acid

acid [as-id] noun, adjective

Acid, or acidic ingredients, plays an important role in cooking and baking. In baking, acidic ingredients such as buttermilk will often be countered with the addition of an alkali, such as baking soda, to modify the acidic qualities. Sometimes an acidic ingredient is added to a recipe to add bright and sharp flavor, when we might squeeze lime over sweet honeydew melon, for example.