All Ingredients

Though not as flavorful as golden chanterelles, these mushrooms work well in most chanterelle recipes.

These melons are small, about the size of medium papaya. They taste like cantaloupe, but with firmer flesh.

This golden yellow miso is made of rice and aged briefly. It's salty but mild and quite versatile. It's a good choice if you only want to store one tub of miso in your refrigerator.

Whole mustard seeds are most commonly used to make pickles or relish. Most cooks prefer their mustard either ground, called ground mustard = dry mustard = mustard powder, or ready-made as a condiment, called prepared mustard.

This is what most cooks reach for when a recipe simply calls for "onion." It's higher in sulfur than the white onion, so it has a more complex flavor. The sulfur, unfortunately, is also what makes you cry when you cut into it. Yellow onions turn a rich brown and become sweeter and milder when cooked. Many people find them too pungent to eat raw.

These have an earthier flavor than green peas. Scandinavians like to use them in soups, while the British use them in their pease pudding. It's best to buy them split, since split peas don't need to be soaked and cook fairly quickly.

This category includes yellow straight-neck squash and yellow crookneck squash. They're interchangeable with zucchini.

These are easily confused with milder banana peppers. Sample before using. They are moderately hot.

These are similar to black-eyed peas, only the "eyes" are yellow. They're popular in the South.

The Spanish name "yerba buena" ("good herb") is used to describe several varieties of mint, including Satureja douglasii, Satureja chamissonis, and Mentha spicata (spearmint).

This is milk that's cultured with bacteria to make it thick and tangy. Ready-made yogurts are made from whole milk (with up to 4% butterfat), lowfat milk (with up to 2% butterfat), and skim milk (with up to .5% butterfat). Health buffs prefer brands that contain active cultures, which help keep their intestines populated with friendly bacteria. Many brands are heat-treated to destroy these cultures and increase shelf life. Yogurt often comes with added flavorings and thickeners. Flavored yogurts are made with artificial sweeteners to reduce calories. Lactaid makes a lactose-reduced yogurt, but many people with lactose intolerance can tolerate ordinary yogurt, especially brands that contains active yogurt cultures. Larger markets also carry yogurt made from soy milk and goat's milk, but these don't work well in delicate desserts. Organic yogurts also are available.

This is a soft, tangy, and nutritious cream cheese substitute.

This fine-meshed strainer is used to drain off the whey from yogurt in order to make yogurt cheese

This is a lightly smoked, dry-cured British ham. It's saltier but milder in flavor than other European dry-cured hams.

These are especially good for baking.

This is closely related to the blackberry.

This is the sweet, protein-rich skin that forms on warm soymilk as it cools. Japanese and Chinese cooks like to add it to soups or use it as wrappers, and when it's deep-fat fried, it makes a fairly realistic "skin" for a mock holiday turkey. You can buy very thin fresh sheets of it (called nama yuba) in Kyoto, Japan, and thicker round sheets that look like fruit leather in some Chinese markets. Elsewhere, you'll have to get it dried or frozen. Dried yuba comes as sheets, rolls, knots, and many other forms. It needs to be reconstituted with water before you can use it, unless you're planning to add it to a soup.

This is the Middle Eastern and North African version of phyllo dough, with leaves that are slightly thicker and sometimes round. It's used to make savory pastries.

These are good all-purpose potatoes that have yellow flesh and a rich flavor. They're great for boiling, but they tend to fall apart if over-cooked.

See the recipe for Zaatar posted on RecipeCottage.com

These clusters of tiny grapes are often used as a garnish.

This is a hearty red varietal wine that's especially good with sausages and barbecued meats. Don't confuse it with white Zinfandel, a fruity blush wine that wine snobs abhor. California Zinfandels are often excellent.

These come either as long, hollow rods or as short tubes, called cut ziti. They're often baked in casseroles.

America's most popular summer squash, zucchini can be served raw, sautéed, baked, grilled, and even shredded and baked in a cake. Green zucchini is the most popular, but some grocers also carry a bright yellow variety. There's also a globe-shaped round zucchini that's easy to stuff.

Look for this in German markets. During the Christmas and New Year's holidays, Germans pour rum over the cones and ignite them to make feuerzangebowle, or fire tong punch.

This German blood sausage includes pieces of pickled tongue. It comes ready to eat, but it's often heated before serving.

These are slices of bread that have been baked a second time, making them crisp and dry. Toddlers use them as teething biscuits, while adults add them to soups.