In message >, Michael
Siemon > writes
>In article >,
> Michael Siemon > wrote:
>
>...
>
>> In other words, a distinction -- which native English speakers may or
>> may not [I suggest that most do not] observe -- based on size of the
>> item baked/roasted.
>>
>> Which is to say, no difference as far as the original question goes.
>
>This not to say that English as she is spoke doesn't have subtleties --
>meats and (some) vegetables are "roasted", while flour- or custard-
>based confection are "baked" as a general rule. Different folks will
>have different comfort levels in describing the cooking of a cake or
>a bunch of poultry parts as "baked", and sometimes there will be a
>(localized) semantic distinction between roasting and baking the
>"same" items (e.g., baking may to some folks, in some contexts,
>imply covered while roasting implies uncovered) -- but all of this
>is a matter of [extremely variable] language usage, with very little
>in the way of [reliable] implications for cooking technique!
>
>Simple test question: do you make a distinction between "baked
>potato" and "roasted potato" -- and if so, what is the distinction?

I call the first one a 'jacket potato' and the second 'roast potato'.

>So that you may see where _I'm_ coming from, to me the difference
>here is that "roasted potato" tends to imply cooking along with a
>meat/poultry "roast", while "baked potato" is essentially the same
>thing, but cooked by itself. On the other hand, I always "roast"
>asparagus, never "bake" it -- though if someone asked me to make
>"baked asparagus" I would do exactly what I normally do in roasting
>it.

Jacket potatoes are *not* the same as roast potatoes. Jacket potatoes
are baked whole in their skins. Roast potatoes are cut up, usually
quartered, then parboiled, scraped with a fork, then roasted in hot fat
in the oven.

--
Céline

'The Director of Operational Requirements wrote "... it is clear that no
modification will make this bomb entirely satisfactory." Unfortunately,
by then some 660,000 bombs had been manufactured.'
- Bombs gone: the development and use of British air-dropped weapons
from 1912 to the present day by Wing Commander John A MacBean and Major
Arthur S Hogben