Glaze
A glaze is a coating applied to food that forms a glossy surface, often during cooking. It may be sweet, savory, or made from pan juices.
Reduction (cooking): A cooking technique that thickens a liquid by simmering away some of its water. Reducing a sauce concentrates sugars and other solids, helping it coat food and shine.
Glazing (cooking technique): A cooking technique that coats food with a shiny, often flavorful layer. This is the direct technique for applying and setting a glaze on food.
Sugar: A class of sweet-tasting, water-soluble carbohydrates, including sucrose and glucose. Sugar supplies sweetness and can thicken or brown many food glazes.
Sauce: A liquid or semiliquid accompaniment added to food for flavor, moisture, or texture. A glaze is typically thicker and applied as a surface coating rather than served separately.
Caramelization: The browning and flavor development that occur when sugars are heated. Heat can caramelize sugars in a glaze, deepening its color and flavor.
Duck à l'orange: A French dish of roast duck served with a sauce made with orange and often caramelized sugar. Its sweet citrus sauce can be reduced and brushed onto duck as a glaze.
Syrup: A thick, sweet liquid made by dissolving sugar in water or another liquid. Syrups provide a ready-made base for brushing fruit, pastries, and meats.
Basting: The repeated application of liquid to food during cooking to add flavor or limit surface drying. Basting adds liquid during cooking, while glazing aims to leave a finished coating.
Maillard reaction: A set of reactions between amino acids and reducing sugars that produces browned foods and complex aromas. Protein-rich glazes brown through these reactions as they cook on food.
Honey-glazed ham: A ham coated with a sweet mixture, commonly including honey or sugar, and browned during cooking. The sticky coating exemplifies a sweet glaze that sets on roasted meat.