1,165 articles
HP Sauce
HP Sauce is the defining British brown sauce, a tangy tamarind-and-date condiment created by Nottingham grocer Frederick Gibson Garton, sold for £150, launched nationally in 1903 by the Midland Vinegar Company, and now owned by Kraft Heinz.
Huarache (food)
Huarache (Mexican food), also called guarache: an elongated oval masa antojito shaped like the huarache sandal, invented in 1935 Mexico City by Carmen Gómez near Canal de la Viga, filled with beans and topped with meat, salsa, and cheese.
Hummus
Hummus (حُمُّص, Arabic for chickpeas) is a Middle Eastern dip of mashed chickpeas, tahini, lemon, garlic, and olive oil; its modern combined recipe is documented only centuries after its ingredients, and it is now a global packaged food.
Hyderabadi biryani
Hyderabadi biryani, from Hyderabad, India, is a dum-cooked kacchi-style dish of raw marinated meat and basmati rice from Nizam-era kitchens, distinct from Lucknowi pakki and Kolkata potato biryanis.
Hydrolyzed poultry protein
Hydrolyzed poultry protein, a peptide-rich ingredient from enzymatically hydrolyzed poultry protein or by-products, used as protein source and flavoring; GRAS via GRN 1132 (Norilia AS), FDA no questions Jan 29, 2024.
Hydrolyzed sardine protein
Hydrolyzed sardine protein, also called sardine peptide (Valtyron), is an enzyme-hydrolyzed sardine muscle protein ingredient; GRAS via FDA GRN 360 (Senmi Ekisu, 2011), EFSA-safe to 0.6 g/serving.
Ice cream
Ice cream: frozen, aerated dessert of dairy fat, sugar and ice, legally defined in the US at 10% milkfat; ancient origins, industrialized after 1851 (Fussell) and 1926 continuous freezer.
Ice cream cone
Ice cream cone: edible wafer or waffle container for ice cream, popularized at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Types include waffle, sugar, and cake cones; earlier patents by Valvona (1902) and Marchiony (1903).
Ice cream sandwich
An ice cream sandwich is a frozen dessert of ice cream between two baked goods, usually thin chocolate wafers, born as late 19th century New York street food.
Ice pop
Ice pop: frozen flavored water or juice on a stick, also called ice lolly, paleta, or ice block; Popsicle is a brand. Accidentally invented by Frank Epperson in 1905, patented 1924.
Ichijū-sansai (一汁三菜)
Ichijū-sansai (一汁三菜), "one soup, three sides," is the basic Japanese meal structure: rice, one soup, and three dishes (one main, two sides), excluding rice and pickles from the count. Rooted in Muromachi honzen cuisine, it underpins washoku and the teishoku set meal.
Icing (food)
Icing (also called frosting, especially in the US) is a sugar-based coating for cakes and cookies. Basic icing is confectioners' sugar plus liquid; frosting is thicker and whipped, icing thinner and glossier; royal icing dries hard for decorating.
Idli (இட்லி)
Idli (இட்லி), also idly, is a South Indian steamed cake from fermented rice and urad dal batter, leavened by Leuconostoc and Streptococcus. Earliest mention iddalige, c. 920 CE; modern form 10th–13th century; origins contested, possibly Indonesian kedli.
Incense
Incense: aromatic resins, woods, herbs, and oils burned as sticks, cones, coils, powders, or loose resins for worship, meditation, and home fragrance; frankincense trade from Arabia, forms compared, and WHO-exceeding emissions.
Instant noodles
Instant noodles are precooked, dried wheat noodles prepared with hot water, invented as Chicken Ramen by Momofuku Ando in Japan in 1958. Global demand reached 124.21 billion servings in 2025; China/Hong Kong, Indonesia, and India lead.
Isomaltooligosaccharides
Isomaltooligosaccharides (IMOs), glucose oligomers with alpha-1,6 linkages made from starch, are sweeteners and bulking agents in bars and shakes; recent work reclassifies them as slowly digestible carbohydrates rather than prebiotic fiber.
Italian beef
Italian beef: a Chicago sandwich of thin-sliced slow-roasted beef with jus, sweet peppers or giardiniera on an Italian roll; invented by Italian immigrants, famous via Al's Beef, Mr. Beef, and The Bear.
Italian ice
Italian ice, called water ice in Philadelphia, is a dairy-free frozen dessert of water, sugar, and fruit flavoring encompassing sorbetto, granita, and slush, brought to the US by Italian immigrants.
Jajangmyeon (짜장면)
Jajangmyeon (짜장면), Korean zhajiangmian noodles, is a Korean-Chinese dish of wheat noodles in black chunjang sauce with pork and onions, born in Incheon after the 1883 port opening.
Jalebi
Jalebi (जलेबी), also jilebi or jilipi, is a South Asian sweet of fermented maida batter piped into spirals, deep-fried, and soaked in sugar syrup; descended from West Asian zalabiya, with imarti (jangiri) as its urad dal relative.
Jamaican patty
The Jamaican patty, also known as the Jamaican beef patty, is a baked half-moon pastry from Jamaica with a flaky yellow crust and spiced beef filling.
Jambalaya
Jambalaya, also spelled jumbalaya, is a Louisiana Creole and Cajun one-pot rice dish in which rice cooks with andouille, chicken, seafood, and the holy trinity; Creole (red) versions use tomatoes, Cajun (brown) ones do not.
Jamón
Jamón is Spanish dry-cured ham from the pig's hind leg, preserved by salt, drying and time. Covers serrano (white pigs, ETG) vs ibérico (Iberian breed, colored seals), curing mechanics, water activity, history from Roman times, and EU quality rules.
Jamón ibérico
Jamón ibérico is Spanish dry-cured ham from the Iberian pig breed, classified by breed percentage (100/75/50%) and feeding (bellota, cebo de campo, cebo) under RD 4/2014, with colored seals, four DOPs, and a 20-month minimum cure, distinct from serrano and prosciutto.
Japanese noodles
Japanese noodles (日本の麺類): udon, soba, somen, hiyamugi, and kansui-based ramen, plus adapted pasta and cold noodles. Defined by fresh-noodle labeling rules (soba ≥30% buckwheat), Edo-era east soba/west udon divide, and 1958 instant ramen.
Japchae (잡채)
Japchae, also spelled chapchae (잡채), is a Korean dish of chewy sweet potato starch noodles stir-fried with vegetables, mushrooms, and usually beef, seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil.
Jarlsberg cheese
Jarlsberg (Jarlsberg®) is a Norwegian semi-hard cow's-milk cheese with large eyes and a mild, sweet, nutty flavor, developed in 1956 at the Agricultural University of Norway under Professor Ole Martin Ystgaard and made by TINE SA in Norway, the USA, and Ireland.
Jellied eels
Jellied eels are a traditional London dish of eels boiled and set in jelly, eaten cold with vinegar. An 18th-century East End specialty sold in pie and mash shops, now rare, made from the critically endangered European eel.
Jelly bean
Jelly bean: small bean-shaped candy with a firm sugar shell and soft chewy center, made by soft sugar panning over 7 to 21 days; first printed references 1886 or 1898, Easter candy since the 1930s, famously favored by Ronald Reagan.
Jerky
Jerky is lean meat cut into strips and dried to a shelf-stable snack; the name comes from Quechua ch'arki via Spanish charqui, with Native American origins, USDA safety rules (160°F precook, aw ≤ 0.85), and 12-month commercial shelf life.