Rouxbe Online Cooking School Blog

Some people have been asking me what’s in my pantry. I have been thinking about this now for awhile. It’s a hard one to answer fully, as the contents of my pantry change with my mood or with the season.
That being said, lets just talk about what’s in my pantry at this moment: the basics for me always include about five different kinds of vinegars (to be honest it is usually at least ten, but I thought that might make me sound too neurotic). I always have a few vinegars to choose from because I never buy dressings. They are way too easy and way better and healthier if you make them yourself. Besides, I love to play around with dressing, it’s kinda my thing. My favorite vinegars include: champagne or white wine vinegars, walnut vinegar, sherry vinegar, apple cider vinegar and a real kick – balsamic vinegar!

Of course, to go with these dressings you need a good olive oil. Oils are another thing that I have a plethora of. I have a good grapeseed oil (for how neutral and light it is), I have flaxseed oil (which has to be kept in the fridge and cannot be heated, but is super high in Omega fats), I have peanut oil (for it’s high heat tolerance), and I have about three different kinds of olive oils. I am very picky about my olive oil, not because I am a food snob, simply because I have had a lot of crappy olive oil in my days. I used to think that I did not like olive oil because I thought that olive oil, by nature of what it was, tasted heavy and overpowering – I used to call it motor oil.

I do tend to only use extra virgin olive oil, and I will hunt a good one down. The last olive oil I bought I was in Portland, Oregon – I went out for lunch to this great Italian restaurant and the olive oil on my delicious salad was so good, I asked the waiter if he could find out where they buy it. You know how some people go away and buy themselves cute souvenirs? Well, that was mine. It was a three liter jug that I had to carry with me in my carry-on bag; trust me, it was worth the weight. When I got home, I poured it out into a smaller bottle and labeled it “liquid gold”. It was so good that I never actually wanted to use it, but eventually I ran out and the next time someone came to visit from Portland they were kind enough to pick two more jugs for me. (Side note: Joe just came back from Portland and he bought another 3 liter jug. I sleep better at night knowing I have two backups… sad? Yes, but true.)

I have only found one other olive oil that I like as much as my “liquid gold” olive oil, and it was $69.00 for about 500ml. Sorry, too rich for my blood. The one I bought was 3 lts. for about $40.00 — super!

I use my good, the “liquid gold” olive oil for salads, dressings and in dishes where the olive oil won’t get lost or overpowered. Basically if you can’t taste it in the dish, then it is a waste to use such an excellent oil. But that’s just me!
(Okay, wow! This is going to be a long blog if I keep going like this; I am tempted to just make a list but I find I can’t. I want to talk about each thing and tell you why I have them in my pantry. So perhaps I will just do a few items at a time. Because, believe me, I have a list. I also have my freezer list and my “must have” cooking tools in the kitchen. This could potentially go on for pages and I am sure we don’t want that, so lets just stick with the vinegars and oils for this post.)

Advice on buying vinegars: experiment! They are not that expensive and they really add a lot of variety and flavor to dressings and many other things for that matter. Just think how good and different a dressing would be with walnut vinegar and maple syrup rather than white vinegar (which I mostly use just for poaching eggs) and sugar. Trust me it’s a world of difference. Besides the vinegars you buy will last for a very long time, so go ahead next time you go shopping pick up a unique vinegar that you think you might like.

For the olive oils, I also have some tips: Buy your olive oil somewhere besides a big supermarket, somewhere that sells a variety of olive oils. Chances are, you might even be able to sample some of them. I usually go to Italian Markets to buy my olive oils — they are serious about their oils and they know the difference! Just be sure to tell them what you are using it for; if it’s for salads or for drizzling over a plate of fresh pasta then you can spend a bit more and use it sparingly. They can make good recommendations for everyday olive oil as well.

Well I am signing off one what was supposed to be a blog about all that I have in my pantry, but has now turned into a blog about vinegars and oils. Do you have a favorite vinegar or olive oil or have you gone to a place far away and come back with a “food souvenir”? I would love to hear about it.

Ciao for now,
dawn