All Ingredients

This is the plant that the H.M.S. Bounty was carrying in the South Pacific when its crew mutinied. Captain Bligh's goal had been to transport the seedlings from Tahiti to the Caribbean, so that slaves there would have a ready source of starch and calories. Breadfruit is highly perishable, so fresh ones are hard to find outside the tropics. The canned version is a good substitute. A seeded version is called a breadnut.

Breading adds a crisp coating to fried foods. Breadcrumbs are most commonly used, but crumbs from crackers, breakfast cereals, melba toast, matzos, pretzels, and corn chips also work well. To bread meat and seafood, first dry the pieces completely, then dust them with a light coating of flour. Next dip them in a mixture of eggs mixed with a little milk, water, or oil, then dredge the pieces in the breading. Refrigerate them for about an hour before frying them.

These seeds come from breadnuts, which are seeded versions of breadfruit.

Italians serve these crunchy breadsticks before Italian meals, to keep their guests occupied without filling them up too much. You can buy them plain, or flavored with sesame seeds, garlic, onion, or herbs.

These sturdy British crackers are quite bland.

These pork patties are heavily seasoned. They're usually fried before serving.

A specialty of Northern Italy, this air-dried beef is moist and very lean. It's normally sliced paper thin and used much like prosciutto

This inactive yeast is rich in protein and B vitamins, and it's used a nutritional supplement. It's a by-product of beer-making, which gives it a slightly bitter flavor. If you object to the bitterness, try nutritional yeast, which is made from the same yeast strain but grown on molasses. It's more expensive but has a more pleasant flavor. You can also buy debittered brewer's yeast. Brewer's yeast comes powdered (the most potent form), in flakes (best for health shakes), and in tablets. Don't confuse this with active forms of yeast, like the kinds bakers, brewers, and winemakers use. If you eat them, active yeasts will continue to grow in your intestine, robbing your body of valuable nutrients.

This is a pungent American washed-rind cow's milk cheese.

This French cow's milk cheese is rich, mild, and creamy, and it's soft enough to spread easily on crackers or bread. As with Camembert cheese, the Brie name isn't protected so there are lots of mediocre knock-offs on the market. Look for French Bries--they're usually much better than their American counterparts. The rind is edible. For best flavor, wait until it's perfectly ripe and warmed to room temperature before serving it.

This soft triple crème French cow's milk cheese is rich, buttery, and mild, though some find it a bit sour and salty.

Look for this salty sheep's milk cheese in Eastern European markets. It's spreadable when young, but becomes crumbly as it ages. Like Feta, it's good in salads or melted on pizza

This rich, slightly sweet yeast bread is made with eggs and butter, and sometimes with fruit or nuts.

This is a green variety of cauliflower.

Broccoli is tasty, good for you, and easy to cook. The florets can be steamed or boiled and served as a side dish, or served raw on a crudité platter, or stir-fried. The stems are good, too, but you should peel them first and cook them a little longer. Select broccoli that's dark green and fresh smelling.

This slightly bitter cooking green has long been popular in Italy and is now catching on in America. It's best to just eat the florets and leaves; the stems are quite bitter.

This is similar to broccoli, but its florets resemble pine cones. It's especially good raw.

These are rich in sulforaphane, a cancer-fighting compound. They also have a pleasant, peppery flavor.

Broccolini results from a cross between broccoli and Chinese broccoli. The slender stems resemble asparagus in flavor and texture.

This is a style of beer that's sweeter, darker, and less bitter than the typical American lager beer.

Pods of this spice are sold in Indian markets. Some recipes call for the entire pod to be used, others call for the ground seeds. Don't confuse this with the more common (green) cardamom, which comes in round green or tan pods.

These are the standard khaki-colored lentils you see on grocery shelves everywhere. They tend to get mushy if overcooked. If you want them to be firm, add oil to the cooking water and cook the lentils just a short while, say 15 minutes.

These are smaller and hotter than the yellow mustard seeds that most western cooks are familiar with. Look for this in Indian markets.

Many rice varieties come as either brown rice or white rice. Brown rice isn't milled as much as white, so it retains the bran and germ. That makes brown rice more fiber-rich, nutritious, and chewy. Unfortunately, it doesn't perform as well as white rice in many recipes. Long grains of brown rice aren't as fluffy and tender, and short grains aren't as sticky. Brown rice also takes about twice as long to cook and has a much shorter shelf life (because of the oil in the germ). Keep it in a cool, dark place for not more than three months. Refrigeration can extend shelf life.

Health buffs like this because it contains complex sugars, which are absorbed more slowly into the bloodstream. It's about half as sweet as ordinary table sugar. Some rice syrups include barley malt, and may pose a problem for people with gluten allergies.

These heirloom beans are great in soups.

These look like small cabbages, and they're most often boiled or steamed and served as a side dish. They have a rather strong flavor, so it's best not to pair them with anything that's delicately flavored. They don't store well, so use them within a day or two after purchasing.

Buckwheat is gluten-free, and loaded with nutrients, especially protein, and it has a nutty, earthy flavor. It's most commonly ground into a dark, gritty flour and used to make everything from pancakes to soba noodles. Eastern Europeans also like their buckwheat crushed into small groats, which they toast in oil and use to make side dishes and breakfast cereals.

This is a low-gluten gray flour that's great in pancakes and pastas. To see how to substitute other flours for wheat flours when making yeast breads, see the listing under all-purpose flour

These are finely ground buckwheat groats that cook very quickly. They're commonly used as a breakfast cereal.

These are buckwheat kernels that are stripped of their inedible outer coating and then crushed into smaller pieces. Unprocessed white groats are slightly bitter, so before you cook them it's a good idea to toast them in oil for several minutes until they're rust-colored. This removes the bitterness and brings out a pleasant, nutty flavor. If you don't want to do this yourself, you can buy already roasted groats, called kasha.