Flavorings Category

This is made from sorghum cane juice, and Southerners sometimes use it instead of molasses to make things like barbecue sauce, baked beans, and gingerbread. Look for it in health food stores.

To make your own: See the Sour Cherry Syrup recipe on RecipeSource.com.

Soy sauce is made from soybeans that have been fermented and salted. It's used throughout Asian, with different regions producing quite different variations. Japanese soy sauce = shoyu is sweeter and less salty than Chinese soy sauce. Chinese soy sauce comes in light and dark versions. Lite soy sauce has 1/3 less sodium.

See the RecipeSource.com posting Homemade Spaghetti Seasoning Mix

This sweet and heavy brandy is based on sherry.

When first opened, sparkling wine becomes effervescent as bubbles of carbon dioxide gas escape from the liquid. It was first produced by Dom Pérignon in the 17th century, who cried out after sampling it, "Come quickly. I am drinking stars!" Champagne is perhaps the finest example of sparkling wine, and is named for the region in France where it's produced. The brand Dom Pérignon is considered to be the finest champagne. Sparkling wine and champagne are rated by their relative sweetness. The driest is brut, followed by extra dry, sec, and the sweetest of all, demi-sec. Sparkling wines are used to toast special occasions like weddings and the New Year, but they're also served before meals. They're especially nice with caviar.

These are small candies that are sprinkled on cakes and cookies.

This is Italian sparkling wine. Asti spumante is a well-known sparkling wine produced in Asti, Italy.

This is honey that's blended with pieces of the comb so that it spreads more easily. It's more popular in Europe than in America

The seeds of various squashes, like pumpkin and acorn squash, make terrific snacks. To prepare, wash the seeds, then blot them dry, and mix them with salt and butter. Spread the seeds on a baking tray and bake them in a preheated 325° oven for about 15 minutes.

This is a hot sauce used as a condiment by Thais and Vietnamese.

Asian cooks use star anise to give a licorice flavor to savory dishes, particularly those with pork and poultry. It's available whole or ground. Use it sparingly--a little goes a long way.

This is pure dried sugar cane juice. The dark color is due to the retention of molasses.

An artifical sweetner. A popular brand is Splenda.

Varieties: By crystal size: Regular sugar = fine granulated sugar = table sugar = standard granulated sugar = extra-fine granulated sugar is the standard table sugar we're all familiar with. Superfine sugar = ultrafine sugar = bar sugar = instant dissolving sugar = berry sugar = castor sugar = caster sugar dissolves more quickly, and is recommended for sweetening beverages, and for making meringues, cakes, soufflés, and mousses. To make your own, grind standard granulated sugar in a food processor or blender for about a minute. Baker's special has a grain size between standard granulated and superfine. Bakers use it in cakes because the fine granules improve the texture. Sanding sugar has larger granules that sparkle when sprinkled on baked goods and candies. Coarse sugar has a larger grain size than regular granulated sugar. It tends not to change color or break down at high temperatures. It's similar to (and often mistaken for) sanding sugar. By source: Beet sugar is derived from sugar beets, while cane sugar is derived from sugar cane. Both beet and cane sugars are 99.95% sucrose, but many bakers claim that the remaining .05% of trace minerals and proteins makes a difference, and that cane sugar performs better. Some cane sugar is processed using a by-product of animal bones, so some vegetarians prefer beet sugar to cane. Some manufacturers don't specify whether their product is beet sugar or cane sugar.

These are fun to chew on. They're available in the produce section either peeled (left) or unpeeled.

Look for this in Middle Eastern markets. Crushed dried sumac is called somagh.

Summer savory is milder than winter savory.

Sunflower seeds are nutritious snacks. They're often sold in their shells, which you're supposed to crack open in your teeth and spit out after you've eaten the kernel within. Shelled sunflower seeds are also available for the more fastidious, and for cooks who want to add the seeds to breads, salads, casseroles, and trail mixes.

Svanetian salt is a spice blend that includes salt, coriander, garlic, fenugreek, caraway, pepper and chili.

This has a pleasant anise flavor, and is the most commonly used basil in Thailand.

This is widely used throughout the Mediterranean region to make tomato sauces, pesto, and other dishes.

This brown sauce is made from sweetened fermented soybeans. Taiwanese cooks use it as a marinade or a condiment for meats.

This is similar to semi-sweet chocolate, only it has a bit more sugar. It can be used interchangeably with bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate in most recipes. Baker's Chocolate calls its sweet chocolate German chocolate.

This comes as either red vermouth (rosso) or sweet white vermouth (bianco). It's used to make many cocktails, including Manhattans and Negronis. If you're planning to make martinis, you probably want dry vermouth.

This includes: Acesulfame K, Advantame, Aspartame, Saccharin and Sucralose.

This wine is called Syrah in Europe and America, and Shiraz in Australia. It's a dry red wine that's especially good with barbecued meats, sausages, strong cheeses, and spicy foods. Don't confuse Syrah with Petite Syrah.

Szechuan pepper salt is a mixture of Szechuan peppercorns and salt ground together to make a fine powder. See the Chinese Salt Recipe posted on RecipeSource.com.

These aren't true peppercorns, but rather dried flower buds. You're most likely to encounter them as part of a mixture, like the Chinese five-spice powder or the Japanese shichimi togarashi. Toast Szechwan peppercorns briefly in a hot pan before using.

Varieties include iodized salt, which contains the flavorless additive potassium iodide to prevent goiter (an enlargement of the thyroid gland), and non-iodized salt. Some recipes call for non-iodized salt, since iodine can impart a bitter taste and adversely react with certain foods. For example, iodine darkens pickles and inhibits the bacterial fermentation needed to make sauerkraut. Table salt also contains small amounts of calcium silicate, an anti-caking agent, and dextrose, a stabilizer. The anti-caking agent in both iodized and non-iodized salt doesn't dissolve in water, so if you pickle or can with it, it will turn the liquid cloudy or else settle on the bottom of the jar. The preserved food will taste the same, mind you, but it won't look as appealing. This is more of a problem for pickles, which are immersed in lots of liquid, than for other canned goods. To prevent the cloudiness, use pickling salt, which contains no additives.

Table wines are intended to be served with meals, and they're often classified by color: red, white or rosé.

Tajín is a Mexican dried spice mix with salt, chilis and dehydrated lime juice. It is often sprinkled on fruit. Tajín is also the name of the company. Tajín is its most popular product.

Tamari is a type of soy sauce made only from soybeans, no wheat. It is less salty and thicker than traditional soy sauce. It is often gluten free.

See the Tandoori Rub posting on RecipeSource.com

See the recipe for Tapenade posted on About.com.

The French are especially fond of this aromatic, anise-like herb. They often use it to flavor delicately flavored foods like eggs, fish, cheese, and chicken, and it's an indispensable ingredient in sauce béarnaise and in the herb mixture the French call fines herbes. Use it sparingly--a little goes a long way. Frozen tarragon is an excellent substitute for fresh, but use the dried version only in a pinch.

This popular herb vinegar is used to make Béarnaise sauce and vinaigrettes. It's easy to make at home. Just put one or two sprigs of clean, fresh tarragon in a bottle of warm white wine vinegar, tightly seal the bottle, and let it stand for at least a few days.The sprigs will eventually become bitter, so remove or replace them after a few weeks. Make sure that the vinegar you use has an acidity level of at least 5% (this information is given on the label). Don't add too much tarragon to the bottle, or you may reduce the acidity of the vinegar so much that it loses its ability to preserve.