Casablanca Market Preserved Lemons from Morocco
Casablanca Market's preserved lemons have a bright, balanced flavor and they aren't overly salty or bitter like some brands. We like that they add a bold, piquant kick to dishes without being too sour, and their tender texture is perfect for chopping finely and incorporating into recipes.
Pure Indian Foods Alphonso Mango Puree
Rarely have we seen a mango puree in supermarkets and, if we do, it’s often full of sweeteners and additives. Made from Alphonso mangoes, which are renowned in India for their natural sweetness and buttery-smooth texture, this puree contains no added sugar or preservatives—it’s just pure, juicy mango. About five fresh mangos are packed into every jar of this luscious puree and its silky texture is pourable, yet decadent like yogurt, and has a rich, bright flavor that balances sweet and tart, akin to snacking on refreshing mangoes at their peak season.
Mymouné Pomegranate Molasses
I discovered this Pomegranate Molasses from Mymouné through a Cambridge restaurant called Moona; the Lebanese company makes all of its products by hand in small batches, and their pomegranate molasses is the sharpest and brightest I have ever tasted. The bottle will last a long time, and it is so much better than the sweeter, less balanced supermarket products. It's a a powerhouse ingredient used throughout the cooking of the Middle East and the Caucasus region that I guarantee you'll love. — Christopher Kimball
Mutti Triple-Concentrated Tomato Paste
Mutti Tomato Paste is tomato paste as it was originally intended. Traditionally, this ingredient was made by drying tomato sauce on wooden boards in the sun; likewise, Mutti's modern version has a sun-dried flavor and caramelized richness reminiscent of molasses. Yet the tomato paste is not overly sweet—as tomatoes cook, their amino acids break down, which produces savory umami compounds. And unlike most tubed tomato pastes which are double-concentrated, this version is triple-concentrated, so a little goes a long way. We far prefer it to other tomato pastes in tubes, not to mention canned varieties that inevitably have a metallic taste from reacting with acidic tomato juice.
Villa Jerada Harissa
Villa Jerada’s Harissa No. 1 is our favorite version of this North African red pepper paste for its bright, complex flavor. While many store-bought varieties have a one-dimensional spicy flavor, this harissa layers acidity and fruitiness with preserved lemons, a touch of vinegar and tomato paste for a lively, tangy condiment. Villa Jerada uses just enough high-quality Moroccan olive oil to make the harissa spreadable and smooth without diluting its flavor, as opposed to conventional brands that contain a high proportion of water and vegetable oil.
Milk Street Garlic Confit
The worst recipe ingredient is, “4 cloves garlic, minced.” You know that it is going to be hard to do, it will make a mess, and you will end up with garlic all over your cutting board and knife. Jarred supermarket garlics are, well, awful! They often taste bitter and harsh or lack flavor altogether. Our solution to this problem is to create a garlic confit—mellow but full-flavored and enhanced with a few nice touches, including bay leaves, Aleppo pepper, ghee, olive oil and a hint of lemon. You will never have to mince garlic again!
Angkor Food Lemongrass Paste
Angkor Food's Lemongrass Paste is an all-purpose curry paste made with bright and aromatic lemongrass, makrut lime leaves and galangal, balanced out by earthy garlic, onion and turmeric; fish sauce gives the paste a savory and complex boost.
Milk Street Sofrito
We created our sofrito to be the perfect building block to cook a wide variety of recipes in less time, based on the tradition of Italian and Spanish grandmothers who make this by the jar to simplify cooking and boost flavor. After much testing, we came up with an aromatic base of sautéed onions, carrots and celery, complemented by the bright tones of tomatoes, white wine and vinegar. For additional depth, it has earthy, umami notes from mushroom powder, aromatic notes of rosemary and thyme, and just a hint of heat from black pepper and Kashmiri chili powder. A few tablespoons of this jammy sofrito is all it takes to spread rich, concentrated power into soups, sauces, stews, braises and nearly anything else that needs a boost of big flavor.
Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen Hot Chili Sambal
This small-batch chili paste from Auria's Malaysian Kitchen has a wonderful chili-forward flavor, with a balance between the brightness of fresh peppers and the earthiness of dried chilies that makes it adaptable to all manner of recipes. The spice is rounded out with pungent garlic and a touch of sugar and vinegar, and the producer also uses shrimp paste in its recipe, which contributes umami flavor without any fishiness. As an ingredient for cooking, you can get more mileage out of sambal than hot sauce thanks to its thicker consistency, while its complexity makes it a great powerhouse ingredient for weeknight stir-fries. Try substituting sambal for the red chili flakes in our Thai Stir-Fried Spinach.
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