Vocab Lesson #1

Inspired by Auntie Fashion's Expand Your Fashion Vocabularly, I've decided to introduce a regular (weekly? daily? only time will tell) cooking glossary. This week (or day, or month, or whatever): Emulsion

Emulsion

[ih-MUHL-shuhn]
A mixture of one liquid with another with which it cannot normally combine smoothly — ie. oil and water. Emulsification is achieved by slowly (one drop at a time) adding one ingredient to the other while mixing rapidly.  This disperses and suspends minute droplets of one liquid throughout the other, producing a thick and satiny result. Examples: mayonnaise, hollandaise sauce.

Image courtesy of ehow.com