All Ingredients

This gluten-free starch is used to thicken soups and gravies. Its main advantage over other starch thickeners is that it's a permitted ingredient for Passover, unlike cornstarch and other grain-based foods. Liquids thickened with potato starch should never be boiled. Supermarkets often stock it among the Kosher products.

Irish moonshine or vodka. Made from potatoes like vodka.

These small, thick wrappers are stuffed with meat fillings, and then pan-fried and steamed. While assembling the potstickers, keep the stack of wrappers moist by covering them with a damp towel. You can seal the potstickers with a "glue" made with cornstarch and water. Look for stacks of them wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator cases of Asian markets. They freeze well.

This is an area in the Burgundy region of France that's renown for its exquisite white wines. Made with Chardonnay grapes, these wines are great with seafood and hors d'oeuvres.

This is a highly regarded dry white wine.

This is a rich buttery cake that's traditionally made with a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. If you don't want to make one from scratch, you can find ready-made pound cakes among the frozen foods in your supermarket.

A poussin is a very young chicken, and it has a very delicate flavor and very little fat. They're available in some gourmet markets.

Look for this in stores that sell cake decorating supplies. Just Whites is a popular brand. For information on how to make meringues safely using raw egg whites, visit the Other Safety Factors section of the American Egg Board web site.

To reconstitute, combine one part milk powder with three parts water.

See also Powdered Sugar Replacement page for diabetics, and the Powdered Sugar Replacement page on www.vegweb.com.

This paste is made with almond or hazelnut butter and sugar, and it's used to make candy and other desserts. It's hard to make yourself, since homemade nut butters tend to be gritty. Unfortunately, it's also hard to find commercially prepared praline paste, though you can order it online at www.kingarthurflour.com. The oil sometimes separates and rises to the top, so stir before using.

This is used to flavor ice cream and pastry fillings. It's made from pralines, a crunchy French candy that resembles peanut brittle, except that it's made with almonds or hazelnuts. You can buy praline powder ready made, but it's easy to make your own by pulverizing praline pieces in a food processor. Be sure to use crunchy pralines, not the soft pecan candies that people in New Orleans call pralines.

These are lemons that have been preserved in a salty brine for one or two months. They're a staple of Moroccan cuisine and somewhat hard to find in the U.S.

pressed cheese Notes: These are cheeses which are pressed to remove moisture during their production, and then soaked in a salt bath and aged. This broad category includes most semi-firm and firm cheeses. During the production of some pressed cheeses, the curds are cooked to expel even more moisture. These firmer cheeses usually have hard rinds, which are sometimes coated with wax. Cooked pressed cheeses include Gruyère, Emmental, Gouda, and Parmesan. Uncooked pressed cheeses aren't as firm. They're often sweet and fruity when young, and they develop a more earthy and grassy flavor as they age. Examples include Cantal, Tommes de Savoie, and Morbier.

With much of the moisture pressed out of it, this kind of tofu holds it shape and absorbs marinades better than firm tofu. It's the best choice for grilling.

This pot seals and allows for cooking at temperatures greater than the boiling point. It allows for faster cooking.

Pretzels are ropes of dough that are usually shaped into knots, sprinkled with coarse salt, and browned in an oven. They can be soft and breadlike or hard and crunchy. Soft pretzels, also called bread pretzels, are often served with mustard, while crunchy pretzels are eaten just the way they are.

These opaque salt crystals are used to coat pretzels

The pulp of these cactus fruits is a brilliant red or, occasionally, a yellowish green, and it tastes a bit like watered-down watermelon. Cooks exploit the color by adding slices of the pulp to fruit salads, or by puréeing it and straining out the seeds. They're quite popular in Hispanic countries and around the Mediterranean.

These farmed-raised mussels are sweet and beardless.

These products combine cheese with gums and stabilizers that improve shelf life but compromise flavor and texture.

Prosciutto hails from Italy and is reknown for its delicate, salty flavor. It's usually cut into paper thin slices and served raw. Especially well regarded is Parma ham, which comes from Parma in Italy. Select a prosciutto that's shiny and deeply colored.

Postokvasha is a thick sour milk popular in Russia. It is similar to yogurt or kefir.

This Italian cow's milk cheese is like mozzarella, only firmer and more flavorful. It's often used in sandwiches and on on pizza. Provolone dolce is aged for up to three months. Provolone Valpadana is aged longer, and has a sharper flavor.

In a marketing makeover, producers are starting to call these dried plums instead of prunes. Whatever you call them, they're sweet and just loaded with dietary fiber, iron, and other nutrients. You can eat them whole, chop them into sauces and stews, or make a compote out of them.

This is a good source of soluble fiber, and is often used as a laxative. Make sure you drink lots of water along with it.

This is dough topped with chilled butter that's rolled out and folded again and again until there are hundreds of layers of butter and dough. The dough expands and the layers separate when it's baked, creating a marvelously rich and flaky pastry. Puff pastry is used to make croissants, Napoleons, Beef Wellington, pie crusts, and many other sweet and savory pastries. You can make puff pastry yourself, but it's hard to improve on the ready-made stuff sold in the frozen foods section of many supermarkets. Let frozen puff pastry defrost for about 30 minutes before you roll it out, but don't let it get too warm or it will become sticky.

Look for this in Indian markets. Substitutes: Rice Krispies

This simple, crusty bread hails from Puglia, Italy, and is great for making sandwiches or dipping into olive oil. Some producers flavor it with olives or cheese.

These tiny pasta shapes are usually served in a broth or very light soup.

Like tequila, this is made from the sap of the agave plant. It's popular in Mexico, though it's a bit harsher and heavier than tequila.

This heavy and slightly sour bread is made with molasses and a blend of rye and wheat flours. It's often cut into thin slices and used for appetizers.

This flour is made from the whole rye grain, including the bran.

Use the small sugar pumpkin = pie pumpkin for pies; the larger jack o'lantern pumpkin is too watery. Canned pumpkin purée is convenient and a good substitute for fresh.

Pumpkin leaves can be served fresh or in soups and stews.

Pumpkin seeds are terrific snacks. Unlike sunflower seeds, they're usually eaten whole, though hulled pumpkin seeds, called pepitas, are commonly used in Mexican dishes. To roast fresh pumpkin seeds, wash them and blot them dry, then toss them with salt and melted butter or margarine and bake on a cookie sheet in a 325° oven for about 15 minutes. To dry fresh seeds, wash and blot them dry as before, but bake them in a warm (150°) oven for 1 to 2 hours.

This is a bitter form of red vermouth. It's often mixed with soda.

A specialty of El Salvador, these are tortillas stuffed with cheese and other flavorings.

Peruvians use this to make beautiful purple drinks and puddings

These purple-fleshed potatoes have a medium starch content, so they're good all-purpose potatoes. They lend an interesting color to mashed potatoes or potato salads, but they're not as flavorful as other varieties. They tend to get mushy if they're over-cooked.