices, names of dishes or cooking techniques, you'll find them here, along with suggested recipes and links to more information.

• Dark Brown Soft Sugar
  • A dark brown sugar with a strong flavour and colour, made by adding high quantities of molasses to refined white sugar. Great for baking rich fruit cakes and puddings. Readily available in supermarkets.
• Deglaze
  • Adding liquid, usually stock, water or wine, to a hot pan and stirring with a wooden spoon whilst boiling, to loosen and liquefy fat, sediment and browned juices from the bottom of a pan.
• Demerara Sugar
  • Named after the Demerara colony of Guyana, on the northern coast of South America. It is a pale golden sugar that has been partially refined and still contains a small amount of molasses, which gives it its colour. It is quite coarse in texture and adds a lovely texture to biscuits and desserts. Readily available in supermarkets. If you can’t find it, try light brown soft sugar. (See Light Brown Soft Sugar)
• Desiccated Coconut
  • Dried, unsweetened coconut flesh that has been shredded. Ideal for using in home-baking for cakes, biscuits and sweets, but also great for adding to savoury dishes such as rice and curries. Readily available in supermarkets.
• Dried Shrimp Paste
  • Made from fermented ground shrimp that has been dried and then cut into blocks. Typically used in South-east Asian cuisine. The strong smell can be off-putting to some, but it is an essential ingredient in some curries and sauces. It is not designed to be eaten raw, but added to dishes and cooked through. Available in Asian stores and some large supermarkets.