What are 5 food items no serious cook should be without???

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These are indeed essential to almost everything I cook. My houselhold menu is so varried, that I don't have a prayer in stocking everything I could hope to make. The only real change is that I need a very low caloric sweetener if I want sweet things. Though it isn't ideal, Splenda works for me as I don't have access to stevia.

Seeeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
Hi Goodweed of the North

I live in the UK and Stevia is not on sale here, but I very successful order it on-line, from America, I never had any problems with the custom, it is usually send in a very discreet package ,with no indication of any kind
 
Personally,

Home made Sauce
Protein of some sort
light wine or Sake
appropriate vinegar for kick
spice of choice for the dish

Its all relative to the dish/es one plans on making. There would be more but those are 5 very basic items to go with the "5" formula.
 
I think that there's a difference here between a serious home cook and just any home cook. Most of the things here listed ANY cook will have, even one that might only cook once a week.

However, if you're a serious home cook, and by serious I mean that you really want to put out great food and not just good to decent food on a budget, then these five are a must have:

Good homemade stocks
Fleur de Sel or some other finishing salt
Truffle Oil
Aged (12+ years) Balsamic vinegar
San Marzano tomatoes

Can you recommend a good aged balsamic? I'm doing a nice big spring mix salad for the fam tonight or tomorrow. Thanks!!
 
I find that Offensive to say the least!

I am on a budget and Also a serious home cook (as I suspect many others here are Also).
ya see the Difference is we CAN turn out Excellent food without all that la-de-da fancy rubbish, almost begs the question if the Main users of that overpriced nonsense can do what WE do on a budget and make it so good!???

:punk: I agree
 

I hear your point but its not so much what you use as it is how you use it. I don't doubt IC could turn out amazing food on a budget. Its all about personal preferences not the price tag associated with.
 
I would recognize a serious home cook if, like me, his/her kitchen had food items like:

- Shallots
- Wine for cooking
- Finishing sea salt
- Home-made stocks
- Peppermill for freshly ground pepper

and (5 items are not enough!)

- Basic ingredients without which one can't be a serious cook:
---- good butter and oils
---- whole garlic
---- onions
- Blocks of cheese (no pre-grated cheeses please!)
- Exotic ingredients like truffle oil, saffron, real paprika, etc.
 
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ive added truffle oil to my shopping list as well as fresh saffron
i do make my own stocks and confit so i'm ahead of the game there and i do invest the time to make pasta sauces from scratch, i appreciate the flavors far more than the jar type. hmmm ... i'm not as clueless as i thought lol yay me!!
thanks y'all, this is priceless information and you are all being very generous with it :)
 
I would recognize a serious home cook if, like me, his/her kitchen had food items like:

- Shallots
- Wine for cooking
- Finishing sea salt
- Home-made stocks
- Peppermill for freshly ground pepper

and (5 items are not enough!)

- Basic ingredients without which one can't be a serious cook:
---- good butter and oils
---- whole garlic
---- onions
- Blocks of cheese (no pre-grated cheeses please!)
- Exotic ingredients like truffle oil, saffron, real paprika, etc.

Good call on the shallots, wine, and cheese.

Fresh herbs would be another one.
 
is it true that you should never use a wine to cook with that you wouldnt drink? thats been a rule of mine for awhile now, i just wonder if anyone agrees..
 
Only if the wine is rancid. Despite what you see on TV, most restaurants use very cheap wines for cooking.

Thanks for this confirmation, IC. Ever since some chef on TV said not to cook with wine that one won't swallow, I've always felt some guilt cooking with cheaper wine. (Mind you, wine here in Thailand easily costs double their price abroad.) Now I'm relieved.

Also, I read in Heat that Babbo's Brasato al Barolo (beef stewed in expensive Barolo wine) is made with neither Barolo nor some other Italian wine, but with some French wine! What a shame they don't change the name of the dish!
 
If you are getting balsamic vinegar, you should be looking at its "leaf" rating. A four-leaf balsamic is lovely and thick and you can drink like a plum wine. Pour this over fresh strawberries and fresh stone fruit for a lovely dessert. For a salad, I wouldn't use less than a three or four leaf balsamic. For cooking, you can get by with the lower one or two leaf versions. But I wouldn't swig either of those. My understanding is also that a true balsamic can only come from Italian stock, either imported as the vinegar or imported as the must. But that may only apply to Australia.
 
Thank you kindly for the advice. I adore balsamic but I obviously didn't know about it as much as I should. Off to the markets....
 
Mikey, this is the article that gave me my initial education in balsamic. It is Australian so some of this may not be applicable to where you are. It is just by chance that I had already picked up the Mazzetti brand (can't remember which leaf - 3 or 4), just remember staring at the shelves of balsamic and not having a clue!!

CHOICE - Test: Balsamic vinegar
 
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