Plain-language terms used across the guide library.
- Aquaculture
- The farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, shellfish or seaweed.
- Bivalve
- A mollusc with two hinged shells, including clams, mussels, oysters and many scallops.
- Brine
- A salt-and-water mixture sometimes used for seasoning or processing. A recipe’s exact concentration and time can matter.
- Carryover cooking
- Continued internal heating after food leaves the heat source.
- Cephalopod
- A mollusc group that includes squid, octopus and cuttlefish.
- Cold chain
- Continuous temperature control from harvest or processing through transport, retail and home storage.
- Cold smoking
- Smoking at temperatures that may not cook the seafood. It requires specialized controls and is not treated as a simple home method here.
- Crustacean
- An aquatic animal such as shrimp, crab, lobster, prawn or crayfish.
- Curing
- Using salt, sugar, acid or other controls to change food. Curing does not automatically make seafood safe or shelf-stable.
- Depuration
- A controlled commercial process intended to reduce certain microbial contamination in live bivalve shellfish.
- Fillet
- A lengthwise cut of fish removed from the skeleton.
- Fish steak
- A cross-cut portion that may include bone and skin.
- Glaze
- A protective layer of ice on frozen seafood, or a finishing coating applied during cooking.
- Hot smoking
- Smoking that also cooks the seafood when a tested process and safe temperature are used.
- Marine biotoxin
- A toxin produced by certain marine organisms that can accumulate in shellfish; cooking may not destroy it.
- Mollusc
- A broad animal group including bivalves, squid, octopus and snails.
- Poaching
- Cooking gently in liquid below a hard boil.
- Previously frozen
- A product that was frozen and later thawed for sale.
- Reduced-oxygen packaging
- Packaging such as vacuum packs that limits oxygen and may carry specific thawing or storage instructions.
- Shellfish tag
- Traceability information associated with commercially sold bivalve shellfish.
- Shucked
- Removed from the shell.
- Stock
- A flavourful liquid made by gently extracting suitable bones, shells or other ingredients, then straining and cooling safely.
- Traceability
- Information that helps identify a seafood product and its source or supply-chain history.
- Two-zone grilling
- A grill setup with a hotter direct area and a cooler indirect area.