I have already written that I think Pantries Are Necessary for every home. They contain the items that I rush to replace whenever they are used up. But anyone that writes about the ”top ten items you must have in your pantry” is only fooling you. For there are always more than 10.
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A Cooks Pantry
The truth is that what you have in your pantry, will never match mine because of the different ways we cook, what we cook, what ethnicity we identify with, and who taught us to cook. So let’s look at where we do match, and where we are different.
Containers + Place
A cook’s pantry looks a very specific way, and I do not mean it is always kept in order. I think most of us really try to keep our pantry organized, so we can get to what we need, but honestly we mess it up as much as anyone would who uses their pantry daily. But, I estimate about once a month or so, cooks tend to get crazy about the mess, and redo the organization.
But still, even with our differences, there are some things trained cooks will have in common.
- We have different places for broad categories of ingredients.
- So bulk items, say a bag of rice, is kept separate from small containers of spice.
- We tend to keep things we constantly use closer at hand, say on the counter or lower shelves.
- If something is important enough, we often carry a backup to these important ingredients in a bulk pantry.
- We tend to use the First In First Out (FIFO) storage method
- To assure we use up all that we buy, we use the FIFO method, keeping more recently bought items in back of the older one so that the older gets used first.
- If you see two of the same item and brand, and it is feasible, we tend to combine them with the older poured over the top of the newer. So again the older is used first.
- We store in glass, or food-grade clear silicon, or plastic containers. But keep the containers out of the sun and away from heat.
- So that we can easily eyeball amounts and quickly come up with what we need to get.
- Items like spices are generally in alphabetical order, but if we have consistent dishes we will group spices.
- We tend to buy whole spices and grind our own, including making our own blends.
- All containers are labled with what the contents are and when it was opened or put into the container except for the spices or herbs we go through quickly.
Critical Multiples
Cooks also share having multiples of certain items. For instance, hot sauce can be Harrisa, Korean Garlic Chili Sauce, Cholula (a vineger pepper sauce), Frank’s hot sauce (used in buffalo wings), Tabasco sauce, or Sriracha sauce. Cooks know these all taste differently, are used in certain dishes but not others, and are not used interchangeably. This is the same with mustards, rice, lentils, paprika, etc.
- Cooks store multiples of
- Sauces: oil, vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauces, mustards, hot sauces, etc.
- Carbs: pasta, rice, beans, lentils.
- Dried Ingredients: Store multiples of dried veggies, mushrooms, and fruits.
- Pickled veggies: carrots, onions, cabbage, sauerkraut, kimchi, etc.
- Broth: chicken, beef, veggie, Dashi, faux meat broths etc.
- Seasonings: vinegars, fish sauces, soy sauces, curry, etc.
Check Dates
Occasionally we go through everything in the pantry to rearrange, and note what is missing, but mainly to check expiration dates. Those items that are near to expiring are placed in front for immediate use so the pantry is always current and ready to be used.
Do not take this comment as a directive that you must remove all items that are past their prime date. Just be aware, as not all “use by” dates mean the same. Some mean the food is okay but is just starting to loose its potency.
Ethnicity Matters
What you have in your pantry also reflects our individual ethnicity. I have a strong German and Japanese food background so my pantry carries spices, herbs and seasonings that reflect those cuisines.
- Japanese: Miso, soy sauces, vinegars, mirin, sake, dashi, kombu, nori, panko, rices, sesame + oil, Furikake, soba, wasabi, bonito flakes, the goose Okinawa chili seasoning, Kewpie mayo, etc.
- German: Coffee, flour, vanilla sugar, broth powders, parsley, thyme, dill, onions, potatoes, barrel pickles, sauerkraut, spaetzle, tinned fish (kippers), caraway seed, juniper berries, marzipan, hazelnut products, tubed mustards, Forest honey, muesli, sauerkraut, etc.
