Eat Your Words. Paul Convery

older popular term for salted pork

      galotyri * an ancient, naturally fermented “milk cheese” from mainland Greece

      gammelost * a smelly Norwegian “old cheese” made from skimmed cow’s milk

      gammon * the lower portion of a bacon flitch, hind leg included; ham more generally

      geoduck * neither duck nor terrestrial animal—rather, a large edible saltwater clam

      ghee * Indian clarified butter, a core item in the authentic cuisine of the Subcontinent

      giblets * edible fowl offal, including the gullet and guts as well as the major organs

      gigot * a leg of mutton or lamb for cooking

      gizzards * the stomach parts, notably the gastric mill, of a bird used as food

      glair * egg white; “gleyres of ayrenn” is the term found in medieval cookery books

      goldenrod * a full-bodied honey made from the nectar of the solidago plant genus

      Gorgonzola * a blue-veined Italian cheese, one of the oldest of its type in the world

      gosling * the flesh of a tender young goose cooked and served as food

      goujons * strips of processed fish or chicken

      graviera * a common Greek cheese, second in domestic popularity only to feta

      gravlax * Scandinavian cured salmon, typically served sliced as an appetizer

      griskin * a lean cut or portion of pork loin

      grunion * a small fish species found in Californian waters, best grilled like sardines

      gubbins * edible fish scraps or offal

      gurnard * an edible fish option; until recently, used more often as bait than table fare

      haddock * the flesh of the eponymous, commercially-important, northern food fish

      haggis * a Scots savoury meat product made from the pluck and purtenance of sheep

      haimation * an antique culinary sauce prepared from animal blood

      hákarl * Icelandic fermented shark meat; as pungent to taste as it is putrid to smell

      halibut * “holy fish,” formerly any flatfish partaken on Christian feast days

      halloumi * a traditional firm white Cypriot cheese, useful for frying or grilling

      hartshorn * gourmet deer antler shavings

      haslet * a meatloaf of cooked hog testicles or entrails, traditionally wrapped in caul

      hastelings * the major organs—heart, liver and lungs—of a pig, as used for roasting

      Havarti * a porous semisoft Danish table cheese

      headcheese * a somewhat euphemistically named jellied meat product

      hindsaddle * a wholesale cut of mutton or lamb, including loin, leg, and rump

      hogget * the flesh of a juvenile sheep used for food

      honeycomb * tripe from the second stomach of a ruminant, such as a cow

      honey-rore * honeydew or nectar; a sweet substance secreted by aphids, inter alia, of both medicinal and mythological repute as a wholesome source of nutrition

      hough * a widespread dialectal variant of hock, being a knuckle of ham or pork

      hypenemy * a “wind-egg,” one in some way addled or rotten

      ikary * caviar; unfertilized fish eggs salted and prepared as a luxury food item

      inchpin * select deer organ meats or “sweetbreads”

      ireness-bag * curdled milk from the stomach of a calf, used in cheesemaking

      isinglass * a form of gelatin obtained from fish bladders, used to make fruit jellies

      jabugo * the signature ham of Huelva, and best-known variety of jamón ibérico

      jambonneau * a deboned chicken leg filled with forcemeat to resemble a mini ham

      Jarlsberg * a hard, yellow Norwegian cheese of global market reach and renown

      jerky * jerked meat; typically lean beef cut into strips and cured in the hot open air

      jibbings * the last strainings of Scottish milk

      John Dory * a widely distributed and popular white-fleshed table fish

      kabanos * Polish smoked pork sausage

      kasseri * a rather rubbery Greek-Turkish cheese, though ideal for melting

      katsuobushi * blocks or flakes of Japanese tunny, dried, fermented, and smoked

      kebbuck * a Scottish cheese wheel

      keema * Indian minced meat

      kefalotyri * a salty, white Greek-Cypriot cheese, especially suited for grating

      keftedes * Greek-style meatballs

      khorovats * Armenian barbecued meat, or shish kebabs; a national dish

      kielbasa * Polish ground pork sausage

      kippers * smoked herrings

      klipfish * a codfish, split, salted, and sun-dried

      knackwurst * a highly seasoned, shorter, and plumper version of the frankfurter

      köttbullar * Swedish-style meatballs

      krautfurter * a frankfurter dressed or drilled with sauerkraut

      kumminost * Swedish “cumin cheese”

      labneh * a Middle Eastern soft cream cheese made from strained yoghurt

      lachsschinken * smoked and rolled double pork loin; a German butchery product

      lactoline * an early, though now long vanished, evaporated milk product

      ladotyri * a Lesbos cheese preserved in extra-virgin olive oil, made since antiquity

      laitance * a culinary term for soft roe, ripe fish sperm or testes served as a delicacy

      langoustines * Dublin Bay prawns, prepared and cooked as an item on a menu

      lardoon * a sliver of bacon inserted into another meat in the process of larding

      lavignon * an edible French mollusc

      leghorn * a Mediterranean chicken renowned for its egg production capacity

      lights * the lungs of game or livestock animals used as food

      Limburger * a surface-ripened Belgian cheese, notorious for its pungent odour

      Liptauer * a spread of Hungarian soft cheese seasoned with paprika

      littleneck * a young quahog clam, quite edible raw

      Livarot * an appellation-controlled ripened soft cheese from Normandy

      livermush * a coarse pâté of pig liver and head parts from North Carolina

      lomo * Spanish beef tenderloin

      longhorn * a Texas beef cattle breed; alternatively, a variety of American cheddar

      loukaniko * Greek pork sausage

      lox * Jewish smoked salmon

      luderick * a herbivorous Australian food fish, also known as the black bream

      lutefisk * Nordic dried whitefish softened in lye prior to boiling and serving

      mahi-mahi * the flesh of the common dolphinfish; loosely, dolphin meat

      mako * the flesh of the shortfin mackerel shark; loosely, shark meat

      mananosay * an edible soft-shelled clam

      manchego * cheese of La Mancha

      manuka