STASHING

With a well-rounded supply of ingredients in your kitchen, you can resourcefully cobble a meal together without having to go to the store all the time. If you’re thoughtful enough about which items you stock, a pantry dinner—and breakfast or lunch—can be as impressive as one you planned for days or bought special products for. But having an overcrowded pantry or jam-packed fridge is its own problem—you don’t want so much stuff that it goes to waste or takes up precious counter space.

Here, I’ve outlined my ideal inventory. I believe it strikes a perfect balance. It also happens to be exactly what you’d want on hand if you were going to make most of the recipes in this book—all you’d have to do is procure the necessary fresh produce, if that. I’ve divided this list according to where the items are stored and broken each section down further, noting the items I deem essentials and which are nice but not necessary.

You’ll notice one exception: the selection of spices. Before you ask why that list is so much lengthier and whether you really need so many, I will tell you spices are transforming agents that are crucial to building flavor. Those small seeds and powders are responsible for turning a dish into something Italian, Indian, Mexican, Moroccan, Japanese, or a wonderful and original combination thereof. You can go anywhere in the world, culinarily, with a pinch or two. They can make even stone soup into the most bewitching of aromatic brews. Plus, they don’t take up much room and they have longevity—when whole, they can last for up to four years; when ground, two to three. Some dried herbs peter out after one year, but still! Obviously, the sooner you use them, the more potent they’ll be. But if you store them properly, they’ll stand you in good stead for a while. Make sure you keep them in airtight containers in a cool dark place. Like vampires, they are zapped of their strength if exposed to direct sunlight.

Always try to seek out the best-quality ingredients you can afford. They really do yield better-tasting results.

PANTRY

DRY GOODS

Necessities

All-purpose flour

Baking chocolate (dark, semi-sweet or bittersweet, and milk)—I use Valrhona baking disks; the Guanaja 70% dark chocolate and Bahibé 46% milk chocolate are my go-tos. You can also work with bars of chocolate—cut them up into 1 × ½-inch rectangles. Ultimately, what matters is getting the best-quality option available to you.

Baking powder

Baking soda

Bread

Bread crumbs or panko crumbs

Brown sugar (light or dark)

Cocoa powder

Cornmeal (fine ground or polenta)

Dried beans

Dried pasta (small shape like orecchiette or longer noodle like spaghetti)

Garlic

Granulated sugar

Oats (old-fashioned rolled or steel-cut)

Potatoes

Rice (long grain like basmati or jasmine, or medium grain like Arborio)

Bonuses

Almond meal/flour

Coconut sugar

Confectioners’ sugar

Crackers

Demerara or turbinado sugar

French’s Crispy Fried Onions

Instant espresso powder

Sun-dried tomatoes, dry

Toasted nori

SPICES

Allspice, ground

Allspice berries

Aniseeds

Bay leaves, dried

Black mustard seeds

Black peppercorns—Whenever a recipe calls for the ground stuff, I grind it fresh so I get the spice at its most concentrated, potent best.

Caraway seeds

Cardamom (green), ground

Cardamom pods (green)

Chili pepper flakes

Chili peppers, dried—Consult the Scoville scale to find the chilies in your desired range of heat. Note that a pepper’s size is inversely proportionate to its ability to burn.

Cinnamon, ground

Cinnamon sticks

Cloves, whole

Colman’s mustard powder

Coriander, ground

Coriander seeds

Cumin, ground

Cumin seeds

Curry powder

Fennel seeds

Ginger, ground

Juniper berries

Nigella seeds

Nutmeg, ground

Nutmeg seeds

Salt—In this book, if a recipe doesn’t specify type, you can assume I mean fine table salt or sea salt; they’re interchangeable in small quantities (up to 1 tablespoon). Other times, I’ve called for coarse sea salt, kosher salt, or flake salt. The latter is used primarily as a finishing salt for its light crunch; Maldon is probably the best known, while fleur de sel, a strain of flake salt from Brittany, France, is prized for its delicate texture and flavor. You should have a fine salt, kosher salt, and some type of flake salt in your pantry.

Smoked paprika

Sumac, ground

Thyme, dried

Turmeric, ground

Vanilla beans—Buy your vanilla beans in bulk for better value, and try to use them within a year. If you have any left over, make vanilla extract: slice the beans open, shove them into a small tinted glass bottle, and cover with rum, bourbon, or vodka. To get the seeds out of a vanilla bean, place it on a cutting board and use a sharp paring knife to split it down the middle. Holding the tip of the bean, use the dull side of the blade to scrape the seeds away from the pod, swiping vertically, away from you, down the entire length, from the tip to the base.

White pepper, ground

White sesame seeds

Yellow mustard seeds

CANNED + JARRED GOODS

Necessities

Anchovies, in olive oil

Canned tomatoes, whole and chopped—I recommend San Marzano.