Since I try cooking all sorts of food from all over the world I happen to also have lots of Korean, Italian, French, Thai and Ethiopian items in my pantry. In fact, my pantry is really overfull because I cook so many different types of meals. Examples are below:
- Italian: Capers, anchovies, various pastas, Pomi tomato sauces and chopped tomatoes, oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, garlic, olive oil, balsalmic vinegar, tomato paste, polenta, arborio rice, etc.
- Korean: Gochujang (actually in my fridge), doenjang, gochugaru, kimchi, sesame + products, soy + products, soup soy sauce, rice + rice products, fish sauce, garlic, mirin, plum syrup, fermented seafood, etc.
- Ethiopian: Berbere, garlic, ginger, turmeric, fenugreek, black pepper corns, nutmeg, cinnamon, ajwain (carom), cloves, dried chilli, paprika (not the smoky version), Korerima (which I cannot find so use cardamom), lentils, teff, etc.
“Pantry Meals”
When I think about a ”pantry meal”, I think about creating a meal that combines what is in the pantry with what is in my fridge, freezer, or garden. Meaning, creating a dish that does not require going to a grocery store for ingredients.
What this requires is a good understanding of what ingredients I have on hand and how they can be combined into a meal. It really is a creative act, similar to making a “dump meal”.
- A “pantry meal” is all about using ingredients in the pantry to create a dish augmented by what is in the fridge. So it is usually a pasta, rice, or root vegetable dish as those basic ingredients are usually at hand.
- A ”dump meal” requires pulling out all the items in the fridge that are about to become too limp, or too mushy, and using them up while they still retain nutrition, flavor and texture. Those ingredients then become part of a soup, stew, or casserole that is augmented by what is already on hand in the pantry.
- Two sides of the same coin, the goal is to reduce food waste.
How to Stock a Pantry
The NYT had a series of lists that cooks might want to consider when stocking their pantries, they are all good lists, but if you cook regularly you already know what you use and what you need. The only new idea I saw might be to have an emergency stash of food that can be eaten raw (like nut butters) or can be cooked with just water (say soups).
But assuming you already have a well stocked pantry, here are some ideas to redo the pantry to better fit your cooking needs.
Remove it all and review. Take everything out of your pantry, check if items have an expiration date, and evaluate how long it has been in storage unused, then make a decision. If unused for over a year, perhaps toss it out or cook with it tonight. Dump the ingredients into the garbage or compost bin, and recycle the container.
Expect unexpected guests. Now, do not get grossed out if you find pantry moths or other critters partaking of your food. Life happens, and every living creature gets hungry; plus this is not a comment on your cleanliness. On our world, bugs happen. Just toss or compost the food, clean the container, let it dry well, and start over. Remember some food comes with a certain amount of approved buggies anyway, and some get introduced if we do not lid the container tightly.
Keep the usable. While the expiration dates are often arbitrary, they can function as guides. If unopened and stored properly (out of light and heat, in a cool place) some items can last for years. For dried herbs, like I have written about before, over time they loose their aroma and taste; if an herb has no aroma, compost.
Since I grow and dry much of my own herbs, I date and lable the plastic bags I store in the long term pantry downstairs, and just keep smaller amounts upstairs in the kitchen. For spices, I tend to buy seeds and grind my own in a “coffee” grinder or via pestle and mortar. I have found they stay fresher longer that way.
Organize what is kept. Use your own sense on how to organize, but keep things you use a lot close to hand, bulk items can be kept further away. Just remember that if you cannot see it, the likelihood of you using it drops significantly.
Perhaps you want to keep all the pasta together or all the rice, but want all the condiments in the fridge; it is all up to you. For me I arrange my dried herbs and spices alphabetically since I have ~50 containers and this makes it easier to find the one I want. So long as I remember the name of the spice I am looking for.
Buy what is needed. I have a notepad in the kitchen to write down anything I use up, things to replace soon, or to fill holes I notice. But only buy what you are going to actually use. Unopened jars of great ingredients do no good if you are not going to use them.
