The Perfect Pantry

Rice paper wrapper (Recipe: fresh Vietnamese salad rolls)

Every now and then, I realize that some people must confuse food writing with food styling. Why else would anyone, anywhere, ever think that I'd be good at making Vietnamese salad rolls? I'm a writer, not a wrapper.

Goi cuon (or nime chow, the Cambodian name that's more popular here in Rhode Island) are fresh (not deep-fried) spring rolls, typically filled with rice vermicelli, bean sprouts, lettuce, mint, cucumber, shredded carrot, and sometimes shrimp or pork, enveloped in a rice paper wrapper and dipped in nuoc cham or peanut sauce. Can you imagine a more elegant way to eat a salad?

Fish sauce (Recipe: nuoc cham)

When you taste something wonderful in a restaurant, and you ask for the recipe, and the owner himself shares the recipe with you — and you've written it down, so you won't leave anything out — you expect to be able to recreate that wonderful taste in your own kitchen.

So why did it take me years to make nuoc cham, the mother condiment of all Vietnamese cuisine, that tastes like it does in a restaurant?

The answer is in the fish sauce, and, as I discovered, all fish sauce is not created equal.

Seasoned salt (Recipe: baked potato wedges)

Little-known fact: My mother did not invent seasoned salt.

I always wondered about that. Seasoned salt — specifically Lawry's brand — was the main spice in her kitchen and she put it on everything: tuna steaks, beef steaks, lamb chops, burgers, chicken breasts. Seasoned salt livened up almost every meal, and I loved it. I still do.

Grandanina couscous (Recipe: vegetarian couscous with dried fruit)

When I first moved to Rhode Island, potluck ruled. It seemed like every weekend was another potluck occasion, and the pressure to come up with new dishes was intense (and entirely self-inflicted).

In our first full summer here, Ted and I offered to host a party for our local arts organization. We figured it would be a good way to meet people, so we sent out invitations and I started cooking for a huge buffet dinner that we planned to serve outside under the pear trees. The invitation asked everyone to bring a beverage to share — and their favorite bug spray. No potluck. Well, this caused a stir in our little community! No potluck? Indeed!

A few years later I learned how to turn grandanina couscous into a perfect potluck dish, and now it's always in my pantry.

Pie crust (Recipe: old-fashioned apple pie)

When I was growing up, my family didn't "do" dessert. I don't mean that we didn't eat it. We did, but dessert in our house meant one of two things: fresh fruit, or coffee-chip ice cream by the quart from Grunings, our local ice cream parlor.

There was no in-between.

And so, there was no pie, no making of pie crust, no learning how to criss-cross the lattice.

Black pepper (Recipe: barbecued brisket)

Question: Why is black pepper worth its weight in gold?

Red wine vinegar (Recipe: beet-cucumber relish)

Last April, after a cooking class in my kitchen for the 16 women in my friend Laura's book group, I found two large unfinished bottles of wine, one red, one white. I'd read about making wine vinegar by simply exposing wine to air for at least three weeks, so I popped the corks, marked VINEGAR on each bottle, and let them hang out in the kitchen.

It worked!

Chipotle peppers in adobo (Recipe: spicy skirt steak)

Cruising the aisles in a local Latino market some years ago, I spied Frida Kahlo, sitting on a shelf.

I steered my grocery cart in for a closer look. Not Frida after all, I realized, though she holds the kind of mythic place in the art world that Elvis holds in the music world, and people claim to see Elvis in the supermarket all the time.

No, it wasn't Frida. 'Twas the lovely señorita on a can of La Morena chipotle peppers in adobo sauce who had caught my eye.

Allspice (Recipe: garlic chicken on skewers)

Do you think it's easy deciding where to start?

I was this close to logic and predictibility, beginning at the beginning with the quintessential pantry items: salt and pepper. And then, this morning, the universe sent me a sign. Two signs, actually.

First: While Ted was watching the World Cup soccer matches on TV, I entered all of the pantry items willy-nilly into a database on my computer, and kicked out an alphabetized list of more than 200 items that are always in my fridge, freezer, spice rack and cupboards.

Top of the list? Allspice.

Hmmm.

Introduction

 

In an imperfect world, can there really be a perfect pantry?

Of course not.

So what's this blog all about, and who am I to be writing about "perfection"?

My name is Lydia Walshin, and I'm a contributing editor and food writer for Rhode Island Monthly, a big glossy magazine in the smallest state in the US. My column, Local Flavor, explores food and equipment sources, local products, farms and fishing, shops and chefs. I learned how to cook by watching Julia Child on television; by hanging out in my grandmother's kitchen, I learned why we cook — to feed our families, to give joy to our friends, to strengthen our communities, to share with those in need.

My husband and I live in a log house in the woods, where we have a kitchen large enough for groups of friends and family to come and cook together. In fact, as I write this, I should be setting up the kitchen for the arrival later this morning of the Wednesday Lunch Group, one of four cooking groups of adults and kids that have been meeting in my kitchen every 5-6 weeks for the past five years, to try new recipes, improve their skills, and giggle.

Every group starts with Pantry Raid, a menu featuring four recipes that each rely on one great item from a well-stocked pantry: balsamic vinegar, frozen raw shrimp, puff pastry shells, instant couscous. And I start that first cooking session by handing out a list of The Perfect Pantry, including dry, wet, frozen, preserved, and concocted basics that I use over and over again.

A bit subjective, you say? Uh-huh. What's perfect for me will not be perfect for you, and each group proves that by adding its own bits of perfection (instant coffee, yes, though whipped cream in a can will never be part of my personal perfect pantry). We're not talking about semi-homemade anything, by the way. Pantry items are the staples that enhance the best fresh ingredients, and make great cooking possible.

When I first set about creating The Perfect Pantry checklist for Ninecooks' cooking groups, I realized I had to justify every item on the list, which made me think about why it's in my pantry, and how I use it.

And that's what this blog will share with you, one condiment, one spice, and one package of rice noodles at a time.

Please share your own favorite recipes as we explore each pantry item, and let me know what's in your perfect pantry.