Cannellini beans

Capers, in brine

Chickpeas

Coconut milk

Tuna, in oil

Bonus

Pickles—I like bread-and-butter or sweet gherkins.

CONDIMENTS + SPREADS

Necessities

Dijon mustard

Fruit jam

Harissa

Hoisin sauce

Honey

Honey mustard

Hot sauce—You’ve got to have at least one kind, even if the mere mention of the word spicy makes you start to sweat. They come in varying degrees of heat, amounts of acid, and shades of pepper flavor. Some options are Tabasco, sriracha, gochujang, piri piri, sambal oelek, and pepper sauce.

Ketchup

Maple syrup

Mayonnaise

Mirin—This Japanese sweet wine, one of the mainstays of its native country’s cuisine, has been adopted into Western cooking. It can be added to other sauces, whisked into vinaigrettes, combined into marinades, and stirred into soups. It’s great for mellowing salty flavors or sneaking in a subtle sweetness. You need just a splash or two.

Nut butter

Soy sauce—In Japan and China, what we here think of as “regular” soy sauce is considered “light.” For most of us, this is the go-to, and Kikkoman tends to be the brand of choice. There is also dark soy sauce, which I like to keep in my kitchen, too. It’s thicker, slightly sweet, and unexpectedly less salty.

Tahini

Tomato paste

Bonuses

Chocolate-hazelnut spread

Date syrup

Mango chutney

Pomegranate molasses

Tomato jam

Worcestershire sauce

OILS

Necessities

Coconut oil—Throughout this cookbook, I call for unrefined coconut oil because I want it to impart its flavor. The refined variant loses much of its coconutty taste and comes close enough to being a neutral oil that you can use it in place of one of those, if it’s all you have.

Extra-virgin olive oil

Neutral oil—You’ll often see this expression referenced for sautéing or frying. It describes any aroma-less oil that won’t interfere with the flavors of your ingredients. Canola, peanut, sunflower, safflower, vegetable, and grapeseed oils all qualify.

Sesame oil

Bonus

Olio nuovo—This translates from the Italian as “new oil,” which is exactly what it is—the just-pressed, unfiltered oil from the first-harvested olives among the annual fall crop. Grassy and fruity, sometimes peppery, it’s usually recognized by its Kermit-the-Frog green color and intense flavor. As a finishing agent, it brings magic to salad, bread, fresh ricotta, soup, and even gelato. It’s my first choice for any olive oil–based baking or dessert-related dish. Don’t waste it on sautéing or frying, or anything that shouldn’t have a pronounced olive-oil taste.

VINEGARS

Necessities

Balsamic vinegar

Rice vinegar (unseasoned)

Bonuses

Apple cider vinegar

Red wine vinegar

Sherry vinegar

White wine vinegar

Refrigerator

Necessities

Apples

Butter—In this book recipes call for unsalted butter.

Crème fraîche (or sour cream)

Dried fruit

Eggs

Fresh herbs—Parsley, mint, dill, cilantro, chives, oregano, thyme, rosemary, chervil, marjoram, verbena, rose geranium, savory, tarragon…they belong in the fridge, except basil, which should be kept on your counter, away from direct sunlight, in a jar with a couple of inches of water. Rinse herbs under cold water, lightly shake them off, run them through a salad spinner, and pat them with a paper towel.

Lemons

Miso—In this cookbook, I use white miso. Also known as shiro miso, the fermented soybean paste is considered the “sweet” or “mellow” member of the miso family.

Onions

Parmesan cheese

Plain Greek yogurt (I prefer full fat)

Shallots

Bonuses

Almond milk

Buttermilk

Chinese sausage (lap cheong)—You’ll find this easily online through specialty Asian purveyors or even Amazon. It’s also sold in the markets of Chinatowns across the country.

Labneh

Leeks

Limes

Olives—When you’re dealing with especially salty olives, rinse and pat them dry before applying them to your recipe. Kalamata, niçoise, picholine, and Castelvetrano are the varietals suggested in this cookbook.

Oranges

Ricotta, fresh

FREEZER

Necessities

Bacon

Nuts—These will do fine for a few months if you store them in an airtight container at room temperature. But you can keep them in the fridge for six months, or in the freezer for a whole year. This means you can buy them in bulk—a more economical choice—and then use them over a relatively long period of time.

Peas (green)

Vanilla ice cream

Bonuses

Coconut (finely shredded, unsweetened)

Coconut chips (unsweetened)

Stock—Whether you make your own stock or buy good-quality fresh or frozen stock from a specialty market or butcher, it will be better than any of the canned or boxed offerings, although those are fine. Chicken and vegetable stocks are good all-purpose choices.