All Ingredients

These are groats that have been chopped into small pieces. They're chewier than rolled oats, and grain aficionados often prefer them for hot oatmeal cereals and muesli

These small star shapes are a type of Italian soup pasta. A smaller version is called stellini.

These pasta shapes look like tiny stars. They cook quickly and are best used in soups.

This heirloom bean is sometimes used to make Boston baked beans.

This has been touted has a healthful alternative to non-nutritive artificial sweeteners. It's quite sweet, but has a bitter aftertaste. Look for it in health food stores.

These cubes of meat are tough enough to require slow cooking in a liquid. Don't use them for kabobs--they're too tough for the grill.

This is perhaps the most highly regarded of all the cow's milk blue cheeses. Made in England, it's firmer and milder than Roquefort or Gorgonzola. It's excellent with pears. Don't eat the rind.

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

This rich German coffee cake is traditionally served at Christmas.

This is found on the East Coast, especially in Florida. Just the claws are harvested. Substitutes: claws of blue crabs

The family of stone fruits includes cherries, plums, apricots, nectarines, and peaches. They all arrive in the summer, though you can sometimes find pricey imports during the off-season. Stone fruits don't become sweeter after they're picked, but growers often harvest them while they're still a bit underripe so that they won't bruise during transit. At the market, select specimens that have the color, if not the softness, of fully ripened fruit, then take them home and let them soften at room temperature for a few days.

These onions are available year-round, since their low water content prevents molding during storage. Since storage makes onions more pungent, these onions are usually cooked before eating. This category includes the yellow onion, white onion, red onion, Spanish onion, and Bermuda onion.

This is a small form of elbow macaroni.

This dark beer tastes strongly of malt and hops. Guinness is a popular brand.

This soft Italian cow's milk cheese is mild and spreadable. It's great on pizza. Use within a few days after purchasing and, for best flavor, serve at room temperature.

These are a common ingredient in Chinese stir-fries. They're hard to find fresh, but canned straw mushrooms work well and are sold in many supermarkets. Better yet, but harder to find, are dried straw mushrooms, which have a more intense flavor than canned.

Strawberries aren't as fragile as other berries, so they don't need the special handling that makes most berries so expensive. The best time to buy them is in the spring, but you can find them throughout the year, though the price might be higher and the quality lower. Select berries that have fully ripened to a dark red.

This is a sweet Italian herbal liqueur.

An Umbrian specialty, this is a narrow ribbon pasta that's chewier and thicker than spaghetti.

The name means "priest strangler" in Italian, and it refers to a pasta shape that resembles a rolled towel.

This is used by German and Austrian cooks to make strudels, delicate pastries filled with sweet or savory fillings. The dough is made up of many layers, each rolled into a tissue-thin, almost transparent sheet. German cooks make strudels with it by stretching the dough and wrapping it around a filling, and then baking it. It's hard to find, but your best bet is a German market.

These are fresh pasta sheets that are stuffed with a filling and then folded into whimsical shapes. In the past, they were just a fancy way to recycle leftovers, but cooks now stuff them with more elegant fillings, like cheeses, veal, sweet potatoes, wild mushrooms, lobster, and pheasant. After they're cooked, they're often served with a light sauce, or in a broth or pasta salad. They freeze well, and are great to keep on hand for quick and easy meals. If you're cooking frozen stuffed pasta, allow two or three additional minutes for it to cook.

This is usually put inside a whole turkey to absorb flavorful juices while the bird roasts, but it can also be baked in a casserole dish. It's usually made of small bread cubes or shredded pieces of bread that have been dried. Commercial stuffing is convenient, but not as fresh-tasting as homemade stuffing.

This is just like napa cabbage, only elongated.

This is pure dried sugar cane juice. The dark color is due to the retention of molasses.

An artifical sweetner. A popular brand is Splenda.

These are made of bamboo and used to make sushi rolls.

It is the hard white fat on the kidneys and loins of cattle, sheep, and other animals, used to make foods including puddings, pastry, and mincemeat. Your butcher will probably give some of this to you for free.

Varieties: By crystal size: Regular sugar = fine granulated sugar = table sugar = standard granulated sugar = extra-fine granulated sugar is the standard table sugar we're all familiar with. Superfine sugar = ultrafine sugar = bar sugar = instant dissolving sugar = berry sugar = castor sugar = caster sugar dissolves more quickly, and is recommended for sweetening beverages, and for making meringues, cakes, soufflés, and mousses. To make your own, grind standard granulated sugar in a food processor or blender for about a minute. Baker's special has a grain size between standard granulated and superfine. Bakers use it in cakes because the fine granules improve the texture. Sanding sugar has larger granules that sparkle when sprinkled on baked goods and candies. Coarse sugar has a larger grain size than regular granulated sugar. It tends not to change color or break down at high temperatures. It's similar to (and often mistaken for) sanding sugar. By source: Beet sugar is derived from sugar beets, while cane sugar is derived from sugar cane. Both beet and cane sugars are 99.95% sucrose, but many bakers claim that the remaining .05% of trace minerals and proteins makes a difference, and that cane sugar performs better. Some cane sugar is processed using a by-product of animal bones, so some vegetarians prefer beet sugar to cane. Some manufacturers don't specify whether their product is beet sugar or cane sugar.

These are fun to chew on. They're available in the produce section either peeled (left) or unpeeled.

This cross between an English pea and a snow pea is sweet and crisp, and is eaten whole, pod and all. Sugar snaps can be served raw, briefly stir-fried, pickled, or steamed as a side dish.

These are similar to potsticker wrappers, but they're intended to be used in soups. While assembling the dumplings, keep the stack of wrappers moist by covering them with a damp towel. Seal the dumplings with a "glue" made with cornstarch and water. Look for stacks of these wrappers in the refrigerator cases of Asian markets. Store them in the refrigerator or freezer, but let them come to room temperature before using.

This is a spicy Lebanese beef sausage. Look for it in Middle Eastern markets.

Sukkary dates are golden yellow, dry, soft and sweet. They are commonly grown in Saudi Arabia.

This is made from a mixture of calves' feet or pig snouts, eggs, and other meats that's been cooked and then allowed to gel. There's no need to cook it further; the cold slices are usually served as appetizers.

Look for this in Middle Eastern markets. Crushed dried sumac is called somagh.

This is a family of spicy, somewhat dry pork and/or beef sausages that are great for sandwiches. They don't need to be cooked. Varieties include landjaeger and thuringer.

Summer savory is milder than winter savory.

Unlike winter squash, summer squash can be eaten rind, seeds, and all. The different varieties vary in size, shape, and color, but they can be used interchangeably in recipes. Select summer squash that are small and firm.

Dried tomatoes have a richer, more concentrated flavor than ordinary tomatoes. They're great for snacking, or tossing in salads or sauces or on pizzas. Dried tomatoes usually come either dry or packed in oil. If they're hard and dry, steep them in boiling water for about five minutes before using them.

Like the Pink Lady apple, this is a a cross between a Golden Delicious and a Lady Williams. It's very good for eating out of hand.