As we move toward the millenium most cooks are now emphasizing that it is not complexity and elaboration that make for great cuisine but quality of ingredients - sourcing the best produce at the right time of year, getting the best cut of meat and the freshest seafood, the finest oils, vinegars and spices. The difference between one variety of rice and another or one kind of olive oil and another can be making or breaking the dish. Also with the revolution in fusion cuisine and people's familiarity with foods and ingredients from around the world, supported by an increasingly broad range of our supermarkets, the modern everyday cook wants to know more about new ingredients and how to use them. This title guides the reader through this area offering an A-Z of every staple ingredient you will find in the modern cook's pantry, where to buy, what to select and how to look after it and incorporate it into your cooking. And a guide to the many varieties of rice, chillies, flour, herbs, exotic and everyday vegatables, diary products, oils and vinegars, meat, fish, deli goods, Far Eastern condiments which together forms a valuable reference book for cooks. The book also offers recipes to get the reader started with new ingredients.