The Perfect Pantry

Star anise (Recipe: Vietnamese pho bo)

What's the difference between star anise and aniseed?

Are they two parts of the same plant?

Is one the seed of the other?

Do they taste alike?

And are they equally effective against the Evil Eye?

Inquiring minds want to know.

First, star anise and aniseed (or anise) are not related botanically. Well, they are, but only very far back in the gene pool; both are in the magnolia class. Star anise (which is, confusingly, sometimes called star aniseed) is the fruit of Illicium verum, native to China. Aniseed (or anise) is the fruit of Pimpinella anisum, native to the eastern Mediterranean.

Second, star anise and aniseed both contain anethole, a chemical compound that accounts for their licorice flavor, but star anise has a stronger and more pungent taste.

In my Asian market, star anise is sold in bags ($1.85 for 12 ounces, last week), so you can see exactly what you're getting. The pod itself is more flavorful and aromatic than the seeds, so don't worry if you open the bag and find many seeds that have been set free from their pods. It's the pods (called schizocarps) you're after.

One of the fundamental components of Chinese five-spice powder, star anise is popular in Chinese "red cooking", where meat (often beef or pork) is turned a deep red-brown color by being braised in a dark soy sauce flavored broth. It's equally delicious in roasted duck or risotto, peach crumble or pea soup, iced tea or ice cream, cookies or chai.

Most often, star anise is added to a recipe whole, to be steeped in liquids and then removed before the conclusion of the recipe. If a recipe calls for ground star anise (and few do, except in baking), grind only what you need. As with most spices, once you grind it, the potency begins to degrade immediately. Stored whole, in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, star anise will keep in your pantry for two years.

And while I don't know for sure about the Evil Eye, I do know that in China some people chew a whole star anise after a meal as a breath sweetener. That doesn't sound evil to me!

VIETNAMESE PHO BO (Beef noodle soup)
Nothing reminds me more of our visit to Vietnam than pho (pronounced FUH). On our very first morning in Hanoi, we found a pho stand on the street. Sitting on very tiny plastic stools, we were served a bowl of rice noodles. Then the server poured hot soup over the noodles, and topped it with slices of raw beef. Stirring the beef into the hot broth cooked the beef and sterilized the chopsticks! Each diner then garnished at will from a platter piled high with fresh mung bean sprouts, cilantro, mint and basil. This recipe, inspired by one in The World of Street Food by Troth Wells, serves 6-8.

1-1/2 lbs beef brisket, point cut
2 quarts water
1-inch piece of ginger, sliced
3 whole star anise
3 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 Tbsp fish sauce (I use Three Crabs brand)
Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 lb flank steak
2 cups pad Thai rice noodles
2-3 scallions, finely sliced
2 limes, cut into wedges

1/2 cup nuoc cham, for dipping

Garnishes:
1 cup fresh mung bean sprouts
1/2 cup fresh spearmint leaves
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into large shreds (if you have lime basil in your herb garden, use that to add extra lime flavor to your soup)

To a large stockpot, add the brisket and water. Bring to a boil, then add the ginger, star anise, cloves and cinnamon. Reduce heat to simmer, partially cover the pot, and cook for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, until the meat is quite tender. Remove the meat and set aside to cool. Skim the top of the beef stock, then strain the stock into a large bowl, and return it to the stockpot. Add the fish sauce, salt and black pepper to taste, stir, and set on the stove on lowest heat. When the meat is cool enough to handle, slice thinly, and set aside.

In the meantime, place the flank steak in the freezer.

In another pot, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Blanch the rice noodles for 2-3 minutes to soften. Drain, and divide among 6 or 8 individual bowls. Top with some of the sliced cooked brisket.

Remove the flank steak from the freezer (it should be cold, but not frozen solid), and slice into paper-thin slices. Bring the beef stock to a boil, and fill each soup bowl. Divide the flank steak among the individual soup bowls. Sprinkle with chopped scallions, and add a squeeze of lime. Pass the platter with garnishes, so each diner can add his or her own herbs to the soup. Place nuoc cham in small bowls for dipping the meat.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Thai iced tea
Vegetable medley with five-spice dip
Faux pho

Canned black beans (Recipe: black bean cakes with guacamole)

A condensed history of canned black beans and me...

