cuit

IPA/kjˈuːɪt/
IPA/kjˈuːɪt/

cuit — noun

1. a thick, sweet syrup produced by boiling freshly pressed grape juice until most

1.noun
Definition

a thick, sweet syrup produced by boiling freshly pressed grape juice until most of the water has evaporated, used as a sweetener or topping in cooking and baking.

Example

Bao used a spoonful of cuit to sweeten his morning yogurt instead of sugar.

countable: a spoonful of cuit

Cuit is made by simmering fresh grape juice until it turns thick and dark.

passive: made by simmering [ingredient] for [time]

Common collocations
  • a jar of cuit
  • a spoonful of cuit
  • make cuit
  • use cuit
  • bottled cuit
  • traditional cuit
Synonyms
  • grape syrup

    broader term; grape syrup can be made from grape juice concentrate, not necessarily by boiling down must

  • vin cuit

    the original French name for the same product

Grammar Patterns

[uncountable] used as uncountable noun; [countable] refers to a type or brand

Usage Note

A specialist French culinary term, not used in everyday conversation. Cuit is different from ordinary grape syrup because it uses unfermented grape must rather than fully fermented wine.

Common Mistakes

I bought a cuit at the store.
I bought a jar of cuit at the store.
Cuit is treated as a mass noun; use 'a jar of' or 'a bottle of' to refer to a single container.

Word family

  • cuire
    verb
  • cuitard
    noun

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All three refer to sweet syrups made from grapes, but they differ in production method and tradition. Cuit specifically describes the French culinary product made by boiling unfermented grape must — the freshly pressed juice that has not yet become wine. Grape syrup is a broader term that can describe any concentrated sweetener made from grape juice, whether boiled or reduced by other methods, and it does not require the use of unfermented must. Vin cuit is simply the original French term for the same product; in English cookbooks, 'cuit' and 'vin cuit' are used interchangeably, though 'vin cuit' makes the French origin explicit. For example, a recipe might call for 'cuit drizzled over roasted pears' or 'vin cuit stirred into a cake batter'; using plain 'grape syrup' in either sentence would be technically acceptable but would lose the specific French culinary identity.

cuit ↗grape syrupvin cuit

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • a jar of cuit
  • a spoonful of cuit
  • made with cuit

Prepositions

  • of cuit
  • with cuit

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Borrowed directly from French 'cuit', the past participle of 'cuire' meaning 'to cook' or 'to bake'. The French word itself comes from Latin 'coctus', the past participle of 'coquere' ('to cook'). In English, it has been used since the 1800s as a culinary term referring to the boiled-down grape must traditional in southern France.