At some point in mankind's 11,000-year love affair with wheat, we seemingly became so infatuated with the ways we could process it -- pulverizing it into flour for breads, twisting it into pasta, ...

Chiffonade is one of those terms which conjure up a trick that could be mastered only by a wizard with Cordon Bleu credentials. The technique can easily be accomplished by anyone with a cutting ...

Dates are the fruit of the date palm. The tree hails from the desert oases of northern Africa or the Persian Gulf and has a history so long experts can't pinpoint its origin.

Since antiquity, goji berries have been prescribed to protect the liver, promote eyesight, enhance fertility and sexual function, boost the immune system, improve circulation, and increase ...

Roughly translated, pâte (pronounced POT) is French for "paste" and refers to clay for pottery.

Also known as celery root or knob celery, celeriac is a spherical root with rough brown skin, a dense, cream-colored interior, and thin curly shoots that make it look as though it's having a bad ...

A late bloomer in the development of grains, oats were first cultivated around 1000 B.C. Gourmands of classical times were not impressed, and so dismissed them as animal fodder.

It's difficult to imagine a foodstuff more shrouded in mystery than mushrooms. The phrase "to mushroom" is appropriate: Mushrooms seem to spring up overnight, seemingly out of nowhere.

A root vegetable that grows wild in Europe and West Asia, the parsnip has been cultivated since ancient times.

A spice derived from a bright orange rhizome, turmeric enjoys a legacy as colorful as the root itself. Most commonly identified with India, turmeric plays heavily into Hindu religious rituals and ...

Figs might well be the first fruit ever enjoyed by mankind. They are native to Turkey, and digs in the Jordan Valley suggest that figs were domesticated nearly a thousand years before wheat or barley.

Umami is a meaty, savory quality derived from amino acids. Foods said to produce umami include meats, cheeses, mushrooms, soy and fish sauces, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and seaweed.

A tall, fragrant member of the grass family Cymbopogon, lemon grass is a signature flavor in the foods of Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

Rice is a staple food for roughly half of humanity (second only to wheat as the world's largest crop) with an estimated 8,000 varieties in cultivation.

Recipes are often filled with terminology that can be confusing to the novice. Here's a mini-glossary for baking.

The single most influential foodstuff in history, salt funded the construction of China's Great Wall, dictated trade routes, gave rise to Europe's great cities, ignited wars, fueled centuries of ...

A star in the universe of tropical fruits, the papaya rockets from seed to a 20-foot-tall, fruit-bearing tree in less than 18 months.

A thick, Middle Eastern sauce made from mashed chickpeas, hummus is traditionally served as a spread for pita. Less traditionally, it makes a terrific dip for raw vegetables.

A potpourri of young salad greens, mesclun (MEHS-kluhn) is sometimes sold as spring mix or baby salad mix and is often available in bulk.

Hailed as the "king of all fruits," mangoes have been cultivated in India since at least 2000 B.C. In India, mango trees hold sacred status. Among the more colorful legends is one from Vedic ...