Note: Throughout October, Kerry's secret ingredient is liquid smoke. [Photographs: Kerry Saretsky] Liquid smoke has long held my fascination, but I was a novice before experimenting with it for this column. My first impressions? It costs only a couple of... More

"The harissa adds a punch; there's a pause when you first bite into the salade cuite, then you swallow and it just starts to burn." [Photographs: Kerry Saretsky] Previously Harissa-Fried Scallops » Harissa-Honey Glazed Roasted Salmon » All Secret Ingredient... More

"Ranging from paste in-a-tube to sauce in-a-jar, from fiesty to fiery, harissa varies by origin and destination." [Photographs: Kerry Saretsky] Previously Harissa-Honey Glazed Roasted Salmon » All Secret Ingredient coverage » North African food is known for its fragrant floral... More

I am personally delighted to introduce this month's Secret Ingredient because I grew up on it. Harissa is Moroccan ketchup, a North African chili paste, made from spicy red chilies and garlic. Most commonly sold in tubes, like the popular... More

"Squid ink is thick. Pastas and risotto rices wear it like a dark and briny coat." Nero di Seppia is Italian for squid ink. [Flickr: Rakka] When I graduated from college in 2005, my mother and stepfather took me on... More

When I was a girl, I had three little girlfriends: Kristen, Sarah, and Alexandra. Alexandra's mother was called Medusa--at least figuratively. Every time I stood quaking before her towering frame in her frigid marble kitchen, I turned to stone. One... More

Note: This recipe is part of Kerry Saretsky's series The Secret Ingredient. This month's featured ingredient is rose water. Kerry also gives recipes that use rose water for Melon and Mozzarella Salad with Rose Water Vinaigrette and Crisp Prosciutto and... More

Note: This recipe is part of Kerry Saretsky's series The Secret Ingredient. This month's featured ingredient is rose water. Kerry also gives recipes that use rose water for Blackberries and Raspberries with Rose Sabayon and Rosey Rosé. I like to... More

My grandmother was born in Casablanca, Morocco, just in time for the era of Rick's Café Americain. I think glamor must have been one of the components of Casablanca's municipal water in the 1940s, and my grandmother must have imbibed... More

Pomegranate molasses is not molasses at all, but rather a syrup made from concentrated pomegranate juice and sugar. I'll show you how to use this very sweet and tart ingredient in cookies and barbecue sauce. More