"I'm able to utilize higher-end equipment and more esoteric ingredients, because I know people are more knowledgeable in both those categories," he said.

"Instead of that being necessarily negative, the esoteric new ingredients appeal to the younger, more adventurous consumer," said Mr. Morris, the marketing analyst.

Despite such esoteric ingredients las lucuma and purple corn, Peruvian cooking is generally robust peasant food, more earthy than elaborate.

Baby cilantro is the latest entrant in the great New York restaurant race to distinguish one chef's cooking from another's with esoteric ingredients like micro greens.

With soy sauce and citrus as its base, and a few other esoteric but readily available ingredients chipping in, why wouldn't it be?

She's good at making cross-cultural connections and giving brisk, exact explanations of ingredients both familiar and esoteric.

Haute cuisine also has an elegance about it, a refinement that implies unusual preparations and esoteric ingredients, often out of season.

The process can involve esoteric ingredients and procedures, or it can be quite straightforward.

Butter is a major component in the pastries, but so are more esoteric ingredients.

His inclination is toward simplicity and seasonal though esoteric ingredients, like Meyer lemons, persimmons and red bananas.