Everyone’s kitchen is different, some people have amazing gadgets, deluxe ovens and the best pans. Try to see these things as useful but not essential, going back to basics, are you able to do the following:
- Chop stuff up?
- Heat up a pan on the hob?
- Cook something in an oven?
- Open a tin?
Yes? Good, we are 90% of the way there.
having a few decent knives (and the means to keep them sharp), some good quality pans and some nice oven dishes/roasting trays is not only going to make the food you make better; it will probably enrich your cooking experience.
Kitchen Cupboards
In terms of a ‘larder’ i.e. kitchen cupboards. I tend to have the following stuff in and a lot of my cooking reflects that. It makes shopping relatively easy if you have a few staples rather than random ingredients that you use once and then sit at the back of the cupboard.
- Onions, garlic, fresh ginger (in curries, the holy trinity)
- Shallots (I like the large echalion ones)
- Fresh green and red chillies, I like finger chillies/birds eyes but up to you.
- Tinned plum tomatoes (I tend to find them better than chopped toms)
- Tins of beans/lentils/pulses – (Chick peas, green lentils, kidney beans, borlotti beans, cannellini beans, black beans, pinto beans are my usual ones) – great for bulking out stuff and veggie options.
- Decent cooking oil; high quality rapeseed and good quality olive oil.
- Tomato puree, tomato ketchup, Lea &Perrin’s Worcestershire sauce
- Chicken/beef/veggie stock pots (the jelly like Knorr ones usually)
- Good quality sea salt (either Anglesey or Maldon) – Salt is something I have become slightly snobby about (sorry), I am convinced it makes a massive difference to flavour.
- The following spices and dried herbs:
- chilli powder, turmeric, paprika, smoked paprika, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fresh black peppercorns, oregano (best of the dried herbs), cayenne pepper, fennel seeds, garam masala, tandoori masala.
- Strong white flour,
- Dried fast action yeast,
- Rice (proper basmati), dried pasta, quinoa, yellow split peas/lentils.
- A few different chilli sauces – I know this is a ‘thing now’ I normally have some basic ones in e.g. Encona, Cholula (their garlic/chilli and chipotle ones are great), Tabasco, Franks.
- Free range eggs.
- Fresh parsley, fresh coriander, basil plant (keeps fresher for longer than buying a pack of leaves), other herbs like thyme and fresh oregano are also useful.
Note
I am not trying to come across as the gospel on all matters related to home cooking in this work of self-indulgence (read covid-19 social distancing induced boredom). Far from it, these are just a few ideas and bits of advice that I have picked up over the years. I still have a lot to learn and love to cook and eat. I do not cook every single day, I do not always cook from fresh unprocessed produce, I am not a paragon of healthy, ethical living. I do like my food to be tasty.
“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.”
George Bernard Shaw
Big Tasty Durham 