As cooks gain more experience, they learn new techniques and terms. I’ve been cooking for decades and understand both of them pretty well. But if you are still a stranger in the kitchen, you may not be familiar with techniques or terms, especially similar ones like marinating and marinating.

So what is the difference? When you marinate food, you dip it into a liquid mixture to flavor and soften it. Teriyaki marinade is a good example. You can buy this marinade, a combination of soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, cooking oil, and ginger, but I don’t think it’s as good as homemade. In a word, the homemade flavors are fresher.

According to the Epicurious website, the word marinade means “to soak foods such as meat, fish, or vegetables in a liquid seasoned mixture.” The marinade adds flavor to meat, fish, poultry, and vegetables. The website cautions against marinating food in an aluminum container. To avoid a chemical reaction between acid and aluminum, you should always marinate food in a glass, ceramic, or stainless steel dish.

In her book, “A Matter of Taste,” Sylvia Windle Humphrey refers to marinades as “beauty baths that touch up cheap cuts of meat and leftovers.” What a description! According to Hunphrey, marinades work just as well with expensive cuts of meat as they do with cheaper ones. She says the process originated with deep-sea ships marinating fish in brine to preserve it.

Macerating refers to the same process, soaking foods in spiced liquid to infuse them with flavor, but the term is applied to fruit. The Epicurious website says that “a brandy such as brandy, rum or liqueur is usually in the steeping liquid.” This current black tea macerated strawberry and blueberry recipe is easy and insanely delicious. You can add raspberries if you want.

Ingredients

1/3 cup of boiling water

1 black currant tea bag

1/2 cup of strawberry jam reduced in sugar (you can substitute for raspberry)

1 tablespoon of honey

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup quartered strawberries

1 cup of blueberries

Method

Boil the water in the microwave. Add the tea bag and steep for 4-5 minutes. Add the strawberry jam, honey, and vanilla extract, stirring until smooth. Gently fold the strawberries and blueberries into the sauce and marinate for an hour. Serve in stemmed glasses and top with sweetened whipped cream or pour over vanilla ice cream. If you’re feeling adventurous, spoon the fruit and syrup over hot waffles. Makes four servings.