Vanilla

Floral, woody and incredibly complex. While we associate it with sweetness, vanilla itself is quite bitter. It acts more like a perfume for your food, enhancing other flavours and making sweet things taste even sweeter.

Vanilla has a few antioxidants, which protect your cells. Mostly though, you're using it for the flavour. And perhaps a bit of calm if you're the sort of person who believes in that kind of thing.

The best vanilla is heavy and oily. Look for pods that are dark, plump and flexible enough to bend without snapping.

Avoid cheap extracts that list 'vanillin' as the main ingredient. It is a synthetic knock-off made from wood pulp or coal tar. Buy 'pure' vanilla extract or bean paste with visible seeds.

Store pods in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. Never put them in the fridge; the cold will cause them to dry out and the vanillin to crystallise on the surface.

If your pods do get dry, soak them in a little warm water or milk before using to wake up the oils.

Use it to lift the sweetness in cakes, custards and creams.

Don't ignore the savoury potential. A tiny drop in a tomato sauce can cut through acidity, or use it to glaze roasted root vegetables like carrots and parsnips.

Always add extract at the end of the cooking process if possible. High heat evaporates the complex aromatics you paid for.