COOKING: How to stock a pantry

A well-stocked pantry staples ensure cooks have everything they need to make a meal

Whether overhauling or starting a pantry, you don’t need a dedicated room; just free some space in the freezer, refrigerator and cupboards, in this case a closet under the stairs.
Democrat-Gazette photo illustration by Kelly Brant and Celia Storey
Whether overhauling or starting a pantry, you don’t need a dedicated room; just free some space in the freezer, refrigerator and cupboards, in this case a closet under the stairs. Democrat-Gazette photo illustration by Kelly Brant and Celia Storey

For many cooks, it's an eternal goal: having a well-stocked pantry. You may crave shelf systems and bulk ingredients, and sparkling new containers to keep them in. But look more closely at those catalogs and Instagram posts, and ask yourself: Will my spice jars ever truly match? Do I really need to store apples in a hanging basket? Often, the ideas are about decorating, not cooking.

A truly functional pantry may not look flawless. But it can be the key to more and better cooking — as long as the contents fit your real-world cooking style and skills, so that you actually use what's in it.

A traditional English or American pantry (in houses fortunate enough to have multipart kitchens and extra food to store) was a small room off the kitchen to protect everyday ingredients, such as flour, sugar and bread, from the heat of the stove. Along with a larder (for cured meat, lard and the foods preserved in it), a buttery (for wine, cider and beer, stored in barrels or "butts") and a storeroom for dried and preserved produce, a pantry produced not only meals but a self-reliant kitchen.

A modern pantry can and should play all those parts. So we redefined the word to include the fresh and frozen staples that can make cooking easier and more productive. For example, whole-milk yogurt and lemons wouldn't always have qualified as pantry ingredients. But now, those ingredients are used so often in recipes that it makes sense for cooks to keep them on hand. They last a long time in the refrigerator and can often eliminate the need for a stop on the way home.

We've identified three types of home cooks among our readers, and created a pantry list for each one. Now, we know that no two people will agree on a list of staples, just as they will never agree on a perfect recipe for macaroni and cheese. Each list is a proposal, not a prescription. There's no reason to stock black beans if you like only red. There's no need to have everything here available at all times. You'll know your pantry is well stocked for your purposes when most of the time, you need only add one or two fresh ingredients to cook from scratch. Or even better, none.

Whether overhauling or starting a pantry, you don't need vats of homemade stock and a dedicated room; just free some space in the freezer, refrigerator and cupboards. So clear the decks: Take everything out, give it a hard look and decide what you can get rid of.

Carla Lalli Music, author of Where Cooking Begins (Clarkson Potter), is the food director at Bon Appetit, where the test kitchen is enormous and overflowing. But at home, she has been paring down her pantry for years. "I used to keep ingredients forever, even though they made me feel guilt and anxiety," she said, like a decade-old spice mix that her husband brought her from Paris and honey mustard that a friend contributed to a dinner party.

"I don't like honey mustard; I have never liked honey mustard," she said. "Why did I have to have this complicated relationship with it in my refrigerator door?"

When it comes to your own pantry, try to be ruthless. If you haven't used it in a year, get rid of it. Then restock with an eye to the things you're confident of using, and what you love to eat.

Music recommends the restaurant rule of ingredients: FIFO, or first-in, first-out. In other words, cook what you have in order of freshness, and don't let things linger. If that cauliflower you bought a week ago is beginning to wilt, cook it — even if you're not sure how you'll use it. Cooked ingredients are much easier to use up than fresh ones. If you use only the new ingredients, pushing the older ones to the back, they will disappear and then deteriorate.

A truly functional pantry can be the key to more and better cooking -- as long as the contents fit your real-world cooking style and skills.
(Tony Cenicola/The New York Times)
A truly functional pantry can be the key to more and better cooking -- as long as the contents fit your real-world cooking style and skills. (Tony Cenicola/The New York Times)

Used this way, pantry ingredients build a healthy ecosystem in your kitchen, defined as more cooking and less waste. When bacon, eggs and parmesan are defined as pantry ingredients, you already have the makings of multiple dishes: a big breakfast, a frittata for lunch, a dinner-worthy pile of fried rice. (If you keep packs of ramen on hand, you can even make a quick, one-pot pasta carbonara that is surprisingly close to the Roman original.) Add frozen spinach, lemons, and potatoes — all of which can be stored for many weeks — and another dimension opens up.

Finally, accept that your pantry will never be fully stocked and perfectly organized. Cooking creates change and disorder. Cans of tomatoes may never stack perfectly, spices may never live in matching containers, and your hot-sauce collection may always be attempting a takeover of the condiment shelf.

Think of it all as signs of life. And then, next year, start the process all over again.

ESSENTIAL

Oils and vinegars: Extra-virgin olive oil, neutral cooking oil (such as canola or grapeseed), red-wine vinegar, white vinegar or white-wine vinegar.

Cans and jars: Tuna, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken stock or vegetable stock (box-packed tastes better than canned), fruit jams and preserves, anchovies.

Spices and dried herbs: Kosher salt, red-pepper flakes, ground cayenne, curry powder, bay leaves, black peppercorns, sweet paprika, ground cinnamon, cumin, garlic powder or granulated garlic, dried thyme and dried oregano.

Grains and starches: Rice, one or two other grains (such as quinoa, oats or farro), dry pasta (one long, one short and chunky), plain bread crumbs, crackers, canned beans (white beans, black beans and/or chickpeas), dry lentils.

Nuts and nut butters: Walnuts, almonds, roasted peanuts, peanut butter (smooth and crunchy).

Condiments and sauces: Basic vinaigrette, mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, hot sauce, salsa, soy sauce.

Produce: Garlic, onions, all-purpose potatoes (such as Yukon Gold), lemons.

Dairy: Eggs, butter, cheeses (cheddar, Swiss, Parmigiano-Reggiano), milk or cream for cooking.

Freezer: Chicken parts, sausages, fish, shrimp, thick-sliced bread (for toast), corn, peas and other assorted vegetables, berries (and other fruit such as peaches and mango).

Baking: All-purpose flour, cornmeal, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla extract, honey, maple syrup, granulated sugar, brown sugar (light and dark), confectioners' sugar, bittersweet baking chocolate, semisweet chocolate chips, raisins or other dried fruit, cocoa powder.

EXPANDED

Oils and vinegars: Peanut oil, coconut oil, sesame oil, sherry or balsamic vinegar, apple-cider vinegar.

Cans and jar: Sardines, unsweetened coconut milk, whole Italian plum tomatoes, beef stock (box-packed tastes better than canned), olives (oil-cured and/or in brine), capers in brine.

Spices: Flaky salt, coriander, turmeric, smoked paprika, single-chile powders (such as ancho and pasilla), cardamom, za'atar, allspice, fennel seeds, dry mustard, garam masala (an Indian mix of warm spices), five-spice powder (a Chinese mix of spices), whole nutmegs.

Grains and starches: Rice noodles, grits or polenta, panko bread crumbs, dry beans.

Nuts and nut butters: Almond butter, tahini, pecans.

Condiments and sauces: Worcestershire sauce, hoisin, Thai red curry paste, fish sauce, anchovy paste, harissa.

Sweet potatoes and onions
Democrat-Gazette file photo
Sweet potatoes and onions Democrat-Gazette file photo

Produce: Russet potatoes, carrots, celery, limes, ginger, avocados, parsley, cilantro, green onions, bell peppers, fresh chiles such as jalapenos, serranos or Fresnos.

Dairy: Plain full-fat yogurt, more intense cheeses (pecorino, feta, blue cheese).

Freezer: Pancetta, artichoke hearts, homemade stock, homemade bread crumbs, fresh pasta, vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, cut and peeled winter squash, chopped onions), cooked grains.

Baking: Cake flour, whole-wheat flour, dark baking chocolate, vanilla beans, almond extract, powdered gelatin, molasses, light corn syrup, buttermilk powder, active dry yeast.

EXPERT

Oils and vinegars: Walnut oil, avocado oil, roasted sesame oil, pumpkin-seed oil, olio santo (Italian chile-infused oil), rice vinegar, mirin (sweetened Japanese rice wine), verjus (the juice of sour fruit like green apples), raspberry vinegar, tarragon vinegar.

Preserves and pickles: Pickled hot peppers, cornichons, kimchi, preserved lemons, roasted chiles, horseradish, capers, dried sausages such as saucisson sec and chorizo.

Spices: Hot smoked paprika, sumac, flaky dried chiles (such as Aleppo, Urfa or Maras), dried whole chiles (like ancho and arbol), marjoram, dukkah, baharat, shichimi.

Grains and starches: Dried pastas (bucatini, mezzi rigatoni or farfalle), spelt, pearl barley.

Pistachios
Democrat-Gazette file photo
Pistachios Democrat-Gazette file photo

Nuts and nut butters: Pine nuts, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds (pepitas), pistachios.

Condiments and sauces: Gochujang, mango chutney, miso, wasabi, dark soy sauce, Chinese oyster sauce, Asian chile bean pastes.

Produce: Shallots, fresh mint, fresh rosemary, lemongrass, fresh bay leaves.

Dairy: Ghee, creme ­fraiche.

Freezer: Edamame, curry leaves, makrut lime leaves, merguez (spicy lamb sausages from North Africa).

Baking: Bread flour, pectin, almond flour, tapioca pearls, rose and orange flower waters, gelatin sheets, black cocoa, currants, fresh yeast, sparkling sugar, pearl sugar, candied citrus rinds.

Food on 04/24/2019

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