Ingredients

Berbere is a complex, chili-based spice blend central to Ethiopian and Eritrean cooking.

Dal is a South Asian dish of dried, split pulses—like lentils, peas, or beans—cooked into soups or stews.

Doenjang is a Korean fermented soybean paste made with soybeans and brine.

A toasted cassava flour dish from Brazil, often mixed with fat, salt, and smoked meats.

Ghee is a clarified butter from the Indian Subcontinent, made by simmering butter to yield a nutty, aromatic fat with a high smoke point.

A fermented Korean condiment made from red chili powder, glutinous rice, fermented soybeans, barley malt, and salt.

An Italian blue cheese made from unskimmed cow's milk, aged to develop greenish-blue veining.

A Cypriot cheese with a squeaky texture and high melting point, traditionally from goat and sheep milk but often including cow's milk today.

Koji is a filamentous fungus—most commonly Aspergillus oryzae—or a mixture of that culture with wheat and soybean meal, used in Japanese food fermentation.

Matcha is a fine green tea powder made from shade-grown, steamed, unrolled Camellia sinensis leaves, traditionally prepared in hot water.

A fresh, non-melting soft cheese from the Indian subcontinent, made by acid-coagulating hot milk, draining, pressing, and chilling.

A tart, thin, citrus-based Japanese sauce, often blended with soy sauce and used as a dressing or dip.

A spicy, watery South Indian soup-like dish served with rice.

A Japanese green tea made by infusing whole processed leaves in hot water.

A Levantine salad of finely chopped parsley, soaked bulgur, tomatoes, mint, and onion, seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and sweet pepper.

A creamy, oily paste made from toasted, ground sesame kernels, used across multiple regions as a condiment, bread accompaniment, or ingredient in dishes like hummus.

Tapioca is a starch extracted from cassava roots, used in forms including pearls, flakes, and powder.

A traditional Indonesian cake of fermented whole soybeans bound by fungus.

Tofu is a soy-based food made by coagulating soy milk and pressing the curds into blocks of varying softness.

A pungent green paste made from grated wasabi rhizomes, used primarily with sushi.