Flavorings Category

Wine vinegars are milder and less acidic than cider or white distilled vinegar, so they're a good choice for salad dressings, sauces, and marinades. There are several varieties, ranging from mild champagne vinegar to the tangy white and red wine vinegars to the dark and assertive balsamic and sherry vinegars. The milder vinegars go best with more delicate dishes, like salads, which stronger ones are best for deglazing pans, marinating meats, and adding tang to sauces. Rice vinegar, though it's sometimes called rice wine vinegar, is made from fermented rice, not rice wine.

This perennial herb has a stronger flavor than its annual relative, summer savory.

Health foods sell a vegetarian version of this. To make your own: See the recipe for Worcestershire Sauce posted on RecipeSource.com.

Asians pour this sauce over noodles and seafood. It's made from dried anchovies, shrimp, and chiles.

These are Chinese chives that have been shielded from the sun in order to stifle the production of chlorophyll. Use them just like ordinary Chinese chives.

Whole mustard seeds are most commonly used to make pickles or relish. Most cooks prefer their mustard either ground, called ground mustard = dry mustard = mustard powder, or ready-made as a condiment, called prepared mustard.

The Spanish name "yerba buena" ("good herb") is used to describe several varieties of mint, including Satureja douglasii, Satureja chamissonis, and Mentha spicata (spearmint).

See the recipe for Zaatar posted on RecipeCottage.com

Look for this in German markets. During the Christmas and New Year's holidays, Germans pour rum over the cones and ignite them to make feuerzangebowle, or fire tong punch.