Ages 0-14. No black beans. No beans at all. Seriously. My mother never cooked them.

Ages 15-16. Campbell's Vegetarian Baked Beans (not black). During my brief affair with vegetarianism in my high school days, I'd come home from tennis practice, open a can, grab a spoon, and eat those beans cold, right from the can. Loved, loved, loved them. I don't think Campbell's makes them anymore.

Age 20. Lots of beans, in all colors of the rainbow. My first apartment, in the early 1970s, had a decent kitchen. I saved lots of old jars, and bought lots of grains and pulses to fill them up. I didn't know how to cook beans (or anything else, really), but I had jars of black, yellow, green, and red beans, and the kitchen looked respectably hip -- or, more accurately, hippie.

Age 35 or so. Black bean soup! My first really great bean soup, on a visit to New Mexico, turned me into a bean lover. It looked like sludge, but oh, what fantastic sludge.

Age 43. Black beans and rice. Moros y cristianos. Ted and I finally had the real thing, at La Bodeguita del Medio, the famous bar in Old Havana, Cuba. When we came home, I started collecting Cuban cookbooks and tinkering with recipes for black beans and rice, bean soups, and bean salads.

Age 55+. The more I learn about black beans, the more I love them. The color, in addition to being seductive (and not always deep black), contains at least eight different flavonoids that have anti-oxidant potential. Loaded with fiber, black beans contain three times the omega-3 fatty acids of other types of beans, and they help to stabilize blood sugar.

Unlike canned vegetables, there's not much difference in the nutritional value of canned black beans and dried beans you cook yourself. The canning process requires long cooking time at a high temperature, which lowers the nutritional value of most vegetables, but beans require long cooking time anyway. And unlike dried beans, canned beans don't get stale and can keep for years in your pantry.

To use canned black beans, rinse them under cold water and drain them; if necessary, rinse and drain a second time. For salads, bean dip, salsa or brownies, use the beans as is; for soup or enchiladas, cook canned beans for 15-20 minutes.

I always have dried black beans in the pantry, but it's hard to beat the spontaneity of canned beans.

BLACK BEAN CAKES WITH GUACAMOLE
I learned this recipe fifteen years ago from Baja, a short-lived restaurant in Boston's South End. Serve this with your favorite guacamole, or the recipe below. Serves 4-6.

2 cups canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp mild chili powder
2 oz peanut butter
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1-1/2 oz all-purpose flour + a few Tbsp for dusting
Salt and pepper to taste

Roughly chop all ingredients in a food processor fitted with a metal blade, or mix in a large bowl, mashing the beans as you go. Form into small patties (this will be messy, as the mixture can be quite loose) and dust with flour. Film a large frying pan with peanut oil, and sauté the black bean cakes until nicely browned on each side. Serve with guacamole.

For the guacamole:

2 avocados
1 chopped plum tomato
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp chopped scallions
1 clove garlic, minced
1 chopped jalapeño pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for 1 hour.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Moros y cristianos
Carmen's black bean soup
Frijoles de la olla
Black bean dip
Mary's clean the freezer chili
South End Deep Root Chili

Baking soda (Recipe: lemon thyme cornmeal cookies)

Things I can remember:

Phone numbers. PIN numbers. Latin verb conjugations. One phrase in Yiddish. The names of donors to a fundraising campaign I worked on fifteen years ago. My favorite jambalaya recipe. The words to old Beatles songs from the 1960s. Almost every line from every Doris Day-Rock Hudson film.

Things I can't remember at the moment:

The name of my first-grade teacher. How to use a slide rule. Kim's cell phone number (thank heavens for address books). Directions to Mary's new house (thank heavens for Mapquest). The current location of my favorite grey linen summer dress.

One thing I can't remember, ever, is the difference between baking powder and baking soda. Which one is acid, and which is alkali? Which should I use for New York style crumb cakes, English muffins, chocolate banana cake, giant ginger cookies, and doughnut muffins?

When baking soda (pure bicarbonate of soda -- an alkali) is combined with an acid ingredient such as buttermilk, honey, yogurt or molasses, the chemical reaction produces carbon dioxide gas bubbles, which create air pockets in the dough or batter, causing it to rise. All of those air pockets make for a lighter and more tender final product.

