Bay Leaf
Issue: Is it edible?
Solution: It's not poisonous, but it won't wilt during cooking, leaving edges sharp enough to tear internal organs. By all means, include the flavorful leaves in soups and stews, but fish 'em out before dishing it up, or use the powdered variety.
Learn all about herbs
Spaghetti
Issue: Should I use a spoon or cut it up?
Solution: At home, go with what makes you comfortable. In public, minimize mess by placing the tines of your fork into the pasta pile, lifting it up a few inches to separate the strands, and using the side of your bowl or the edge of your plate as a barrier while you rotate the fork to wind the spaghetti into a bundle. If strands come loose, just lower the whole thing and try again.
Browse our pasta recipes
Take our pasta quiz
Cheese
Issue: Should I eat the rind?
Solution: If it's a soft cheese like brie or Camembert, go right ahead. However, if you're not a rind fan and you're sharing a communal cheese at a party, take a full slice -- including the rind -- and discard the unwanted bits on your own plate. No one likes a scooped-out wheel. For harder varieties, slice off any wax or paper, and save the rind to add fabulous flavor to hearty soups.
Browse our cheese recipes
Take our cheese quiz
Avocados
Issue: How do I get the pit out?
Solution: To pop an avocado open, just cut it in half, following the center of the pit, and twist the halves apart. Hit the still-embedded pit with a heavy knife until the blade lodges. Use this as a pivot to twist out the pit.
Cut into quarters and peel away the skin. Use the sweet, creamy flesh to make guacamole, slice into salads, spread on snadwiches, or just eat salted with a spoon.
Make guacamole
Rachel Been
Mango
Issue: How do I get to the fruit?
Solution: The skin is inedible and the pit is hard, but the succulent fruit makes this worth the effort. Cut the mango in half lengthwise along the pit. Score vertical slits through the pulp on one half making sure not to cut through the skin, and then follow with horizontal slashes. Grasp the skin on the back of the half and push it forward. This pushes the chunks out into an attractive, flower-like arrangement, as well as making the pieces easier to nip from the skin.
Browse our mango recipes
Coconut
Issue: How do I crack the shell without losing the milk?
Solution: Use a drill, nail or corkscrew to tap the coconut's milk before opening, to prevent loss. The eyes are the easiest entry points, so pop a hole in all three of the and invert the coconut over a glass or jar to let all the milk drain out. Then, find the seam that runs along the coconut's equator and thwack it with the blunt edge of a heavy knife, or against a hard step or street corner. The coconut should pop right open. If you're worried about flying shell fragments, wrap the coconut in a towel and give it a few sharp blows with a hammer, turning after each.
Browse our coconut recipes
Soft Shell Crab
Issue: Is the shell really edible?
Solution: It is, indeed, and it's pretty delicious. Crabs' shells don't expand, so they've got to molt as they grow larger. Before the new shell starts to form, the crab is, for several days, left with a thin, soft covering. Just clean, bread, fry and eat -- no mallets or special tools required.
Learn how to cook seafood
Jerusalem Artichoke / Sunchoke
Issue: What parts are edible, and how do I serve it?
Solution: The sweet, nutty flavor of this sunflower tuber can be enjoyed either raw or cooked. While the peel is edible, slice off harder parts with a knife or vegetable peeler. Slice them raw into salads or sandwiches, simmer and puree, bake or oven roast, sub for water chestnuts in stir fries, or cook in cream soups.
Browse our Jerusalem artichoke recipes
Rachel Been
Extra Sauce
Issue: Is it impolite to sop up extra sauce with a piece of bread?
Solution: Mop away -- just keep it tidy. Dabbing with a bit of bread is a fine way to savor every last bit of a tasty dish. Etiquette experts, however, look a bit askance at stabbing a piece of bread with a fork and shoving it around a plate as if one is swabbing a ship's bow.
Browse our sauce recipes
Lobster
Issue: How do I crack it open and get the meat out?
Solution: We could try to explain, but this illustration is worth a thousand words.
See our handy lobster eating diagram
