| Palmitic acid | (hexadecanoic acid) Palm oil. |
| Pasteurized | A term describing milk that has been heat treated to destroy bacteria. |
| Pastry cream | Crème patissière. Pastry cream is a cooked mixture made with egg yolks, sugar and milk thickened with flour and/or cornstarch and finished with a little vanilla. Butter is often beaten in at the end to give it a silkier consistency. It is used as a filling or as the creamy layer in a fruit tart. |
| Pastry dough | Pie dough or flaky pastry is the standard American dough for pies. It can be made with butter, vegetable shortening or lard, but most often a combination of butter and shortening is used. Whatever fat is used, it is rubbed or cut into the flour and then moistened with water to form the dough. Salt is either dissolved in the water or added to the flour at the start. The more finely the fat is rubbed in, the less flaky and more mealy the baked dough will be. |
| Phospholipid | A type of lipid characterized chemically by glycerol combined with two fatty acids; phosphoric acid, and a nitrogen-containing base, for example, lecithin |
| Phosphoric acid | An antioxidant used to decrease oxidative rancidity of fat or oil. Inhibits metal-catalyzed oxidation and production of dark colors; metal chelating agent |
| Phyllo dough | Phyllo is a tissue-thin pastry dough cut into sheets that is used in Middle Eastern desserts, such as baklava, and is similar to strudel dough. Sheets of phyllo are brushed with melted butter and layered before baking. Phyllo is increasingly available in the freezer section of supermarkets. |
| Plasticity | The ability to be molded or shaped; in plastic fats, both solid crystals and liquid oil are present |
| Polymorphism | A process used with fats and oils which may form different crystal types [with the same chemical/molecular structure] depending upon the cooling conditions. |
| Polyunsaturated fatty acid | A fatty acid with two or more double bonds between carbon atoms, for example, linoleic acid with two double bonds |
| Pound cake | This is the ultimate butter cake. It gets its name (and texture) from the traditional proportions of its ingredients -- one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour --although over the years cooks have tinkered with the original formula and baking powder is sometimes added to the batter. |
| Propionic acid | (propanoic acid) Swiss cheese; salts used as mold inhibitors. |
| Puff pastry | This is the multi-layered buttery pastry in napoleons and palmiers. The thin, crisp, flaky layers are formed when the dough and butter are rolled together, then folded in thirds like a letter and rolled again in a process called a turn; classic puff pastry is "turned" six times, which creates over 1,000 layers of dough (thus the French term mille-feuille, which means 1,000 leaves). Well-made puff pastry rises to 5 times its original volume during baking. As it bakes, the water in the dough converts to steam, filling the places previously occupied by the butter, which has already melted and been absorbed by the dough. Preparing the dough from scratch is an exacting process and many people prefer to buy the dough ready made. Quick puff pastry is made by tossing large cubes of butter with flour before the water is added to form the dough. The dough is then rolled and folded like puff pastry. Although it does not rise so high as classic puff dough, the quick pastry has the same delicate, flaky texture and can be used for any desserts where the pastry doesn't have to rise as tall. |
| Quality control | From monitoring raw milk quality, to the cleanliness of the processing plant, care is taken to preserve nature's goodness and produce a safe, flavorful ingredient. The butter industry has rigorous quality assurance systems based on a Total Quality System (TQS) which includes Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP). Employing TQS and HACCP systems emphasizes the prevention of defects, rather than their detection. HACCP addresses three key steps: 1) identification of all potential hazards; 2) assessment of the severity of each hazard to health, safety or spoilage; 3) estimation of the risk that a hazard will occur. HACCP analysis occurs at every step in the butter production system, including raw milk quality, processing, distribution, marketing, preparation and use of butter as a food product. |
| Racreme | Known as creme fraiche in France, racreme in Scandanavia, and in England and America as clabber cream. |
| Rancidity | Development of any off or disagreeable flavors in a fat. The four types of rancidity in fats are: absorption of odors, action of microorganisms, action of enzymes (lipases), atmospheric oxidation. Butter primarily tends to become rancid due to the action of atmospheric oxygen, light, heat, water, metals, enzymes (lipases) and microorganisms. When butter becomes rancid it breaks down into glycerol and fatty acids. Due to its high water content, the size of the water droplets in the water-in-oil emulsion being less than 6 µm, butter is subject to rapid microbiological spoilage at normal temperatures. Since the droplets are isolated one from the other, microbial growth occurs within individual droplets and if these are very small, multiplication cannot even occur. If the droplets are less than 6 µm, the contact area with the fat rises sharply as the size of the droplets increases. These factors still operate at temperatures of -12 °C and the microbes are inactivated only once the temperature falls below this value. Rancid butter becomes yellow to brown and the flavor becomes harsh. |
| Reddles | Individual pats on paperboard cards with greaseproof paper cover. |
| Ripening | An optional process in which cultures are added to ferment the milk sugars to lactic acid and achieve desirable flavor and aroma characteristics for cultured butter. |
| Robert sauce | One of the oldest brown sauces, invented in the 17th century by Frenchman Robert Vinot. Made with butter, flour, onions, wine bullion, seasoning, and French mustard. Used with goose, pork, and venison. |