Because it reacts instantly when moistened, baking soda always should be mixed with dry ingredients before adding any liquid, and the resulting batter or dough should go into the oven or pan or griddle right away.

If you're planning to use baking soda for baking, you want to keep it from absorbing odors in your refrigerator. After opening the box, decant into a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, and store in your pantry or fridge. How can you tell if the baking soda still viable? Fill a small cup half full with vinegar and drop a teaspoon of baking soda in it. If it fizzes, it's good to go.

Baking soda isn't just for baking, however. Add a pinch to tomato sauce to balance the acidity. Add another pinch to the water when you soak dried beans; the beans will cook faster, and you'll toot a bit less when you eat them. And though I've never tried this, I've read that you can tenderize meat by rubbing baking soda directly on the meat, and then rinsing it off before cooking.

One more thing you can do with baking soda: use it to make your own baking powder.

How confusing is that?

LEMON THYME CORNMEAL COOKIES
I don't have a sweet tooth (except for chocolate, for which exemptions are always granted), so cookies that are more on the tart side really appeal to me. And what's better than a recipe that uses herbs from my garden? Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies, this recipe makes 24-30 cookies.

1-3/4 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup dried currants
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1 heaping Tbsp finely chopped lemon thyme

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time. Reduce speed to low; mix in the flour mixture until just combined. Stir in currants, lemon zest and lemon thyme.

Drop rounded tablespoons onto baking sheets lined with Silpats (silicon mats) or parchment paper, spacing the dough at least 2 inches apart. Bake until pale golden, 10-12 minutes. Let cool on the sheets for 2-3 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire racks and let cool. Store in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 3 days.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Raisin-banana scones
Irish soda bread
Granola cookies
Ice cream chocolate chip cookies
Spice cake
Southern buttermilk biscuits

Other People's Pantries #26

From Andrea (Montreal Foodies), in Montreal, Canada:

It's been about a month since we moved into our new MontrealFoodies HQ and the pantry has managed to stay fairly organized. A big difference in the new place is how high the cupboards are; a stepping stool has recently been purchased to help my "short" 5'8" reach get to the all important goodies on the top shelf. Baskets also help prevent random items going astray.

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

Come on -- show us your pantry.

Here's how.

Lemons, flamenco, and a summer sangria recipe

It's an upside-down summer day.

A thank-goodness-it's-almost-Friday day.

A tomorrow-is-my-friend-Cindy's-50th-birthday day.

So please, just for today, make the recipe first. Get it into the fridge. You'll have plenty of time to read all about the lemon and its many attributes while the sangria is chilling.

SANGRIA
Of course you'll want to invite some friends to celebrate the end of the week, or even the birthday of someone you don't know, so double or triple this traditional recipe.

1 bottle red wine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 lemon, sliced
1 orange, sliced
1 lime, sliced
1/4 cup Triple Sec, Cointreau or brandy (optional)
1-2 cups sparkling water

Add the sugar, water and the end fruit slices (6 total from the ends of the lemon, lime and orange) to a pan and heat until boiling and all the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Meanwhile, pour the wine (and optional Triple Sec) into a big pitcher and add the uncooked fruit slices. After the syrup has cooled, remove the end slices and add the syrup to the pitcher. Squeeze as much juice out of the end pieces as you can into the pitcher and then discard. Stir.

Make this a couple of hours before serving, or the day before, and refrigerate. When you are ready to serve, add a cup or more of the sparkling water, to your taste. Serve over ice.

------------------------

Okay. Your sangria's chilling?

Now it's time to kick back.

Listen to the wonderful flamenco guitar of the incomparable Paco Peña, sip some cold sangria, and read everything you ever wanted to know about lemons.

And if you feel like some tapas -- and how could you not, with the music and wine to influence you? -- prepare some small plates of calamari salad, marrow beans, artichokes, or shrimp in garlic.

It's an upside-down summer day, hazy, hot and humid, and we're taking it easy.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Lemon-currant johnnycake biscotti
Zucchini-lemon muffins
Spiced lentils with squash and raisins
Lemon-yogurt cake
Confetti spaghetti

Turmeric (Recipe: saag paneer -- spicy spinach with cheese)

What do margarine, Domino's Pizza grilled chicken, chow-chow relish and monks' robes have in common?

