“What should I keep in my kitchen?” is a perennial question.
I’ve consolidated, organized and sorted down the suggestions from this thread.
There’s a number of issues to address.
Herbs, spices and seasonings are a staple – seems to me. But _which_ of those are a staple depends entirely on your cooking. Tex-Mex is a whole different kettle of herring than Greek, or Nordic, or Chinese, or . . . .
So my thinking is: list up the stuff you use. If you want the ability to cook up every flavor of every international cuisine known, gosh – you’ll need a big spice rack!
I’m hard pressed to envision some of the “fresh & perishable” stuff as a staple.
For example – scallions. I love ‘em. I buy them when I need them and I use up any leftovers asap. I would not consider maintaining a constant stock of fresh scallions in the fridge an economical thing. Same with any fresh herb – the stuff does not have a long shelf life and keeping “every fresh herb on hand at all times, a ‘staple’, could get quite expensive.
Mushrooms – ditto – but I do keep dried mushrooms.
Leeks – ditto.
Cream – when I need it for a dish I buy it. I’m not skinny enough to keep a quart of cream in the fridge.
Garlic – I keep fresh garlic. I’m a home cook. If I need so much garlic puree that it’s too much trouble….. ah, well can’t figger that one out.
On the other hand, I always have fresh celery, carrots and lettuce….
Dried soup? Okay, but not my style.
But I do keep cream of mushroom & celery + golden mushroom on hand at all times.
Cheese – processed sliced made the list. ok by me. I buy 8-10 different cheeses on a regular basis but there’s rarely a day my fridge doesn’t have half a block of cheddar. Edam is not a staple, to me. If you’re Dutch, Edam might be a staple and American processed cheese will not be a staple.
Tomatoes – diced: well, as a _staple_ I keep whole tomatoes in the can. I can easily make diced tomatoes out of whole tomatoes, but making whole tomatoes out of little pieces just takes too long.
Canned fish , etc – what is a staple and what is ‘stock for an emergency meal’?
I always have canned tuna and canned salmon on the shelf – it’s a “got stuck in traffic and need something fast” thing . . .
Uhmmm, chocolate is a staple?
“Staples” to me is the stuff you need to put together a meal without a lot of prior planning & ‘think ahead’ issues.
So some folks are coming to visit; ‘We’ll bring Dinner!” is the phone call.
Door bell rings, company is here – they brought dinner, which is:
- corn on the cob
- a bag of okra
- three skinned rabbits.
Got staples? Can make meal?
bacon - streaky back
baking powder
baking soda (my add)
basil
bay leaf
beans - canned
black pepper (my modification: black peppercorns for grinding)
bread - stale – frozen – for crumbs
bread crumbs – panko (my add)
butter
capers
carrots
celery
cheese slices - plastic
cheese – cheddar (my add)
chili pepper
chili powder
chilli sauce - sweet
chives
cocoa
coffee
cooking chocolate
coriander
corn kernels - frozen
corn meal – yellow or white to preference (my add)
corn starch
crackers
cream
cumin
custard powder
eggs
fish - canned
flour
fruits - canned
garlic
garlic puree
gravy mix – powdered / dry (my add, but I’ll never admit to it….)
grits (NOBODY said grits!)
herbs - fresh
honey
jam (note the list absence of peanut butter….)
lentils - puy
lentils - red
milk
mushrooms - dried
mustard seed
noodles
oatmeal (my add)
oil - canola
oil - olive
oil olive - extra virgin
old bay seasoning
onions
oregano
oregano - dried
packets of dried pasta
paprika
pasta
peas – frozen
peppers – green – diced – frozen (my add)
pickles – relish (!! my add)
potatoes
rice
rosemary
salt
salt really good for when it matters (malden's good)
sauce - hot (tapatio or crystal)
shallots
soup - dried - french onion - chicken noodle - cream of mushroom - cream of tomato
soy sauce
stock powder - beef
stock powder - chicken
stock powder - vegetable
sugar
tea
tomato paste
tomato puree (aka? ‘tomato sauce?)
tomatoes - diced
turmeric
twine or string
vanilla essence
vanilla extract (not essence)
vinegar - balsamic
vinegar - red wine
worcestershire sauce
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