All Ingredients

Hijiki has a mild flavor, so it's a good choice if you want to slip a sea vegetable unobtrusively into your soups and stews in order to fortify them with calcium, iron, and other nutrients. When rehydrated, it roughly quadruples in size, so a little goes a long way.

This is a Himalayan version of our long-grain brown rice, only the bran is red, not brown.

These slender Japanese noodles are often served cold. They're made of wheat flour.

This is a sweet and garlicky bean sauce that's often used as a dipping sauce. Available in Asian markets and in many large supermarkets.

These heart-shaped leaves impart a root beer flavor to dishes, and they're great for wrapping tamales and other foods. They're hard to find; your best bet is a Hispanic market.

These egg and wheat-flour noodles are popular in Malaysia and Singapore. They look like thick yellow spaghetti.

These are like bell peppers, only they're sweeter and have thicker walls. They come in different colors.

These are hot.

You can cheat and buy this in cans, but the tinny flavor will rat you out. To make your own: See the recipes for Hollandaise Sauce, Hollandaise Sauce--Microwave or Quickie Hollandaise Sauce posted on RecipeSource.com.

This has jagged leaves. It's fairly pungent, so it's rarely eaten raw.

These are hulled corn kernels that have been stripped of their bran and germ. Southern cooks usually boil whole or ground hominy until it's tender, and then they serve it in much the same way that Northern cooks would serve potatoes. Varieties include lye hominy, which is made by soaking corn kernels in a weak lye bath, and pearl hominy, which is made by crushing corn kernels mechanically. White hominy is made from white corn kernels, and the sweeter yellow hominy is made from yellow. Samp is coarsely ground or broken hominy, while hominy grits are more finely ground. You can buy hominy canned or dried.

This Southern staple is made from hominy or plain corn that's been ground until it has the consistency of coarse sand. It's used as a side dish, a breakfast cereal, or as an ingredient in baked goods. Varieties include quick-cooking grits and instant grits.

This is a juicy, meaty olive.

This is a thick liquid sweetener that's produced by bees from the nectar of flowers. There are over 300 kinds of honey, most of them named after the principal nectar source (e.g., clover honey, eucalyptus honey). These varieties range in color from almost white to amber to dark brown. As a rule of thumb, the lighter the color of the honey, the milder the flavor. You shouldn't feed honey to babies younger than one year--it could cause infant botulism. Store honey in a cool, dark place, where it will keep almost indefinitely. If the honey crystallizes, heat it briefly in a pan of hot water or in the microwave. Because the production of honey exploits bees, many vegetarians and vegans refuse to eat it. Popular varieties: Alfalfa honey is a very popular light and mild honey, great for baking or table use. Basswood honey is light in color, but it has a fairly strong flavor. Buckwheat honey is very dark and bold-flavored, so it's not well suited to baking. Clover honey is America's most popular honey, very mild and fine-flavored. Eucalyptus honey, popular in Australia, has a somewhat bold and slightly medicinal flavor. Orange blossom honey is an excellent, mild honey with a delicate flowery flavor. Sage honey is almost white in color, with a mild flavor. Tulip poplar honey is dark, yet mild-tasting. Tupelo honey is highly prized for its distinctive mild flavor; it's also relatively expensive. Wildflower honey has a fairly strong flavor.

This is just like a honeydew melon, only it's smaller, rounder, and covered with netting.

These large, choice melons have either green or orange flesh. As honeydews ripen, they turn from green to creamy white to yellow. Avoid green ones, but a creamy white one will (unlike other melons) ripen on your counter in a few days. A perfectly ripe honeydew will yield just a bit to pressure at the blossom end and have a sticky, velvety rind.

These egg and wheat-flour noodles are used to make chow mein. Cook them first in boiling water, drain, and then fry.

These Swedish flatbread is made with rye flour and flavored with aniseed and fennel seed.

This a fresh cow's milk cheese.

This is a Spanish beverage made with rice, almonds, or chufa. Horchatas sold in markets are often flavored with chocolate, cinnamon, or fruit. Varieties: Hispanic stores often carry almond horchata = horchata de almendra, chufa horchata = horchata de chufa, the traditional Spanish version, and rice horchata = horchata de arroz.

Horse meat is common in many countries such as France. It has become less popular over time.

A staple of many Indian farm families, horse gram has an assertive, earthy flavor.

This is a very pungent brown root that's usually peeled and grated to make a condiment for meats. Its intense flavor and aroma dissipate quickly when exposed to air, so it should be grated just before serving or mixed with something sour (like vinegar, lemon juice, or beet juice) to lock in the heat. It's easiest to use a blender or food processor to grate it. Fresh horseradish is surprisingly potent, so make sure your kitchen is well ventilated, wear rubber gloves, and don't rub your eyes.

This pungent condiment goes well with meats and fish, and it’s a key ingredient in cocktail sauce. It’s best to buy horseradish in small amounts and store it in the refrigerator—it turns dark and loses much of its bite after a few months. Look for it in the deli case. Varieties: The most common is white horseradish, which is made with vinegar. Creamed horseradish = cream-style horseradish has a little mayonnaise and/or sour cream added; horseradish sauce has a lot. Red horseradish = beet horseradish is made with beet juice.

Chinese cooks sometimes add a drop or so of this to dishes in order to heat them up. Look for small bottles of this in Asian markets and large supermarkets.

You need only add boiling water to this powdered mix and stir to make hot chocolate.

An American staple, hot dogs are mild, smoked, and usually skinless sausages that are traditionally served in a bun with relish and mustard. They've declined in popularity in recent years because they're relatively high in fat and sodium.

Three well-known brands are Tabasco sauce, Louisiana hot sauce, and the thicker Pickapeppa sauce.

This Mexican vegetable looks like a long, skinny broccoli stick. Mexican cooks dip them in batter and deep-fat fry them.

This variety has tasty flesh, but it's too large for many families to handle and the rind is hard to cut though. Some grocers cut them into smaller pieces before putting them out.

These are similar to blueberries, and they're great for making preserves and syrups. Some specialty markets carry them in the summer.

This is a fungus that forms black kernels on ears of corn in damp weather. It's a prized delicacy in Mexico, and tastes a bit like wild mushrooms. You can get it fresh or frozen by mail order, or canned in some Hispanic markets. WARNING: May cause contractions in pregnant women.

This Hawaiian condiment is made with soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger juice, and other ingredients. It's used to flavor meats.

This is the least processed form of barley, with just the outermost hull removed. While it's chewier and slower to cook than more processed forms of barley, it's rich in fiber and really good for you. Look for it in health food stores.

This excellent soft-ripened goat cheese has a layer of vegetable ash running down the middle. It's an excellent table cheese. The rind is edible, and fairly good.

Hummus is a creamy butter made from chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice and other spices. It is good as a spread on bread or crackers.

See the Hunan Blended Spices posting on RecipeSource.com.

The leaves and small blue flowers of this plant are used as a garnish or to impart a mild, slightly bitter flavor to salads, soups, and liqueurs. Don't waste your time drying the leaves--they'll lose almost all of their flavor.