All Ingredients

Tvorog is a Russian version of cottage cheese. It is a cow's milk curd product.

This mild Danish cow's milk cheese is great on sandwiches.

This milk Israeli cheese was produced originally from sheep's milk. But now may also be made from cow's milk, goat's milk or water buffalo milk.

Look for these in African markets.

These slippery Japanese wheat noodles are popular in southern Japan, where they're often served in soups or stews. They're roughly as thick as spaghetti, but they come in different widths. Dried udon noodles are available in Asian markets and health food stores. Cook them for about 11 minutes. Fresh udon noodles are called nama udon, and should be cooked for about 2 to 3 minutes.

This grapefruit-mandarin cross looks like a grapefruit in an ill-fitting suit. It's sweet and juicy, though, and simple to eat since the peel comes off easily and the fruit pulls apart into tidy segments that are virtually seedless. Americans pronounce the name "ugly," but in Jamaica, where it's grown, it's pronounced "HOO-glee." Some marketers have tried calling it "Uniq fruit®," but the name hasn't caught on much. Ugli fruit are available from December through April. Most specimens are much uglier than the one pictured here, but don't let that deter you. Select fruits that are heavy for their size, and that give a little when you press them.

This Japanese vinegar is quite salty, and it has a distinctive, slightly fruity flavor. It's typically used in dips and salad dressings.

These are used for making sprouts.

What kid hasn't sneaked a bar of this out of the kitchen, only to discover that unadulterated chocolate is bitter and unpalatable. Some cooks prefer to use it over sweetened chocolate because it gives them better control of the sweetness and flavor of the product.

A seitan-based turkey.

These lentil-like beans have black skins covering creamy white interiors. Whole urad dal derive their strong, earthy flavor from the black skins and are often used in curries. Split urad dal retain the skins and also have a strong flavor. Skinned and split urad dal are creamy white and somewhat bland.

This is made from urad dal, a type of Indian lentil. The flour is used to make pappadums and breads.

These are black lentils (or urad dal) that have been split and skinned. They're much milder than unskinned.

These are black lentils (or urad dal) that have been split but not skinned. They're not as mild as white lentils, which have been split and skinned.

This is a dried ground chili pepper used in Turkey on meat dishes. It is medium spicy and has a smoky flavor.

This creamy Spanish cheese is a member of the washed rind (a.k.a. stinky) cheese family, but it's mild and subtle.

For many recipes using less of an ingredient, like sugar, is a good option.

To make your own: See the Mitch's V-6 Vegetable Juice Cocktail Recipe posted on Fabulousfoods.com.

This French cheese comes in wedges or squares.

This is a cheese-lover's cheese, with a complex nutty flavor. It's a good melting cheese that's often used to make fondues. Try heating it a bit and serving it with crusty French bread.

Vecherin Fribourgeois is a swiss cow's milk cheese often made from raw milk.

Wine, once exposed to air, turns vinegary. This stopper has a pump that removes much of the air from the bottle and allows you to keep opened bottles of wine a bit longer.

These are skinned and split lablab beans. They're available in Indian markets.

This Spanish blue cheese is pungent enough to be interesting without being overpowering. It is usually made with cow’s milk but can be made from mixture of cow, sheep and goat milk. It's a good snacking cheese for adventurous guests.

This is a relative of the Pinot Noir grape, and it makes a red wine that goes well with hearty meat-based dishes. Don't confuse it with Gamay or Gamay Beaujolais.

This liqueur is flavored with chocolate and mint.

Vanilla is used to flavor everything from baked goods to ice cream. Most recipes call for vanilla extract, but some argue that vanilla beans lend a more potent flavor. Select beans that are shiny, moist, and pliable--dried out beans aren't nearly as potent. If a recipe calls for just for the seeds, split the bean open and scrape the seeds out, and save the outer pod to flavor sugar or hot drinks.

This has two meanings. In Britain, vanilla essence is the same as America's imitation vanilla extract. Elsewhere, vanilla essence may mean a highly concentrated and pricey form of pure vanilla extract.

Vanilla extract is made from vanilla beans that have been steeped in alcohol. It's widely used throughout the world to flavor desserts, like baked goods, ice cream, beverages, and custards, but some chefs use it as a secret ingredient in savory dishes as well. Pure extracts made with vanilla from the Bourbon Islands, which include Madagascar, is especially well-regarded. Mexican vanilla extract is also excellent, and even more potent, but it's sometimes adulterated with a dangerous food additive that's banned by the FDA. Look for vanilla extract among the baking supplies in your supermarket.

This inexpensive substitute for pure vanilla extract is made with synthetic vanillin and other flavorings. Many brands are quite good, since chemists know how to produce an exact copy of natural vanillin, the dominant flavor in vanilla. The problem is that vanillin isn't the only flavor component in vanilla, so even the best imitation vanilla extracts aren't quite as full-flavored and complex as the real deal. Food gurus are always saying that cooks should never, ever use imitation vanilla extract, but at least one taste test has shown that many people prefer a high quality imitation vanilla extract to pure extract. Avoid imitation vanilla from Mexico--it may contain a toxic food additive.

This alcohol-free powder is made from vanilla beans that have been dried and pulverized. Unlike vanilla extract, it doesn't evaporate when heated, so it's well suited to making custards and other cooked desserts. It's also good for making dry mixes and for sprinkling onto drinks and dishes. Some brands have sweeteners added. Look for it in larger supermarkets and specialty shops.

These vanilla cookies can be eaten as they are, but cooks often pound them into crumbs and use them to make pie crusts.

These are often used to make pie crusts. To make them, place vanilla wafers in a heavy plastic bag, seal, then crush the wafers with a rolling pin.

Examples include spiced rum, Tuaca, Licor 43, and crème de vanille.

Indians use these ultra-thin sheets of gold leaf to decorate dishes. Look for it in Indian groceries and cake decorating stores.

These are egg noodles used in Jewish dishes like kugel.

This hard cow's milk cheese has a strong flavor and is popular in Sweden.

This includes the arm bone and some of the ribs. A steak cut from the arm roast is called a veal arm steak. The roast is often braised, roasted, or used a pot roast.

The veal arm steak looks a lot like a veal round steak cut from the back leg in that both cuts contain round bones, but the arm steak isn't as tender.

This cut includes the shoulder blade bone and a fair amount of connective tissue, so it's cheaper than other veal roasts. Once boned, it has a nice large opening that can be stuffed before roasting. A steak cut from a blade roast is called a veal blade steak.