Piquant
Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈpiË.kÉ™nt/, /ˈpiË.ËŒkÉ‘Ënt/, /piË.ˈkÉ‘Ënt/
Origin
Middle French piquant ("pricking, stimulating, irritating"), from Old French piquer ("to prick, sting, nettle"). Related to pike.
Full definition of piquant
Adjective
piquant
- Engaging; charming.
- Favorably stimulating to the palate; pleasantly spicy; stimulating.
- 2000, Lynn Bedford Hall, Best of Cooking in South Africa (page 2000)These chops are baked in a piquant sauce containing fruit, honey, cinnamon, lemon and port, all of which reduces to a spicy syrup.
- 2005, Clifford A. Wright, Some like it hot: spicy favorites from the world's hot zonesElsewhere in South America, excepting Bahia in Brazil, one does not encounter piquant cuisine, although one may stumble on a piquant dish now and then...
- 2009, Sara Engra, Katie Luber, Kimberly Toqe, The Spice Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices (page 9)French charcuterie relies on cloves in the quatre épices, or four-spice powder, for seasoning fine sausages and piquant marinades.
- (archaic) Causing hurt feelings; scathing.