We absolutely love this small-batch vinegar from French artisanal producer Huilerie Beaujolaise. With a bright and tangy vibrancy akin to tangerine, this vinegar almost tastes like a shrub, or drinking vinegar. Ubiquitous to Filipino cuisine, calamansi is a citrus hybrid between kumquat and mandarin orange.

This hot chocolate has only a few raw ingredients, yet the beverage has a wonderful depth and warmth, as well as a complex flavor: creamy, nutty and perfectly balanced between bitter and sweet. The addition of ground almonds makes for a silkier, buttery mouthfeel, especially if you whisk the milk constantly while heating it; this allows the nutty aroma of the almonds to permeate the drink for a richer sensation and fullness of flavor. And cinnamon, a defining feature of Mexican hot chocolate, is an ideal complement for cacao's bitter undertones, as its spicy aroma brightens hot chocolate while its floral accents match those in the drink. We also like how the warming spice cuts through the creamy milk so the drink is satisfying but not overly rich. We found this chocolate to a fragrant finish that is slightly reminiscent of coconut.

Vinagres de Yema’s Cepa Vieja falls somewhere between a balsamic and a red wine vinegar, with a sweet flavor and lingering hint of raisiny must that is typical of aged sherries. Aged in 100-year-old oak barrels, the final product has the complexity of every previous batch, as well as smoky notes from the oak itself. The company—founded by renowned winemaker Fernando T. De Terry y Galarza in Spain’s Andalucia—produces its vinegar via the solera method, the same process used to blend sherries of different ages. With the flavor profile of sherry vinegar that has been aged for 25 years, Cepa Vieja is the oldest vintage available from the company. Try it combined with sweet-tart grapes in our Roasted Chicken Breasts with Grapes and Sherry Vinegar.

Made from aromatic beldi lemons, this jammy-smooth puree is deliciously thick but melts easily—infusing every nook and cranny of a dish with bold flavor. Preserved lemons are widely used in North African cooking to add a burst of citrus and delicate funky tang to food, and Casablanca Market has harnessed the fruit’s unique flavor and blended it into a spoonable and scoopable format. The puree has a slightly-fruitier aroma and less salty flavor than whole preserved lemons, likely due to the the juices and oils being released during the blending process, and holds a similar texture to that of grated ginger—with a liquid-y halo of fragrant juice that forms around every dollop. Unlike a squeeze of regular lemon juice or dusting of zest, this unique product yields a softer character due to the lactic acid that forms during fermentation, which has a creamier flavor and texture that the zippy acidity found in fresh lemons—bringing brightness balanced with a seriously-addictive bite of sea salt.

Available in both crunchy and smooth varieties, this beloved Haitian condiment won’t appear in your average grocery store. The spread packs a deep natural sweetness underneath its prominent savory peanut flavor, with a moderate amount of heat that hits the palate later on from the earthy, aromatic chilies—noticeable, but never overwhelming, as it’s rounded out by the richness of the peanuts. Even considering its thick and delightfully-oozy texture, this product has a less sticky mouthfeel and more robust flavor than your typical natural peanut butter. It's thick, but not stiff and has a slight granularity that melts away when it hits the tongue into a smooth, creamy blend–with generous chunks of peanut studding the spread if you opt for the chunky version.

• Net Weight: 2 ounces
• Ingredients: New Mexico green chile
• Place of Origin: New Mexico

Rose water is the aromatic, subtly perfumed essence that defines the flavor of many of the baked goods of the Middle East; it has the remarkable capacity to cut through saccharine sweetness. We like that Mymouné's product tastes clearly like rose and has a natural, not chemical, flavor, so it isn't perfumey like supermarket versions.

No confection defies description like halva: dense yet flaky, creamy yet crunchy, sliceable yet spreadable. While the word “halva” can refer to a number of different sweets around the world, arguably the most popular version is tahini-based halva, a dense, semi-soft solid sweet that can be sliced and eaten, or flaked into airy, melt-in-your-mouth crumbles. The chocolate in Hebel & Co's halva is swirled in to create the perfect ratio of chocolate to soften the halva, yielding an especially soft, smooth texture. It's perfect for folding into baked goods or crumbling over oatmeal, yogurt or ice cream. We especially love how the ribbons of chocolate contribute sweet bursts of flavor but don't overpower the halva's nutty richness—think of this one as a sophisticated spin on chocolate and peanut butter.

After completing a tour of duty in Afghanistan, a team of U.S. Army veterans founded Rumi Spice, a company that grows, collects, and exports saffron, giving hundreds of local women well-paying jobs. It turns out that a good deal of saffron sold around the world is either old or made from dyed corn silk—Rumi Spice sells the real thing. This is premium saffron: collected by hand, sustainably farmed and ethically sourced. Here at Milk Street, we support the notion of helping the women of Afghanistan earn their own money directly for the first time in their lives.

Haku Black Garlic Shoyu is a sweet, salty, and umami soy sauce with complex aromas of earthy must. Brewed with wheat, shoyu has a sweeter, rounder flavor than other types of soy sauce, and black garlic imparts hints of fig, raisin, molasses that complement this shoyu’s subtle sweetness. Black garlic shoyu is often used in Japan as a finishing shoyu or as a stand-alone ingredient.

This organic sesame oil, pressed by one of Japan’s top sesame growers, is without equal—earthy, clear, bold and strong. We consider sesame oil a pantry staple and use it in innumerous dishes like our Hot Oil Chard, easy and rib-sticking Sesame Stir-fried Pork with Shiitakes or sesame sauce for noodles.

Not to be confused with your run-of-the-mill peanut butter, Il Colle del Gusto’s Arachidella Peanut Spread is decadently sweet—elevating the beloved taste of the childhood favorite with the molasses-y depth of caramelized brown sugar. Petite flecks of candied peanut add a toffee-like crunch to every spoonful, while a silken base of extra-virgin olive oil yields a luscious, caramel-like texture. And as we learned from the ever-popular “Nutella,” the Italian suffix “ella” is tacked onto a word to show affection, so there’s no question why it’s used in the name of this divine spread.