All Ingredients

This firm and crunchy pear is the best choice for cooking, because it holds its shape nicely. Bosc pears can also be eaten out of hand.

This economical, rectangular roast is the cut of choice for pulled pork barbecue, since it's marbled with enough fat to keep the meat moist while cooking. You can buy it bone-in or boneless.

This is a type of butterhead lettuce, with soft, tender leaves. It's terrific in salads and sandwiches, or the leaves can be used as a bed for other dishes.

This Mediterranean specialty is made from the salted and sun-dried roe of either tuna (bottarga di tonno) or mullet (bottarga di muggine). You usually buy it as a sausage and shave off thin slices for hors d'oeuvres or grate it over pasta, fish, or salads. It's expensive but very tasty.

This is a white sausage made of meat (pork, chicken, or veal) and rice. France produces a very delicate milk-based version, while the Cajun version includes a lot of rice as a filler, making it chewier and more flavorful.

This Cajun specialty is similar to boudin blanc, except that it also includes pork blood. Use it soon after you buy it.

Though milder than Scotch, Bourbon is well regarded by whiskey connoisseurs. To be called Bourbon, whiskey must be produced in Kentucky and be made mostly with corn. Jim Beam is a popular brand, but more serious Bourbon lovers seek out Maker's Mark. Whiskey should be served at room temperature.

This is a soft-ripened, triple crème French cow's milk cheese that is very rich and mild. For best flavor, serve at room temperature.

This creamy cheese from France is usually flavored with herbs, garlic or coarse ground pepper. It's mild and delicate, and goes well with fresh bread and dry white wine. Boursin is considered better than some other flavored spreadable cheeses, like Alouette or Rondelé, but none of these cheeses are well regarded by gourmets. Store Boursin in the refrigerator but bring it to room temperature before serving. Eat it within a few days of purchase.

This has small, very dark olive-green eggs with medium firmness. It's an inexpensive, environmentally responsible alternative to the luxury caviars from the Caspian Sea. Consider perking up the flavor with a splash of fresh lemon juice.

A boysenberry is a cross between a blackberry, a raspberry, and a loganberry. It's more fragile than a blackberry, but it doesn't have the blackberry's conspicuous seeds. Select boysenberries that are dark in color and free of mold.

This firm and juicy apple is good for eating out of hand or for baking.

Even adventurous eaters often draw the line at brains, and it's just as well, since they're loaded with cholesterol. Those who do eat them often scramble them with eggs. It's very important that brains be fresh, so either cook them or freeze them the day you buy them.

This is the made from the outer husk of the grain, and it's a rich source of fiber. There are two types of fiber: insoluble fiber, which passes right through us undigested, and soluble fiber, which is digested by friendly bacteria in our intestines. Insoluble fiber is found in wheat bran and corn bran, and it's good for flushing out the intestines. Soluble fiber, found in oat bran, makes you feel full, so it's good for dieters

Brandy is often served as an after-dinner drink, or added to coffee. According to legend, it was first produced when an enterprising sea captain distilled wine in order to save space on his ship. He planned to reconstitute it with water when he arrived at his home port, but those who sampled the new concoction liked it just the way it was. Today, most brandy is distilled from white wine, though red wine and other fermented fruit juices are also used. It's then aged in oak barrels for several years. To learn about different varieties of brandy, click here.

People use this to impart the flavor of brandy without the alcohol. Though brandy extracts are made with alcohol, such a small amount is needed in any recipe that the end product is virtually non-alcoholic.

This is made with pork and sometimes veal, and seasoned with subtle spices. It usually needs to be cooked before eating, though some markets carry precooked bratwurst.

These nuts come from the Amazonian rainforest, and they're rich in protein, omega-3 fatty acid, and calcium. They're prone to rancidity, so store them in the refrigerator or freezer if you plan to keep them for awhile. It's easier to shell them if you first heat them in a 350° oven for about 15 minutes.

To learn more about different varieties of bread, click here.

You can make this yourself, or buy ready-made dough in the frozen foods sections of your supermarket. In addition to baking them into bread, you can use them to make breadsticks, pizza dough, buns, rolls, and bagels.

This flour has a high level of gluten, which gives bread more structure. Don't confuse it with gluten flour (also called vital wheat gluten), which is pure gluten and used as a bread additive or to make seitan. To see how to substitute other flours when making yeast breads, see the listing under all-purpose flour.