They all get their bright yellow color from turmeric.

What do curry powder, ras-el hanout, hawayij, and tandoori spice rub have in common?

They all get their bright color from turmeric.

One of the world's cheapest spices, in contrast to the very expensive saffron for which it's often substituted, turmeric is used to add color -- in fact, it stains everything it touches -- but it does have its own distinct flavor: earthy, musky, and bitter.

More than 90 percent of the world's supply of turmeric, a member of the ginger family, comes from India; Alleppey (darker, more delicate in flavor) and Madras (lighter, most common in curry powder) are the best grades. It's also produced in China, Haiti, Indonesia, Jamaica, Malaysia, Pakistan, Peru, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

The rhizomes, which resemble the structure of ginger ("hands" and "fingers"), are sold fresh, but more commonly in the West, we buy it dried and ground. Stored in a glass jar or tightly sealed tin, turmeric will keep in the pantry for up to two years. It pairs well with a wide range of foods, including fish, cauliflower, squash, chicken, coconut, beef and lentils.

Do you think that, when Marco Polo discovered turmeric on his travels in China in the late 13th Century, he imagined that some day it would be used to make oh-so-yellow hot dog mustard?

SAAG PANEER
Tart cheese (easy to make at home, as you can see in this great how-to video, or purchase from an Indian grocery) and spicy spinach combine in this classic recipe. If you can't find paneer, use farmer cheese from the supermarket. Serves 6.

1 10-oz bag spinach, washed and trimmed
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garam masala
Dried red chiles, to taste (1 for a mild dish)
1/4 cup water
3 Tbsp ghee or clarified butter
8 oz paneer or farmer cheese, cut into chunks

In a large pot, add first 7 ingredients; cover and cook over medium heat for 6-8 minutes, until spinach is completed wilted.  Add contents of the pot, including all liquid, to the workbowl of a blender, and process to a smooth puree. Place in a serving bowl. In a frying pan, heat the ghee until it is very hot, and add the cheese. Cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese is lightly browned, 2-3 minutes. Add to the spinach, and serve hot.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Onion bhaji
Pumpkin stew
Egg curry
Refrigerator zucchini pickles
Bread and butter pickles

Coconut milk plus avocado (Recipe: ice cream)

Guest post by Peter in Brazil

Ripe avocados are dropping from the trees here in São Gonçalo do Rio das Pedras.

Not only is it dangerous, but they are going to waste.

Everyone, except us, has an avocado tree of some variety -- manteiga (butter), coité (named after a round green fruit from which the locals crafts bowls), preto (black-skinned), vermelho (reddish-skinned) -- in their quintal. The annual crop far surpasses the local demand. Even the pigs and chickens turn up their noses after their first few gorgings each year.

We actually do have an avocado tree the size and shape of a young red oak in the orchard, but no one can tell me whether it has not yet produced due to its tender age, or to a lack of TLC and manure.

Anyway, should our tree ever bear fruit, I'm not sure what I'd do.

One can only eat so many perfect, green, creamy avocados sprinkled with sugar for a mid-morning snack, or drink so many vitaminas de abacate (avocado milkshakes). No self-respecting São Gonçalense would even think of preparing avocado as a savory dish -- no guacamole here, no avocados vinaigrette, no avocados heaped with tuna or shrimp or crab mayonnaise -- but I am working on it.

Madalena or Francisco occasionally show up at the kitchen door with a sack full of perfectly ripe fruits -- the big, smooth, green variety. When I think of the price that people pay for this luxury in New England, I begin to fantasize about exportation schemes. But then I sigh, drizzle another one with extra virgin olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper, and dig in. Marlene and Cida just look at me, giggle, glance at my midriff, comment on the avocado’s huge fat content -- and refuse to partake of my crazy American salad.

I head for my pantry. How can I turn this bounty into something sweet that will appeal to our Brazilian guests? The leite de coco (coconut milk), a staple in my pantry, jumps off the shelf at me.

Could I swap the avocados for bananas and the coconut milk for sour milk in Aunt Connie’s banana bread? Or whip up an avocado mousse with a coconut créme anglaise?

No contest. Ice cream wins, hands down.

AVOCADO COCONUT MILK ICE CREAM
Smooth and creamy, and easy to make with a blender and an ice cream machine. Makes approximately two quarts.

