I feel like everyone waits all year to have birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, weddings and soirees so that every spring they can make my calendar explode. Oh, and to remind me how much I desperately hate writing “happy-something”cards. Blech.

Take a break from wedding registry shopping, it’s Nerd Word time.

macerate /ˈmasəˌrāt /

verb

(food) to soften or become softened by soaking in a liquid.

Macerating is very similar to marinating, though maceration usually applies to fruit. Dried or fresh fruit can be tossed and allowed to set in a flavored liquid for several hours, or in some cases - overnight. The fruit absorbs the liquidus seasoning and becomes moistened and flavorful. This process is helpful when trying to reconstitute or “plump” dried fruit.

Maceration gives a cook the power to, in a way, engineer their own hybrid of fruit. It feels cool making your own breed of “not your average strawberries.”

Happy Wednesday!

Sincerely,

Pedantic Foodie