If there was one thing which drove me nuts it was Darina Allen's finicky 40 ingredient recipes, for example "this recipe only really works if it's made with this chutney made by Mrs. So-In-So, she makes 4 pots of it a year, so it's a must have for your kitchen". A gawd-help-us moment and unrealistic about so many things; like how much money one has to hand, how much space you have in your kitchen (mine is tiny), and how much time you really have to be baking your own bread in glazed terracotta bakeware in your Aga and Smeg filled life.
I have done this to some extent because I like to cook. I've had every spice I could lay my hands on in the Asia market, had jars of chutney and pickles, thinking "wouldn't this be great with cheese". Actually, most of that rubbish that's on offer in Fallon & Byrne or any of the upmarket "fayre" style foodmongers just isn't necessary.
Pretty - most definitely; Necessary - absolutely not.
But I'm going to come clean; once I buy them I never use them. Instead, once bought, I've had jars of stuff and fresh produce sitting in my kitchen and on my fridge shelves covered by a hoarfrost of mold. How much money was wasted on a dream, an illusion of how my cooking should be or the lifestyle I wanted to project? Loads.
Those foods don't really represent good food, fine food, or even nutritional value. They really are just a statement of lifestyle sold to wannabes. Having some obscure ingredient in your kitchen doesn't make you Jamie Oliver. Ditto for making your own ketchup like Doris Day. Heinz is delicious. The only time I can really justify having particular spices in my press is when I make a particular meal regularly, so paprika and caraway seeds are always there for Goulash.
Therefore, I've pared down my larder (the food press in my kitchen) to reflect real essentials that do need to be replenished now and then. They are as follows:
Whole Milk - for making bechamel/white sauce and Bird's custard
Butter - the real stuff, again for making sauces and mixing with olive oil to roast potatoes (a combination that's just as good as goose fat).
Olive Oil (a small bottle of extra virgin for salad dressing and a larger bottle of the slightly more refined stuff for cooking)
Vinegar - white wine & malt (for chips!)
Ketchup
Mayonnaise
Beef Stock
Chicken Stock
Worchestershire Sauce - Lea & Perrins is the nicest
Grainy Dijon mustard
Tabasco
Plain Flour
Curry Powder - mild Madras is my favourite, it covers so many things
Chili Powder
Honey
Garlic
Cheddar Cheese
Tube of tomato puree
A few tins of chopped tomatoes
Pasta - your favourite shape
Rice - I genuinely think that Basmati is the best (its 1.50 in Lidl for a kilo)
Light soy sauce - dark soy is rarely, I repeat, rarely used in Chinese cooking - including takeaways (I know because I worked in one when I was a teenager).
*a note on buying lentils and beans....do not, for the love of god, do not buy them in a supermarket or health food shop, you'll be charged five times the price. Go to the Asia market or Oriental emporium to get them and I would err on the side of lentils over beans. Dried beans are just too finnicky and who really has the time for that?. Lentils, especially Puy or Brown lentils cook in half and hour, tops (and will sprout in 2 days for salads) , and are a great source of fibre and protein and fill out a casserole or soup nicely. They're about 3 quid for a big bag.
At it's most expensive this will cost about 45 Euro..but you can get this down to about 35 Euro if you shop around (especially at the Asia Market & Lidl, who have surprisingly good olive oil).
Today was a rather fishy day supplied by my local fishmonger Fitzsimons (again cheaper than the supermarket and I can negotiate the amount and price) which came in at a hearty fish pie for six at a cost of about 6 Euro for the fish and 2 Euro for the spuds.
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