Pantry Staple Categories
My Top Ten College Pantry
This list is what I would keep on hand to make sure I had food to eat in quantity, nutritional quality, and could afford. Of course there was also a hot plate, small fridge, a small drip coffee maker, one plate, knife, fork, spoon, and pot with a lid.
- Old Fashioned Oatmeal (not instant)
- Dried fruit (raisons, blueberries, apricots, etc.)
- Instant Ramen Soup
- Dehydrated mixed veggies + mushrooms
- Tea
- Pasta
- Tomato Sauce
- Bread
- Peanut Butter
- Jam
To be very truthful, I came to the USA after attending High School in Munich, Germany. Used up most of my scholarship during the first year of college as I did not know how expensive the USA would be, and then moved three times to complete my studies. Since I had to put myself through college, I had very little money for food as any money or scholarship I had went to tuition, books, supplies, and housing.
So what I also did was to keep some staples in my room, and collect any free condiment packets I, or my friends, could reasonably stuff into our pockets while eating at the occasional restaurant. So any friend of mine that might eat out would grab some packets, or if they went go to a hotel for a conference they would grab tea and coffee making supplies for me. Luckily, in the USA, at that time, everyone gave out little packets and those were very useful to help keep me fed.
Okay, also some of us “dumpster-dived” during the week when the local Bellingham (Washington) store would carefully put out the ”past prime time” veggies on a table next to the garbage for us to go through first. (Here is a belated thank you to those great people.) I learned to make tomato soup and stews from what they provided.
My Top Fifteen Items in My Garden
When I decided to grown food in my back yard I immediately identified the top items I wanted to be sure to plant, as I use these often and thought I could easily grow them in my environmnet.
The reason for including this section, is that I have these growing, so do not need to have a lot in my pantry. Plus, where appropriate, I dry these foods or in other ways preserve them, so my pantry has these in abundance.
- Sage
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Basil
- Mint
- Chives
- Garlic
- Chard
- Rosemary
- Potatoes
- Lemon bush
- Lime bush
- Apple tree
- Blueberry bushes
These items met my necessary list of items to keep on hand. I eat all of the apples and lemons (making preserved lemons and limes), freeze blueberries for use throughout the year, dry the herbs when at peak ripeness, and often run outside to snip something for a dish I am making.
Having things growing outdoors can also be seen as a living pantry.
A Cook’s Pantry Choices for Baking
You already know, as I am very upfront about saying this, I am not a baker. But as a cook there are some baking I can do: cookies, cupcakes, cornbread, flat breads, quick breads, etc., and those things need certain items on hand as well.
- All purpose flour
- Corn meal
- Corn flour
- Garbanzo flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Corn starch
- Organic sugar
- Homemade Vanilla and other extracts
- Milk + eggs
Emergency Pantry Requirements
This is not my Zombie Apocalypse food, or Pandemic Apocalypse food, but more likely the food I want on hand in case of the ”big one”, the earthquake emergency that is bound to get here at some point.
I have a complete set of camping gear including a stove, propane, cookware, serving ware, tents, toilet, etc. in a secure space outside of my house in a shed. So I am ready to cook.
A list of what I want in my emergency pantry or locker.
- Water
- Dehydrated veggies and fruit
- Canned meats and tinned fish
- Canned beans
- Canned or tubed cheese
- Oatmeal, grits, and rice
- Packets of sugar, salt, pepper, hot sauce, hard candy, etc.
- Fortified plant milks
- Crackers, chips, + pretzels
- Nuts and nut butters
I have reviewed freeze dried food and MREs all of which could be considered as well.
Salutation
There are plenty of sites that make recommendations, but really your pantry needs to be based on what you cook. Each cuisine has its basic spices and aromas requiring different foods, and sometimes tools to make the food. Each person is a mixture of ethnicities and traditions so stock up on what you need to have at hand to make the food you enjoy eating.
Main thing is to set up a pantry, buy in bulk what you regularly use (if you can), grow the fruit and herbs you love and use most often, store the food properly, and get cooking.
—Patty
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