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I heard Alton Brown once say that the average American only has about 200 ingredients in their cooking repetoire. Looking at my own pantry, I think it's pretty true..considering even my diverse (read: schizophrenic) pantry seems to always have the same few things. What strange or not-so-common staple foods do you guys tend to stock up on?
I know I always have:
Capers
A jar of kimchi (finished off as dinner tonight )
Fish, oyster, hoisin, and black bean sauces
Tahini
Hungarian smoked/hot paprika
A variety of Indian batter mixes
Pho bo soup cubes
Mung noodles
Sambal oelek
I think it's a product of too much cream of mushroom boredom growing up...
I always have miso, oyster sauce, anchovy paste,jalapenos, green chili, sea weed(nori), dried bonito flakes(katsuo), panko, mirin, sake, udon noodles...a few other Japanese must haves.
Every kind of dried lentil available.
Most types of dried legumes.
Chicken base, beef base, ham base, fish base.
Dried mushrooms.
Multiple varieties of pasta from multiple cuisines: the usual Italian shapes, plus lo mein, udon, cous-cous and others.
Pretty much everything that Penzey's Spices sells. That, by the way, is no exaggeration: out of curiosity, I just counted the contents our spice cabinet and there are 82 - that's EIGHTY-TWO - different varieties of herbs, spices, seasonings and mixtures from Penzey's. And the spouse uses all of them.
I'm on a quest to reduce the number of ingredients in my pantry & fridge, because it had really gotten out of hand.
That said, I always seem to have the following:
capers (my daughter eats these straight out of the jar)
anchovies
chopped ginger
silken tofu
real maple syrup
soy sauce
sofrito
three different flavors of tabasco sauce
a variety of oils & vinegars
tahini
nut butters
a variety of whole grains & beans
Last edited by formercalifornian; 02-08-2009 at 09:23 PM..
Probably my only heavy rotation item that others may not consider a staple is curry powder. I use it like most use salt and pepper. We also use barbecue sauce the way most use ketchup or mustard.
Anchovies AND anchovy paste
Garlic paste
Za'atar
Baharat
Sumac powder
Root beer extract
Vital wheat glueten
Pignolas
Achiote
Cardamom
Santols
Tamarind
Kefir
Red currants
Capers
Pickled peppercorns
Rose water
Arrowroot powder
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A few of mine
