The famed Portland gourmand James Beard once wrote that oysters are best eaten on the half-shell “with nothing to enhance them except lemon, a bit of grated fresh horseradish or a mignonette pepper ...

The Japanese spice mixture shichimi togarashi -- shichi means "seven" and togarashi means "chile peppers" -- contains seven ingredients: chile pepper, sansho peppercorns, orange rind, sesame seeds, ...

A good bowl of ramen seems unimprovable if not for the discreet, red-topped bottle often sitting beside it. Shake the jar and out falls an array of seasonings that brightens and heats simultaneously.