Braise

Acorrding to Howard Yoon at NPR and his scientific sources, the act of braising food, particularly meat and poultry, dates back over 300,000 years. The word (braise, v.), however, comes from the French verb braiser (Oxford English Dictionary). The French word itself is only recorded from the late 18th century onward, not so long before the first restaurant, and certainly before it, but as a part of the growing food culture in France which spread to England and beyond. It is derived from an earlier word: the French braise, a noun meaning 'ember or hot coal.' This is because originally, when there were no ovens, the top of a closed pot was covered with coals to provide top-side heat.

The common Modern spelling in English was also born in the 18th century, and has been spelled with the present braise and past braised since then, with some exceptions. During the 1700s it was also spelled braize, braze, and brase, but these variations ceased by the end of that century. Clearly, it has always been a weak verb, which means the root doesn't really change in form when other tenses and cases are used - rather, in the Modern form, it takes on -ed (past), -es (third person singular), -ing (present participle or progressive), etc. But it doesn't follow the Modern English trend of strong verbs turning weak, since it was weak to begin with.

As the Oxford English Dictionary explains, though in a more convoluted way, you sear the meat in fat on high heat, then you quickly turn the heat down very, very low, add liquid, herbs, spices, and/or vegetables, and cook it for an hour or two.

---

Oxford English Dictionary. "Braise, v." Oxford English Dictionary, Third Edition. Retrieved October 2025 from: https://www.oed.com/dictionary/braise_v2?tab=meaning_and_use#15321510

Yoon, Howard. "In Praise of Braise." Kitchen Window, National Public Radio Online. Retrieved October 2025 from: https://www.npr.org/2007/01/31/7061089/in-praise-of-braise

*AI image generated by Google Gemini.