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.

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

This bourbon barrel-aged fish sauce is mellowed by seven months of sitting in oak, so the earthy, meaty funk that one expects from any fermented fish product is beautifully balanced by a complementary sweetness. BLiS's product is also rounded out with soft notes imparted by the seven-month aging process: warming spices, vanilla, and fruit woods, as well as a subtle smoky depth.

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.

Produced from hand-picked apples, not the low-grade and windfall apples most companies use, and aged in oak barrels for two years before bottling, Little Apple Treats cider is bright and sharp, with a bold apple flavor and subtle caramel tones contributed by the barrel aging. This is the best American apple cider vinegar we’ve tasted, every bit on par with the fancy, expensive French stuff from Normandy.

This small-batch vanilla extract from Kansas-based Vain Vanilla is prepared completely by hand using only the best ingredients. The Original Baker's Blend is made with top-shelf rum that emphasizes vanilla's sweet characteristics and adds its own cane-sugar dimension. We especially love that Vain Vanilla leaves its vanilla pods in the bottle, which has two benefits. First, over time the extract will continue to deepen in color and become more complex as the pods release more flavor compounds. Second, when you're done with the vanilla extract, you can still slice open the pods and use the beans themselves in your desserts.

Enjoy the best of both worlds with Graza’s “Drizzle & Sizzle” combo pack of extra-virgin olive oils. Grown and made in Jaen, Spain, the country where about half the world’s olive oil is produced, Graza uses 100% picual olives for both their blends of extra virgin olive oil. Use “Drizzle” for finishing, made from olives harvested by hand in October when they are still young, green and not fully ripe. The younger olives make an olive oil that is full of attitude, grassy and peppery, with a spicy zip that finishes a dish beautifully. “Sizzle” is for everyday cooking, made from picual olives harvested in December and January, when they are more mature and juicy. Once pressed, “Sizzle” is a bit more mellow and milder in flavor—though still with a grassy, peppery bite—perfect for roasting, searing, poaching, pan frying, baking and marinating. Both versions also come packaged in an easy to use squeeze bottle, so you can emulate exactly what chefs do in restaurants.

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.

Red Miso is stronger, saltier and more assertively flavored than yellow or white miso due to its six-month aging process and has a higher proportion of soybeans for a richer taste. This particularly interesting version has sweet flavors reminiscent of sherry and milk chocolate that are perfect for pairing with red meat and other robust dishes.

This incredibly rich syrup has notes of butterscotch, honey and toasted sugar, with a heady base of vanilla and dried fruit. A member of our kitchen team likened its richness to a melted Werther's candy. It’s medium-bodied, which means it can easily be drizzled, but never too watery like store-bought versions. Compared to others, this one has a strong “true maple” flavor to it—nothing like more run-of-the-mill syrups that often have an off pine taste. 

Otherwise known as “little waterfalls” in Italian, cascatelli was created to be an accessible pasta option that enhances the eating experience with maximized “forkability,” “sauceability” and “toothsinkability.” Made from high-quality North American wheats and slow-dried for over nine hours, Pashman’s succeeds in hitting all three categories. We love that it has a good toothsomeness and clean pasta flavor, plus there are no eggs in the dough which keeps it from being too rich and tender. The thing that really sets apart this experimental pasta shape though is the texture. Not only do the ruffles, frills, right turns and curved shape keep sauce clinging on, but each bite becomes a sensory experience for your mouth too. This pasta is the perfect form to serve with a chunky sauce, Rather than finding bits of sauce at the bottom of your bowl like you would with other kinds of pasta, cascatelli will hold on effortlessly.

Sarap is the Tagalog word for “delicious” or “tasty,” and Super Sarap Sauce, small-batch Filipino condiment made in San Francisco, certainly lives up to the name. Savory, tangy, sweet, citrusy and a little peppery, this powerhouse sauce is unlike anything we’ve ever tasted. The pairing of calamansi, a tart citrus that combines lemon, lime and orange flavors, with mushroom, tamari and sugar adds salt, acid, umami and brightness to any dish. If we were to liken it to anything else on the market, it’s closest to a mixture of ponzu and Worcestershire sauces—but the comparison doesn’t do it justice. And with a relatively thin consistency, it’s easy to mix into sauces, dressings, use as a marinade, coat noodles, tacos, eggs or french fries.

