The best way to describe my pantry is West meets East. Specifically, Spain meets Japan—Spain for obvious reasons, and Japan because its food has long inspired me, and the Japanese pantry is filled with elegant but powerful flavor enhancers. The beauty of living and cooking in America is that we have access to flavors from all over the world. Take advantage of that—your vegetables will thank you.
EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
Those who tell you not to cook with extra-virgin olive oil have clearly never been to the Mediterranean. It’s the start and finish of nearly everything I cook. As is true of so much in the kitchen, Italy may be more famous for olive oil, but Spain does it better. Keep two bottles on your countertop, one for cooking and a nicer one for finishing dishes. Some of my favorites are Casas de Hualdo, Núñez del Prado, Marqués de Griñón, and Castillo de Canena.
FURIKAKE
I spend hours every month in the sprawling Asian markets in Falls Church, just outside of DC, and every time I come home with another version of this Japanese spice blend, a mix of sesame seeds, seaweed, bonito flakes, and other ingredients. Like almost everything great and good in the Japanese kitchen, it packs an umami punch, but it also brings texture to the party. My daughters will eat this stuff on anything.
PIMENTÓN
Pimentón, Spanish-style paprika, often but not always smoked, traveled across the Atlantic to US supermarkets more than a few years ago, a sign that Spanish flavors were slipping into the DNA of American cooking. Soups, stews, sofrito—all are improved by a few shakes of smoked paprika. Pimentón comes in several different versions—my favorite is the bittersweet type, and the best of all is pimentón de la Vera, made with smoked peppers from Extremadura. (We used bittersweet pimentón for all recipes in the book, but feel free to try spicy or even unsmoked pimentón whenever you like.)
ZA’ATAR
This blend of herbs and spices has been part of Middle Eastern cooking for centuries. There are as many versions as there are grains of sand, but you’ll find some mix of thyme, oregano, and sesame seeds in most. I put za’atar on the rice in my seaweed tacos and sprinkle it over roasted or grilled vegetables like onions, zucchini, and carrots.
PIPARRAS
Piparras are pickled green peppers from the Basque Country, with gentle but persistent heat. You’ll find them in all kinds of tapas and pintxos—from Spanish-style potato salad to the so-called first pintxo, the gilda, a skewer of an olive, anchovy, and piparra. I love them in a Bloody Mary.
HARISSA
Sriracha became the cool thing to keep in your refrigerator and blast on everything, but I’ve always found it a little one-dimensional—I’m not a huge lover of spice for spice’s sake. But harissa, made from a blend of peppers, garlic, and spices, has layers of complex flavor to go along with the heat.
MISO
It’s hard for me to think of anything in the vegetable world that doesn’t taste better with miso. Valencians might kill me, but I even like to stir a spoonful into my rice dishes from time to time. Keep both a light and a dark version in your fridge.
KOMBU
Kombu, a type of dried seaweed, is used most commonly in Japan to make dashi, the light broth at the center of the cuisine. I toss in a piece to add an extra layer of umami to many of my rice dishes and stews. The best stuff comes from the cold waters of Hokkaido in northern Japan.
SUMAC
The lovely electric twang, the brilliant vermilion color—there’s magic in this spice. Made from ground Middle Eastern berries, it adds a subtle layer of acidity to dishes. I love to add it to tomato sauces, rice, scrambled eggs, even guacamole.
NORI SHEETS
Vegetables of the sea! We buy these by the case at my house, eating them like chips for a light snack or using them as a light, crunchy vessel for our improvised tacos.
SEMPIO YONDU
We go through gallons of this Korean sauce every week at Beefsteak. Think of it as a vegetarian fish sauce, a concentration of plant-based glutamates that makes almost all savory food taste better.
PUFF PASTRY
I keep a few sheets of puff pastry in my freezer for freestyle tarts, pies, and empanadas. Pepperidge Farm is fine, but Dufour is the next level—made with butter instead of oil, with a flakier, more delicate texture.
SHERRY VINEGAR
Every pantry should have at least three or four vinegars, each with its own special place in your cooking: white vinegar for pickling, rice wine for Asian dishes, balsamic when you want that sweet, syrupy touch. But vinagre de Jerez, sherry vinegar, is king in my kitchen, an electric kiss of acidity to elevate gazpacho, lentils, dressings, and more.
FISH SAUCE
Everyone knows fish sauce as an Asian ingredient, but it was the Spaniards who popularized the world’s first version, called garum, a staple of the Roman Empire. Fish sauce is an instant flavor enhancer—a few drops add depth to roasted or grilled vegetables or long-simmered stews.
SOURCES
For all things Spanish—from jamón to rice to olive oil—I love Tienda.com. For sumac, za’atar, and other great spices, nobody beats Kalustyan’s (foodsofnations.com). And for the best in Asian pantry staples, AsianFoodGrocer.com delivers.