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Welcome to the Schwartz glossary, an A to Z guide to cookery terms. Whether it's herbs and spices, names of dishes or cooking techniques, you'll find them here, along with suggested recipes and links to more information.

• Water Chestnuts
  • Not nuts as you might think, but actually corms, which are about the size of a walnut. Water chestnuts are used widely in Asian cuisine and have a sweet, but fairly bland flavour. The texture is unique; it is crunchy and wonderfully juicy. Readily available canned in water, water chestnuts can be eaten raw in salads or added to stir fries or slow-cooked dishes.
• White Sugar
  • Refined brown sugar, the molasses having been removed. Readily available as granulated and caster sugar in supermarkets. (See also Caster Sugar).
• White Wine Vinegar
  • Vinegar made from white wine, the quality depending on the white wine used in the first place to make it. Great for salad dressings and marinades, also used in mayonnaise and to flavour some sauces and stews. Readily available in supermarkets. (See also Vinegar).
• Wild Rice
  • Commonly sold in packets with long-grain rice, but also available on its own. Wild rice is not officially a grain, but the seeds of an aquatic grass that originated in the Great Lakes area of North America. Will quadruple in volume after cooking. Readily available in supermarkets.
• Worcestershire Sauce
  • A sauce made by Lea & Perrins, consisting of vinegar, tamarind, onions, garlic, molasses, anchovies, sugar and spices. Can be used as an alternative to soy sauce, but more commonly used to add a spicy sweetness to mince for cottage or shepherd’s pie, burgers and cheese on toast. Also an essential ingredient in a Bloody Mary cocktail. Readily available in supermarkets.