Translating to “grilled meat” in Japanese, yakiniku is a social style of cooking and eating around a communal grill. Popular throughout Japan, family and friends gather around a tabletop grill to cook meat, vegetables and fish together before dipping them into a several kinds of yakiniku sauces. Shibanuma’s Yakiniku BBQ Sauce is inspired by this concept. Crafted by a 330-year-old esteemed Japanese soy sauce maker, it is no surprise that the first ingredient in this sauce is an umami-rich soy sauce, which is brewed and aged in wooden barrels. The soy is then combined with onion, fruity apple and zingy sansho pepper—a fragrant and floral Japanese peppercorn—to cut through the richness and balance out the flavors. The result? A complex grilling sauce that works just as well as a marinade as it does drizzled over rice.

Grown and made in Jaen, Spain, the country where about half the world’s olive oil is produced, Graza uses 100% picual olives for their “Sizzle” extra virgin olive oil. It’s an EVOO that can stand up to heat, unlike other EVOOs that aren’t meant to be cooked with and only used to finish. The single origin olives in “Sizzle” are harvested by hand in December and January, when they are more mature and juicy. Once pressed, they make an olive oil that is a bit mellower and milder in flavor—though still with a grassy, peppery bite—perfect for everyday cooking. Besides being a flexible oil to use in whatever you’re cooking, we also love that “Sizzle” is packaged in a squeeze bottle, so you can emulate how chefs cook in restaurants. Use “Sizzle” to roast, sear, poach, pan fry, bake, marinate and more.

These decadent, chocolate-cloaked morsels showcase the hazelnut’s rich flavor with a sweet and luxurious twist. The producer cultivates the Jefferson varietal of hazelnut—known for its extra-buttery, bold, warm taste and generous size—in the fertile soil of the Willamette Valley. After growing them using sustainable methods on their family farm, Ash Creek harvests the nuts during the final week of October before cleaning them and double-dipping them in premium milk chocolate in small batches.

Grown and made in Jaen, Spain, the country where about half the world’s olive oil is produced, Graza uses 100% picual olives for their “Drizzle” extra-virgin olive oil, specifically made for finishing. The single origin olives are harvested by hand in October, when they are still young, green and not fully ripe. Though a bit stubborn to pull off the tree, once pressed, they make an olive oil that is full of attitude, grassy and peppery, with a spicy zip that finishes a dish beautifully. Besides a punchy flavor that adds depth to whatever you add it to, we also love that “Drizzle” is packaged in a squeeze bottle, so you can emulate how chefs cook in restaurants. Use “Drizzle” to finish just about any dish, from meat and vegetables to popcorn and ice cream. And since it’s a finishing oil, be sure to keep it off the heat to maintain its delicate flavor.

Soft and mildly sweet with savory, rich undertones, black garlic is an umami-packed ingredient that sets itself apart from normal garlic, which can be sharper and pungent. Still not found in most grocery stores, black garlic has grown in popularity in recent years as a simple way to add a complex, earthy-sweet boost to dishes. This Japanese Black Garlic Paste from Yokofuku is made from garlic planted in mid-September in Kagoshima Prefecture, an area with active volcanoes that makes for the most fertile soil. It’s harvested in early June, then steamed in a pot to create a constant temperature and humidity, which helps turn its enzymes from white to black—no additives or coloring required. Reminiscent of roasted garlic but a bit sweeter, the flavor is subtle yet deeply rich with tart hints of prunes and molasses. Ready to use right out of the jar without making a sticky, pungent mess of your hands or cutting board, add to sauces, aiolis, eggs, noodles, rice, marinades, meats and more.

An exclusive Milk Street staff favorite and chock-full of Japanese-grown garlic, Yokofuku’s “More More Garlic” Teriyaki Sauce brings bold, sweet, garlicky flavor to just about anything you add it to. Planted in mid-September in Kagoshima Prefecture, an area with active volcanoes that makes for the most fertile soil, the garlic in this sauce is harvested in early June and combined with soy sauce from the Kyushu region, mirin, sesame and oyster sauce for a punchy, thick final product. Right upfront you’ll taste salty soy combined with pungent garlic, then notes of sweet, nutty sesame, plus a little bit of acid and funk from the mirin and oyster sauce. Use this delightfully textured sauce as a marinade or dipping sauce for barbecued meats, roasted veggies and tofu; toss with noodles and rice or add for an instant flavor booster to soups.