All Ingredients

These French crescent-shaped rolls are made with puff pastry, so they're wonderfully rich and tender. They're great for dunking into coffee, or for making sandwiches.

These are small slices of toasted bread, which are often used as a base for appetizers.

These crispy cups can each hold about a tablespoon of filling, so they're perfect for making tiny hors d'oeuvres and desserts.

These add crunch to salads and soups. You can buy them readymade at many supermarkets, but they're much tastier if you make them yourself.

These are moist yeast muffins that the British like to slather with butter or clotted cream and serve at teatime. You can buy them ready-made in larger supermarkets, or make them yourself with the help of a crumpet ring and griddle. Toast them before eating.

This is fresh ginger that has been cooked in a sugar solution and then coated with sugar. It's similar to candied ginger, and the two are often used interchangeably.

This is a Hungarian smoked sausage that's heavily seasoned with paprika. Rings of it are sold in German delis.

These tiny Hungarian egg noodles are shaped like screws.

They are moderately hot.

These sweet, mild peppers are usually sold while yellowish-green. They become hotter and redder as they mature.

cucumber = cuke These gourd relatives are crisp, cool, and juicy, but get only so-so marks for flavor and nutritional content. A slicing cucumber = table cucumber is usually served raw in salads, sandwiches, drinks, sushi, and hors d'oeuvres to add crunch, but they can also be cooked like zucchini. Pickling cucumbers are usually smaller than slicing cucumbers, and often have thick, warty skins. They're hard to find in supermarkets, but you can often find them during the summer months in farmers' markets. Select firm, unblemished cucumbers that are rounded at the tips and heavy for their size. Reject those with soft spots or withered ends. Within each variety, try to pick cucumbers that are relatively small and slender--they'll often have better flavor and fewer seeds. Supermarket cucumbers are often waxed to seal in moisture; unwaxed cucumbers can be sealed by wrapping them tightly in plastic wrap. Store cucumbers unwashed in the refrigerator crisper, where the higher humidity will help keep them crisp. Don't freeze cucumbers--they get mushy if they're too cold. Use them within a week or so of purchase. Many cooks remove the tips, peels and seeds, which are tough and bitter in some varieties. To seed a cucumber, cut it lengthwise and scrape the seeds out with a spoon or knife. Varieties: Best for slicing: garden cucumber, English cucumber, Japanese cucumber, Armenian cucumber, lemon cucumber Best for pickling: gherkin, cornichon, Kirby cucumber, lemon cucumber

This herb is popular throughout the Caribbean. It's similar to cilantro, but more bitter.

This expensive, dry-cured red ham hails from Parma. It's usually sliced paper-thin and served like prosciutto. It's hard to find in the United States.

This British pork sausage is usually displayed in markets as a long coil, and it's sold by the length rather than by the link. It's often baked in the oven with cabbage and potatoes.

Cumin is a key ingredient in Southwestern chili recipes, but it's also widely used in Latin America, North Africa, and India. Freshly roasted and ground cumin seeds are far superior to packaged ground cumin.

The cupuacu fruit grow on medium sized trees native to the Amazon basin. The fruit is brown skinned with a white pulpy center. Cupuacu has a fruity chocolatey flavor.

Curaçao is an liqueur made from orange peels. It comes in blue, orange, red, green, and clear versions that all taste exactly the same. To make your own colored version, add one or two drops of food coloring to a cup of clear liqueur.

This is used to cure meats and fish. It's usually dyed pink so that it won't be mistaken for ordinary salt. It consists of 93.75% table salt and 6.25% sodium nitrate.

You can use this crisp, bitter green in salads or cook it as a side dish. The outer leaves are green and somewhat bitter; the pale inner leaves are more tender and mild. Don't confuse this with Belgian endive, which the British call chicory and the French call endive.

This has less flavor than Italian parsley, but it makes a terrific garnish. Don't bother buying dried parsley--it has very little flavor.

These berries are too tart for most people to eat out of hand, but they make terrific preserves and garnishes. They come in three colors: red, white, and black. If color's not important, you can use them interchangeably in most recipes, though red and white currants aren't as tart as black. Don't confuse these berries with the dried fruit of the same name that looks like a small raisin. You can sometimes find fresh currants in specialty produce markets in the summer. If not, frozen currants are a good substitute.

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

These are about half the size of cherry tomatoes.

These dried Zante grapes look like tiny raisins. Don't confuse them with the fresh sour berry that also called a currant.

These look like small bay leaves and smell like limes. Dried leaves are easier to find than fresh, but they aren't very good.

Bird's is a popular brand. Look for this in British specialty markets.

This is a close relative of squid and octopus. You can sometimes find dried cuttlefish in Asian markets.

This is a syrupy Italian liqueur that's made with artichokes, giving it a bittersweet flavor. It's good mixed with club soda

Daikon is larger and milder than its relative, the red radish. The Japanese like to grate it and serve it with sushi or sashimi, but you can also pickle it, stir-fry it, or slice it into salads. Japanese daikons tend to be longer and skinnier than their Chinese counterparts, but the two varieties can be used interchangeably. Choose specimens that are firm and shiny. They don't store well, so try to use them right away.

These have a pungent, peppery flavor that works wonders for otherwise bland salads and sandwiches. They're too delicate to cook, so always serve them raw.

Dal is the Indian term for peas, beans, or lentils that have been split and often skinned, but the name is sometimes used for all lentils, peas, or beans, or to cooked dishes made with them. Split lentils don't hold their shape well, so they're often cooked into soups or purées.

This is flour ground from Indian legumes. Varieties include besan flour (made from channa dal), urad dal flour, and mung dal flour.

This Danish cow's milk cheese. It varies from mild to sharp depending on the aging process.

Dandelions have a somewhat bitter flavor, which Europeans appreciate more than Americans. Older dandelion greens should be cooked; younger ones can be cooked or served raw as a salad green. They're available year-round, but they're best in the spring.

Danish cow's milk blue is rich and creamy, but it's considered inferior to Roquefort, Gorgonzola, or Stilton.

This refers to sweetened chocolate other than milk or white chocolate. It includes bittersweet, semi-sweet, and sweet chocolates, all of which can be used interchangeably in most recipes.

This corn syrup has a mild molasses flavor, and it's a common ingredient in barbecue sauce, pecan pie.

Dark rum has a strong molasses flavor, and it's much heavier than white or amber rums. It's used to make Planter's Punch, but many people like to drink the expensive stuff neat. The best dark rum is made in Jamaica, but Martinique, Cuba, and Haiti are also important producers. Myers is a popular brand.

This is a very common Japanese soup stock, usually made with bonito flakes and kelp. Variations include katsuo dashi (made without kelp), konbu dashi (made without bonito flakes), niboshi dashi and iriko dashi (made with different kinds of fish; more flavorful than ordinary dashi), and koi dashi (made with vegetables). Dash-no-moto is an instant version.

sold as hon dashi or Dashi-No-Moto

These are rich in flavor, nutrients, and calories. Medjool dates are richer and meatier than the other Deglet Noor dates. Other varieties include Khalas, sukkary, barhi, medjool, ajwa and kimia. If you plan to chop them, look for cooking dates, date pieces, or pressed dates--they're a lot cheaper than the exquisite dessert dates that are intended to be eaten whole. Don't confuse dates with fresh dates, which are hard to find in supermarkets. To learn about different varieties of dates, click here.