A French cooking technique where a sauce is poured over cooled cooked meat or fish and allowed to set into a glossy coating.
From French 'chaud' (hot) and 'froid' (cold), referring to the dish being coated with hot sauce that cools to create a glaze. This culinary term emerged in 18th-century French cuisine and describes the contrast between the hot sauce application and the cold finished dish.
The name perfectly captures the culinary magic trick: you apply hot sauce to cold food, and it becomes a shiny, elegant coating. This technique was especially popular in fancy Victorian-era dining, where presentation was almost as important as taste.
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