Ingredients

What it is, where it comes from, how to buy and store it, and what to cook with it.

Almonds Almonds: not really nuts, buried with Tutankhamun and grown by the tonne along the Murray. History, customs and how to buy and store them.Ingredient

Avocado Avocado: a 10,000-year-old berry, a postman's lucky seed and Australia's favourite toast topping. History, customs and how to pick a ripe one.Ingredient

Bananas Bananas: a berry from a giant herb, first farmed in New Guinea and grown almost entirely in Far North Queensland. History, customs and buying tips.Ingredient

Basil Brush past a basil plant on a hot afternoon and the whole garden smells like summer: sweet, peppery, a little like cloves. That clove note is real, by the…Ingredient

Basmati rice Open a bag of good basmati and you can smell it before the water boils: something like popcorn, something like pandan, faintly sweet. Cook it well and the…Ingredient

Bok choy Bok choy is the little Chinese cabbage with fat white stalks and dark green leaves, and its name is as plain as it gets: Cantonese baak choi, "white…Ingredient

Broccoli Broccoli: a bunch of flower buds bred by Italian farmers, cousin to cabbage and kale, and once a president's enemy. History and how to buy it.Ingredient

Cardamom Crack a green cardamom pod and the scent reaches you before the seeds do. Those tiny black seeds have flavoured Indian sweets, Arabic coffee and Swedish…Ingredient

Cheese Cheese: 7,500 years of curds, from Polish clay strainers to a wheel chased down an English hill, plus how to buy, store and swap it.Ingredient

Chickpeas Nutty, buttery and cheerfully lumpy, the chickpea has been in human kitchens for about 10,000 years, longer than almost anything else in your pantry .…Ingredient

Chilli Peppers Thai curries, Sichuan hotpot, Hungarian paprika, Korean gochujang, Indian vindaloo, Ethiopian berbere: it's hard to imagine any of them without chillies.…Ingredient

Chocolate Chocolate: from bitter frothy cacao drinks and bean money to bars, bilbies and Easter eggs, plus how to buy, store and cook with it.Ingredient

Coconut Milk Here's a fun fact to drop at dinner: coconut milk isn't the sloshy water inside a coconut. It's made. Somebody grates the white flesh of a mature coconut,…Ingredient

Coffee Coffee: from Sufi night prayers in Yemen and bans in Mecca to Melbourne espresso bars and the flat white, plus how to buy and store it.Ingredient

Coriander Leaves Few herbs start fights at the dinner table like coriander. To most of the world, a handful of the fresh green leaves is bright, citrusy and essential:…Ingredient

Couscous Couscous looks like the humblest thing in the pantry: tiny golden grains you pour boiling water over on a busy weeknight. But in North Africa it's the…Ingredient

Cumin Toast a spoonful of cumin seeds in a dry pan and, about thirty seconds in, the kitchen smells warm, earthy and a little smoky. That smell travels further…Ingredient

Eggplant Glossy, purple and a little bit smug, the eggplant has been charring over coals, melting into stews and soaking up olive oil for at least two thousand…Ingredient

Eggs Eggs: from jungle fowl in Southeast Asia to Easter red eggs and the Seder plate, plus Aussie labels, sizes, storage and vegan swaps.Ingredient

Feta Feta is the salty white cheese crumbled over half the Mediterranean dinners you have ever loved. True feta is Greek by law: a brined cheese made from…Ingredient

Fish Sauce Open a bottle of fish sauce and the smell hits like low tide. Then splash a teaspoon into a curry, a dressing or a pot of soup and something magic…Ingredient

Fresh Herbs A handful of fresh herbs is the cheapest magic trick in the kitchen. Tear some basil over pasta, scatter coriander on a curry, stir dill through rice, and…Ingredient

Galangal Galangal looks like ginger's tougher cousin: a knobbly rhizome from the same plant family . The taste surprises people. Tasters call it flowery, or ginger…Ingredient

Garlic Crush a clove and the kitchen changes. That sharp, sulphury hit is garlic (Allium sativum), a cousin of onions and leeks, and it has followed people for…Ingredient

Ginger Snap a knob of fresh ginger and you get that bright, peppery, almost lemony smell before you've even picked up a knife. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is…Ingredient

Gochujang Open a tub of gochujang and you'll find something glossy, brick-red and sticky enough to hold a spoon upright. Taste it and it's three things at once:…Ingredient

Honey Honey: how bees make it, 8,000 years of honey hunting, apples at Rosh Hashanah, and how to buy, store and fix crystallised honey in Australia.Ingredient

Jasmine Rice Lift the lid on a pot of jasmine rice and the steam smells faintly of pandan leaves . That perfume is the whole point. Thais call it Hom Mali; the rest of…Ingredient

Lemon Lemons: a citron-and-bitter-orange hybrid that sailed with navies, built Menton's festival and limoncello, plus how to pick, store and use them in Australia.Ingredient

