The Perfect Pantry

Saffron (Recipe: lamb tagine with prunes and apricots)

In numerology, three can be lucky or unlucky.

Bad luck comes in threes, they say, but the third time's a charm.

For saffron, three is an auspicious number -- the number of stigmas, what we recognize as saffron threads, in each crocus flower.

Only three. Which is why it takes more than 70,000 flowers to yield one pound of saffron. Which is why saffron is the most expensive spice in the world.

Dry bread crumbs (Recipe: chipotle meatloaf)

If fresh herbs are better than dried, why are dry bread crumbs sometimes better than fresh?

Dry bread crumbs, made from dry or toasted bread, are used to add bulk to meat dishes (think meatballs and meat loaf) and crunch to casserole toppings, which is why most of us have them in the pantry. They're easy to make, but even easier to buy, and they have an incredibly long shelf-life.

Limes (Recipe: lime curd)

Persian limes (also known as Tahiti limes) come from Mexico.

And Argentina.

And India and Brazil and Spain and Turkey and Chile and, yes, from Iran (also known as Persia).

Talk about an identity crisis.

Other People's Pantries #4

From Mary (Sweet Mary) in Providence, Rhode Island:

My current apartment is in a house that is almost a hundred years old and has a lot of character. The big old sink and glass cabinets are actually separate from the rest of the kitchen in a small room that feels like a pantry unto itself. Nothing but shelves and drawers in there. So, I have tons of space for all of my stuff, as well as incredible light all day long. It's a funky old kitchen that I really enjoy working in.

On Saturdays, we peek into Other People's Pantries.

Come on -- show us your pantry! Here's how.

Cowboy ketchup (Recipe: Southwestern spicy pulled pork)

I'm not really a cowboy kind of gal.

Neither the films of John Wayne nor the books of Louis L'Amour do much for me. Ask me the difference between a lasso and a lariat, and I'll have to check my dictionary.

So, when I tell you that if -- when -- you visit Oklahoma City, you absolutely, positively, must get yourself to the National Cowboy Museum, you'll know that this is one seriously cool place. The size of a football field, the museum greets hundreds of thousands of visitors each year with galleries specializing in the rodeo, art and sculpture, history, cowboy clothing and equipment, and music. There's even a library of barbed wire styles.

It's a spectacular and comprehensive museum, yet there's one thing missing.

Cowboy ketchup.

In the great tradition of cowboy storytellers, I'd love to spin a yarn about this amazing condiment, how it was invented by accident, when stampeding buffalo kicked over bottles of ketchup, mustard and barbecue sauce, and all happened to land in the same pot of beans cooking slowly over a campfire.

Peanut butter (Recipe: African-inspired squash and peanut soup)

For a short time, before The Beatles won my heart, Elvis Presley rock-'n-rolled my world.

Graceland, blue suede shoes, 31 films, 81 record albums that went gold or platinum, the pelvic wiggle that shocked Ed Sullivan, mystical sightings in the supermarket, and a bunch of skydiving look-alikes all became part of our cultural zeitgeist.

For food lovers, however, at least one part of his culinary legacy -- fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches -- ranks high on the list.

Curry leaves (Recipe: mulligatawny soup)

A couple of months ago, when I asked readers to help fill in the gaps in The Perfect Pantry, you responded with wonderful suggestions.

Aleppo pepper, yes!

Ponzu sauce, yes!

Canned whole pimientos, oh yes!

One reader inquired about fresh curry leaves -- did I have them in the pantry? -- and I confessed that I didn't even know how to use them, and had a hard time finding them in the far-between Asian markets here in Rhode Island.

A few days later, a box arrived, from Jaden of the fabulous Steamy Kitchen; in it, nestled among dozens of candies, was a bag of beautiful, bright, glossy, fresh green curry leaves, along with her amazing recipe for Malaysian Coconut Prawns with Cognac.

Other People's Pantries #3

From Rachel (Coconut & Lime), in Baltimore:

I wish I had a perfect pantry! When we were on Take Home Handyman, one of the major goals was to help us with our food storage problem. That didn't happen, but they did install cool magnetic strips to one wall and attached a bunch of containers that we have since filled with easily identifiable spices. The rest of our spices and dozens of varieties of sugars, cocoas, flours, rices and baking supplies is in cabinets, on a shelf above our butcher block or on the counter next to our stove. One day I will have a real pantry!

On Saturdays, we peek into Other People's Pantries.

Come on -- show us yours.

Here's how.

 

Sugar (Recipe: famous chocolate chip cookies)

According to Mary Poppins, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.

According to The Sugar Association, the sixteen calories in that spoonful of sugar can be offset by seven minutes of styling your hair, fifteen minutes of socializing, eight minutes pumping gas, eight minutes taking a shower, eight minutes playing an accordion, or a thirteen-minute nap.

So, please excuse me.

I'm off to find some pink hair curlers, an accordion, and a couple of chocolate chip cookies.

Honey (Recipe: mango lassi)

Oooooooooooooooh!
Sugar pie, honey bunch
You know that I love you
I can't help myself
I love you and nobody else

When I saw this squirt jar of Canadian honey in our village grocery store, I knew I had to write a little valentine to my resident Canadian honey bunch.

Then I started to wonder, "Are there really honey bees in Canada? Isn't it too cold?"

Ha! Not only are there bees, but, according to the Canadian Honey Council, the government actually has invested in the long-term sustainability of the honey bee population. Which, of course, makes me wonder why the US government is investing in war, while Canada is investing in bees.

War and bees...

(I know. I can hear the groans.)