Discover the finest in cooking ingredients
Some common and not so common ingredients used in cuisine from all over the world. Learn what the ingredients are, where they come from and how they are used.
Ingredients
Worcestershire Sauce
Photo by Edsel L “Despite its name, Worcester sauce was originally an Indian recipe, brought back to Britain by Lord Marcus Sandys, ex-Governor of Bengal. One day in 1835 he appeared in the prospering chemist’s emporium of John Lea and William Perrins in Broad Street, Worcester, and asked them to make up a batch of […]
Olive Oil
Olive groves line the rocky hillsides of Italy and the Mediterranean coast. For millennia, the region has produced gorgeous olives (they were a favorite street snack in ancient Rome) and olive oils (tools for making olive oil that date back 4500 years have been found in Crete). The average age of southern Italian olive trees […]
Lemongrass
Photo by odonata98 (Kimberly Reinhart) This herb, which is native to Malaysia and grown throughout Southeast Asia and California, is one of the most important in Southeast Asian cooking. With the great popularity of the food of that region, lemon grass has made its way onto countless ingredients lists for all sorts of dishes. It has […]
Mole
Photo by Edsel Little The justly famous mole is a complex sauce made from toasted seeds, soaked and puréed chiles, ground raisins, spices, herbs, and a bit of semi-sweet chocolate. Throughout Mexico, the chocolate, seeds, and chiles remain constants, but their types and the rest of the ingredients fluctuate wildly according to the cook. Oaxacan […]
Pasta
Homemade vs. Store Bought Though a complete list of pasta shapes could take up volumes, there are two basic types available: factory-made, dried macaroni pasta made with flour and water, and homemade “fresh” pasta, made with eggs and flour. The two have different consistencies, textures and uses. They are truly separate and truly equal. Factory-made […]
Achiote and Annatto and what Sprouts from the Seed
Photo by Bill Gracey The small yet seemingly impenetrable achiote seed, which is often commonly named the annatto seed, is available worldwide both as a whole seed and in ground form. It is a highly-regarded ingredient in both Hispanic and Indian cuisine for its subtle bitter and earthy flavors along with its gorgeous burnished copper […]
Rice
Rice, the main source of sustenance for half of the world’s population, comes in an endless variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Rice grains can be long, like those of basmati rice from India and jasmine rice from Thailand; tiny, like mochi-gome from Japan, which is similar in shape to Italian arborio rice; or somewhere […]