Lemongrass Lemongrass is a tall, tough tropical grass that smells like someone just zested a lemon in the room. Snap a stalk and you get it straight away. It…Ingredient

Lentils Lentils are the little lens-shaped seeds that have quietly fed the world for about 12,000 years. They were one of the very first crops anyone farmed, they…Ingredient

Lime Squeeze a lime over tacos, a bowl of pho or a plate of grilled fish and everything wakes up. This small green fruit started out in tropical Southeast Asia…Ingredient

Milk Milk: 9,000 years of dairying, why most adults can't digest it, milk in worship and Exodus, and how to buy, store and swap it in an Australian kitchen.Ingredient

Miso Miso is a salty, savoury paste of soybeans fermented with salt and a friendly mould called koji. Stir a spoonful into hot dashi and you have miso soup,…Ingredient

Mulberries Mulberries: the backyard berry that fed silkworms, stained Pyramus and Thisbe's tree and named a nursery rhyme, plus how to pick, store and use them.Ingredient

Mushrooms Slice a mushroom into a hot pan with butter and wait. First it squeaks, then it sweats, then it goes golden and smells like a forest floor after rain.…Ingredient

Nettle Stinging nettle: the weed that bites back, then turns soft and green in the pot. Its history, customs, and how to pick, cook and store it safely.Ingredient

Nuts Nuts: what counts as one, the ancient stones used to crack them, baklava, wedding almonds, and how to buy, store and cook nuts in Australia.Ingredient

Olive Oil Pour a little good olive oil into a saucer and taste it on bread. Grassy, peppery, sometimes with a cough-inducing kick at the back of the throat. That…Ingredient

Onions Onions: why they make you cry, how Egypt buried pharaohs with them, a Swiss onion festival, and how to pick, store and cook them in Australia.Ingredient

Palm oil Palm oil: West African cooking oil turned biscuit and soap staple. Its history, its rituals, the forest question, and how Australian labels name it.Ingredient

Pasta There's a moment when pasta is almost done: you fish out one strand, bite it, and feel that tiny firm core give way. Drain, toss in sauce, and dinner is…Ingredient

Quince Hard, golden and fragrant raw, ruby-red and jammy once cooked. The history, wedding customs and kitchen know-how behind the humble quince.Ingredient

Radishes Crisp, peppery and ready in weeks. Radishes fed pyramid builders, star in a Mexican Christmas carving contest and brighten any salad.Ingredient

Rice Noodles Soak a nest of dried rice noodles and watch them turn from brittle white sticks to soft, slippery ribbons. Fresh ones, sold in sheets or folded slabs, are…Ingredient

Rosehip The bright red fruit a rose leaves behind. Rosehips make tea, syrup, jam and Swedish soup, and they grow wild across much of southern Australia.Ingredient

Sesame Oil Unscrew a bottle of toasted sesame oil and the whole kitchen knows about it: a deep, nutty, almost smoky smell that makes plain rice or blanched greens…Ingredient

Shallots Peel a shallot and you'll find it's a little onion with better manners: purple-tinged layers, a milder bite, a gentle sweetness that melts into butter…Ingredient

Soy Sauce Pour a little into a dish and look at it against the light: a deep red-brown, almost mahogany. Then the smell, salty and malty with a hint of something…Ingredient

Spices Spices are the dried seeds, bark, buds, roots and berries that make food smell like somewhere. A pinch of clove, a grind of pepper, a spoon of turmeric:…Ingredient

Spinach Spinach: from Persian gardens to Popeye's tin. Its history, customs and myths, plus how to buy, store and cook it in an Australian kitchen.Ingredient

Spring onions Spring onions, scallions, green onions, salad onions: whatever your family calls them, they are the slim, green-topped alliums that finish half the…Ingredient

Star Anise Star anise looks like something a child would draw: a rusty brown star with eight points, each one cradling a glossy seed. Drop one in a pot and the…Ingredient

Tamarind Tamarind is a knobbly brown pod that hangs from a huge tropical tree, and inside it sits a sticky, sweet-sour pulp that tastes a bit like a date that has…Ingredient

Tea Tea: from a Chinese legend to billy tea and morning tea. Its history, rituals and customs, plus how to buy, brew and store it in Australia.Ingredient

Tofu Tofu is soy milk turned into curds and pressed into soft white blocks, much the way cheese is made from dairy milk. It has fed East Asia for more than a…Ingredient

Turmeric Turmeric is the knobbly orange root that turns curries gold, stains every wooden spoon it touches, and has been part of life in South Asia for thousands…Ingredient

Walnuts Walnuts: Jupiter's nut, the royal nut and baklava's best friend. History, customs and feasts, plus how to buy and store walnuts in Australia.Ingredient

Yogurt Yogurt is milk that friendly bacteria have soured and thickened, and it may be the oldest convenience food we have. Nobody invented it; it kept happening,…Ingredient