marinade

Everyday

1. A mixture of liquids like oil, vinegar, lemon juice, soy sauce, herbs and spices, in which food (meat, fish, tofu, vegetables) is soaked before cooking to add flavour or make it softer. tree →
2. (verb, mostly UK) To soak food in such a mixture; also called «marinate». tree →

In the lessons

In cooking and food lessons, you make a marinade and leave chicken or vegetables in it for a while, in the fridge, before grilling or baking. The acid (lemon, vinegar, yogurt) can soften meat a little. Safety: keep raw meat marinade in the fridge and do not use it as a sauce unless it is boiled. Phrases: «leave in the marinade», «marinade overnight».

Examples

• We made a marinade of lemon, garlic and olive oil. tree →
• Leave the chicken in the marinade for two hours. tree →
• The tofu soaked up the soy sauce marinade. tree →
• Dad's barbecue marinade has honey in it. tree →
• Keep meat in the marinade in the fridge, not on the table. tree →
• Throw away marinade that had raw meat in it, unless you boil it first. tree →
• The fish was marinaded in lime juice. tree →
• A yogurt marinade makes chicken soft and tasty. tree →

Note

The noun is «marinade»; the verb is usually «marinate» (marinate, marinated), though «marinade» as a verb is common in the UK. Countable: two marinades. Myth: marinades do not go deep into meat; most flavour stays near the surface. Not a maths word, but recipes use ratios (e.g. 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar).