Lactose: Milk sugar.

Lagniappe: Term used to indicate an extra bonus or something added for good measure.

Lait: French for milk

Lake Herring: One of the most prized whitefish found in the Great Lakes and in Canada. May be prepared in any manner suitable for salmon. Also called "cisco" and "chub."

Laksa: An herb that grows wild in wetlands, it has a strong fragrant aroma, used for a special curry noodle dish in Singapore with the same name.

Langostino: Spanish for prawn

Langouste: French for Crawfish

Larder: To insert bacon fat into meat and poultry using special needles.

Larding: Salt pork strips inserted into meat

Lemonade: A popular beverage made of lemon juice, sugar, and water.

Lemon grass: A grass with a bulbous base that has a nice fragrant aroma

Lentils: Widely used in Greek kitchens and very popular in Indian kitchens where they call it dhals

Levulose: Sugar found in honey and fruits, also part of the invert sugar.

Liason: Thickening agent made from cream and egg yolk, used in sauces.

Licorice: With a somewhat minty flavor, only a few slices are enough to give a lingering flavor, used mainly in herbal soups by the Chinese.

Lime: A small round citrus fruit that turns yellow when ripe

Lingcod: A North American Pacific coast fish with a mildly sweet flavor and a firm, lean texture.

Litre: Measuring volume in metric format.

Lobster: This crustacean was used as bait until around 1880. Because dead lobsters spoil quickly, they should be cooked live if possible. (Live lobsters curl their tails under when picked up.) Look for curled tails on precooked lobsters.

Long Island Tea: An alcoholic beverage consisting of gin, vodka, cola and lemon. Tequila is sometimes also used.

Lotte: This large low-fat, firm-textured salt-water fish has a mild, sweet flavor that compares with lobster. Sometimes referred to as "poor man's lobster." Also called "angler fish," "monkfish," and "goosefish."

Lutefisk: Means lye fish, white fish preserved in a lye solution of birch ash, also known as saltcod.

Lychee: A treasured seasonal fruit native of Fujian, China. It has a thin hard shell that is easy to press open, it contains a small pit; the taste is sweet with a hint of sourness.