Parsley

Serve a dry Riesling to complement the subtle ginger flavor of the roasted chicken.

A persillade is a mixture of chopped parsley - persil in French - and garlic that is added to dishes as a flavoring or garnish.

(Tonno alla Livornese) Of the countless preparations for tuna that diners will run across in coastal towns in Tuscany, this one is the most well known. It comes from Livorno, a populous port famous for its seafood restaurants. Simple and quick to put together, the dish combines the best of the area, from the delicious red tuna available mostly in spring and summer to the tomatoes that have become a hallmark of all of Italy. The sauce begins with a trito, a mixture of aromatic vegetables. Ripe tomatoes, a bay leaf and plenty of fresh basil complete it.

A classic of the Balearic Islands, where lobster is found in abundance, this stew (known as caldereta) is intensely flavorful and fun to eat. Live lobster is essential, since the tomalley (liver) is a key ingredient. Serve the stew with plenty of crusty country-style bread.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

"One night when friends were coming over for cocktails, I wanted to make some hors d'oeuvres," says Amy Sue Keck of San Diego, California. "Though most tapenades I've tasted have been made with black olives and anchovies, I only had green olives in my cabinet—and no anchovies! So I added some toasted almonds instead, and my green "tapenade" was a hit. I still make it this way."

Have the butcher "french" the lamb racks, which entails trimming the fat from the lamb and between the bones.

Though Rose Pascale always uses fresh octopus (sold as pulpo in many Latino markets), we found that it's generally sold frozen. You may need to special-order or reserve octopus from your local fish market several days ahead.

A classic Italian topping, gremolata is usually sprinkled over osso buco.

The tender greens in this salad are a wonderful foil for blue cheeses.

To accompany Chicken and Vegetable Sauté .

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. This recipe originally accompanied Halibut with Roasted Vegetables and Spicy Cilantro Sauce .

When buying flour tortillas, it is important that they be as fresh and soft as possible—neither rigid, dry, nor cracked around the edges. For the recipe below, the tortilla cake slices have a smokier flavor and are crisper when cooked on the grill than when broiled, which leaves them moister.