All Ingredients

This is used to bread or stuff poultry and fish. Packaged cornbread crumbs are available in the baking supplies section of many supermarkets, or you can make your own by crumbling cooled cornbread.

This is cut from a beef brisket that's been cured with salt and spices and then simmered in water. It's traditionally served hot on rye bread.

This is used as a colorful breading for meat and fish, and as a topping for casseroles. You can buy cornflakes already crushed, or buy whole cornflakes and crush them yourself.

This is a small pickle that's flavored with dill, tarragon, and other herbs and spices. It's a heavenly accompaniment to pâté.

This are very small, tender chickens. Varieties include Rock Cornish game hens = Rock Cornish hens, which are a cross between Cornish and Plymouth Rock chickens.

Cornmeal comes in different colors: white, yellow, and blue. Yellow cornmeal has more beta carotene than the others, while blue cornmeal has more protein and turns baked goods purple. Larger supermarkets also carry stone-ground cornmeal = water-ground cornmeal, which is more tasty and nutritious than regular cornmeal, but doesn't keep as long. See also self-rising cornmeal.

These Filipino noodles are made with cornstarch. Before using, soak them in hot water until they're soft.

This sheep's milk cheese comes from Corsica.

These are all-purpose apples. Since their flesh is slow to brown after it's cut, Cortland apples are especially good in salads. If substituting another variety in a salad, dip it in acidulated water first to keep it from darkening.

This yellow Mexican chili is used to make soups, stews, and mole sauces. It's fruity and moderately hot and somewhat hard to find.

This is a mild and fatty Italian pork sausage. The links should be pierced before cooking to allow some of the fat to drain out.

This is a sharp, salty white cow's milk grating cheese that softens but doesn't melt when heated. Cacique is a well-known brand. Look for it in Hispanic markets.

This simple, mild cow's milk cheese was traditionally produced in Europe's "cottages" from the milk left over from butter making. It's versatile, easy to digest, and a good source of protein. It's sold with either large or small curds, and with fruit or chives sometimes added. Use it within a few days after purchasing and discard if mold appears. It's best served chilled.

Cotto is a cooked salami.

These are sweet seedless white table grapes. Some think they taste like cotton candy.

This soft-ripened French cow's milk cheese resembles Brie and Camembert.

These are made by rubbing salt over a fresh ham and then hanging it out to dry. They're often smoked as well. They tend to be salty, but gourmets often prefer them over city hams. You cook them either by simmering them in water or frying them. Some people soak them in water first to leech out some of the salt. Mold often forms on country hams, but it's harmless and should simply be scrubbed off. Country hams are common in the Southeast; elsewhere you can get them by mail order, or at Chinese markets. Varieties include Virginia ham and Smithfield ham.

This Middle-Eastern summer squash looks a lot like spaghetti squash, only it has a thin, edible skin. It's similar to zucchini, but its larger size makes it a natural for stuffing.

Includes pre-cooked couscous = instant couscous, which is the most common form, and traditional couscous, which takes longer to cook. Many cooks think traditional couscous is worth the extra trouble.

Couverture means covering in French, and professionals use this type of chocolate to coat candies and glaze cakes. It has a higher percentage of cocoa butter than ordinary chocolate, which makes for glossier coatings and a richer flavor. Available in bittersweet, semi-sweet, white, and milk chocolate. It's expensive, and you may need to go to a specialty store to find it.

Cow's milk cheeses are creamier than goat or sheep's milk cheeses.

Eat fresh crab the day you buy it. Unopened canned crab can be stored for up to a year in a dry, cool place. Once opened, it will keep for up to two days if you wrap it well and refrigerate it.

These small apples are too tart to eat raw, but they're loaded with pectin and make great jams and jellies.

These aromatic green olives are marinated in a solution with herbes de Provence.

These are cracked whole wheat kernels. They cook faster than wheat berries, but not as fast as bulgur.

This is a large flat Middle Eastern bread that comes either hard (like a cracker) or soft (like a tortilla). You can soften hard lavash by moistening both sides and then placing it in a plastic bag for a few hours

These crushed crackers are used as a breading for meat and fish. When the food is fried, the crumbs provide a crunchy coating. Look for it in the baking goods section of your supermarket, or make your own by putting crackers in a plastic bag and crushing them with a rolling pin.

These tart berries are traditionally used to makes sauces and garnishes for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. It's best to buy them at their peak in October and November, and freeze any that you don't use right away.

These have an excellent, nutty flavor, and are commonly used in Italian soups and stews.

See the recipe for Cranberry Juice posted by Veggies Unite!

Boggs is a well-regarded brand.

This is a classic accompaniment to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. It's made of cranberries that have been cooked with sugar and other flavorings, like orange zest, ginger, port, or maple syrup.

This melon-cantaloupe cross is exceptionally juicy and flavorful, but it's hard to find outside of Sonoma County, California.

This large, popular melon is a cross between the Persian and Casaba melons. The rinds come in two colors: yellow and creamy white. The yellow ones taste better. You can buy Cranshaws while they're still a little underripe and let them sit on the counter for a few days. When fully ripe, a Cranshaw will be fragrant and yield slightly to gentle pressure at its blossom end. They're best in the fall.

Crayfish are very popular in Louisiana, where restaurants serve them on large platters along with bowls of melted butter. Buy live ones if you can; if not, large supermarkets sometimes stock frozen whole crayfish or crayfish tails. Get the whole crayfish if possible--most of the flavor resides in the shells. Allow one to two pounds per person.

Creams vary according to the amount of butterfat they have. Lightest of all is half & half, which is half milk, half cream and weighs in with a butterfat content between 10.5 - 18%. It can't be whipped, but it's nice with coffee, or on cereal. Light cream = coffee cream = table cream is richer at 18 - 30% fat, but it still can't be whipped. Light whipping cream = whipping cream (with a butterfat content of 30 - 36%) and heavy cream = heavy whipping cream (with at least 36% fat) are heavy enough to whip, and aren't as prone as lower-fat creams to curdling in sauces. The higher the butterfat content, the less beating is required to get whipped cream. Europeans go for even heavier creams, like double cream (with a butterfat content of 42%), extra-thick double cream, and clotted cream = Devonshire cream, which is often spread like butter over scones. Look for clotted cream in large supermarkets, but (perhaps luckily) the double creams are very hard to find. You can buy ultra-pasteurized versions of these creams, but they tend to have a burnt milk taste and don't whip as well.

An American favorite, cream cheese is a terrific spread for bagels and nut breads and a key ingredient in cheesecake and other desserts. It comes in low-fat and nonfat versions; these work well as spreads but compromise the flavor and texture of cheesecakes. Cream cheese made without stabilizers is also disappointing in cheesecakes, though it makes for a more acidic and flavorful spread. Store in the refrigerator. Unopened foil-wrapped commercial cream cheese is good for about a month after the "Best when used by" date on the carton. Once opened, you should use it within 10 days. Throw it out if mold appears.