This type of dry yeast is highly active and very finely granulated so that it hydrates quickly. Breads made with this yeast require only a single rise, so this yeast is handy to use in a bread machine. Most machines will have you add this yeast last, on top of the dry ingredients. If you're not using a bread machine, add this yeast to the flour and other dry ingredients. It's often sold in 4-ounce jars. You can store unopened jars at room temperature until the expiration date stamped on the jar, but the yeast lasts even longer in the refrigerator or freezer. If you freeze yeast, let it come to room temperature before using.

These are used for breading foods, topping casseroles, stuffing poultry, thickening stews, and adding inexpensive bulk to meatloaves, hamburgers, and fish cakes. Dry breadcrumbs are made from very dry bread, and make for a crispy, crunchy coating for fried foods. The bread that's used to make soft or fresh bread crumbs isn't as dry, so the crumbs produce a softer coating, crust, or stuffing. Almost any bread can be used to make breadcrumbs, but crusty French or Italian bread works especially well.

This is the plant that the H.M.S. Bounty was carrying in the South Pacific when its crew mutinied. Captain Bligh's goal had been to transport the seedlings from Tahiti to the Caribbean, so that slaves there would have a ready source of starch and calories. Breadfruit is highly perishable, so fresh ones are hard to find outside the tropics. The canned version is a good substitute. A seeded version is called a breadnut.

Breading adds a crisp coating to fried foods. Breadcrumbs are most commonly used, but crumbs from crackers, breakfast cereals, melba toast, matzos, pretzels, and corn chips also work well. To bread meat and seafood, first dry the pieces completely, then dust them with a light coating of flour. Next dip them in a mixture of eggs mixed with a little milk, water, or oil, then dredge the pieces in the breading. Refrigerate them for about an hour before frying them.

These seeds come from breadnuts, which are seeded versions of breadfruit.

Italians serve these crunchy breadsticks before Italian meals, to keep their guests occupied without filling them up too much. You can buy them plain, or flavored with sesame seeds, garlic, onion, or herbs.

These sturdy British crackers are quite bland.

These pork patties are heavily seasoned. They're usually fried before serving.

A specialty of Northern Italy, this air-dried beef is moist and very lean. It's normally sliced paper thin and used much like prosciutto

This inactive yeast is rich in protein and B vitamins, and it's used a nutritional supplement. It's a by-product of beer-making, which gives it a slightly bitter flavor. If you object to the bitterness, try nutritional yeast, which is made from the same yeast strain but grown on molasses. It's more expensive but has a more pleasant flavor. You can also buy debittered brewer's yeast. Brewer's yeast comes powdered (the most potent form), in flakes (best for health shakes), and in tablets. Don't confuse this with active forms of yeast, like the kinds bakers, brewers, and winemakers use. If you eat them, active yeasts will continue to grow in your intestine, robbing your body of valuable nutrients.

This is a pungent American washed-rind cow's milk cheese.

This French cow's milk cheese is rich, mild, and creamy, and it's soft enough to spread easily on crackers or bread. As with Camembert cheese, the Brie name isn't protected so there are lots of mediocre knock-offs on the market. Look for French Bries--they're usually much better than their American counterparts. The rind is edible. For best flavor, wait until it's perfectly ripe and warmed to room temperature before serving it.

This soft triple crème French cow's milk cheese is rich, buttery, and mild, though some find it a bit sour and salty.

Look for this salty sheep's milk cheese in Eastern European markets. It's spreadable when young, but becomes crumbly as it ages. Like Feta, it's good in salads or melted on pizza

This rich, slightly sweet yeast bread is made with eggs and butter, and sometimes with fruit or nuts.

This is a green variety of cauliflower.

Broccoli is tasty, good for you, and easy to cook. The florets can be steamed or boiled and served as a side dish, or served raw on a crudité platter, or stir-fried. The stems are good, too, but you should peel them first and cook them a little longer. Select broccoli that's dark green and fresh smelling.

This slightly bitter cooking green has long been popular in Italy and is now catching on in America. It's best to just eat the florets and leaves; the stems are quite bitter.

This is similar to broccoli, but its florets resemble pine cones. It's especially good raw.

These are rich in sulforaphane, a cancer-fighting compound. They also have a pleasant, peppery flavor.