3 cups milk
2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 lb ripe avocado pulp (about 1-2 Hass avocados)
1-1/2 tsp lime juice, or to taste

Purée all ingredients in a blender until smooth and creamy. Taste to see if the mixture needs more lime; it should give a lift but not taste too acidic. Chill mixture completely, then freeze in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions.

More recipes in The Perfect Pantry:
Egg curry
Hominy and cactus soup
Green chicken curry with eggplant

Other People's Pantries #25

From Ellen, in Austin, Texas:

This is our pantry as it really is. No cleanup before picture-time. I have three children and my spouse and I work full-time. The "pantry" doesn't look all that bad in a picture, but sure seems cluttered and difficult to live with in real life. We live in a 1950s ranch house with a REALLY small kitchen. That is why we have so many storage areas. 

Hope this makes you feel better about your pantry.....  I hope we will be sending AFTER cleanup pictures soon!

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

Come on -- show us your pantry.

Here's how.

Dried peppers (Recipe: savory romesco sauce)

Imagine Laurel without Hardy, Wallace without Gromit, Carrie Bradshaw without Manolo Blahnik.

Unthinkable.

Burgers without buns? Mac without cheese?

Absolutely not.

The Perfect Pantry without dried chile peppers?

Never!

In fact, at this very moment, I have five -- no, six -- uh, seven varieties of dried chiles on hand, not including the peppers in the photo, which went into the recipe below. I've got habañero and the tiny piquin (pronounced pay KEEN), for pure fire. Ancho (smoked poblanos), chipotles (smoked jalapeños) and guajillo, not too hot, for smoky richness. Mulato, dark brown, sweet and a bit fruity, medium hot. Sanaam, small and red, used in Indian cooking (I'm just starting to experiment with these). And, of course, New Mexico red chiles, medium hot and all-purpose.

Chile peppers, native to Central and South America and the Caribbean, are an excellent source of Vitamins A and C. The kick comes from capsaicin, a chemical found in the seeds, ribs and skin. Capsaicin stimulates digestion and circulation, which helps the body perspire and cool. It also "tickles" the taste buds, which explains its popularity in almost every culinary tradition.

Dried chiles are not merely peppers left out on the counter too long; they have their own taste, usually more rich and concentrated than fresh chiles. The heat in the pepper also concentrates as it dries. And the general rule applies: the smaller the pepper, the hotter it is.

When working with peppers, wear rubber gloves or coat your hands with vegetable oil. To tone down the heat of a pepper, cut it open and remove the seeds and the white ribs. Then, wash your hands carefully, and don't rub your eyes. (Do this once, and believe me, you'll never do it again.)

Dried chiles will keep almost indefinitely in the pantry. Store them in a dark, dust-free place. If you're drying your own, make sure they are totally and absolutely dry before you store them, or you will create a happy environment for mold. I usually keep mine in glass jars, so I can see what's what.

Most recipes call for dried chiles to be toasted in a dry pan or on a griddle, then soaked in water to soften, and ground or blended into a sauce. Toasting enhances the flavor; for milder sauces, the peppers are soaked or cooked and allowed to steep in boiling water, without toasting. Remove the seeds and ribs before toasting, so that after the chiles are toasted, they're ready to be ground right away.

With a pantry full of dried chiles, you're ready to take on red chile enchiladas, pinto bean chili, turkey mole, or a big old bowl of red. You can even custom-blend your own chili powder or nam prik pao, which would make a great gift for the chile-head in your life.

SHRIMP WITH ROMESCO SAUCE
A traditional tapa, this recipe, inspired by Penelope Casas' Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain, also makes a great sauce for pasta or saffron rice. Ximena sent me the lovely ñoras in the photo -- which are quite mild -- from Madrid. If you can't find them in your local market, substitute New Mexico dried red chiles. Serves 6.

1 large ripe tomato
5 cloves garlic, peeled
2 ñoras or New Mexico dried peppers
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (hot or mild, your choice)
1/2 cup water
3 Tbsp plus 1 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4-inch slice from a long crusty loaf of bread
10 blanched almonds
Kosher or sea salt
Ground black pepper

1-1/4 lb medium (31-40 size) or large (26-30 size) shrimp, peeled and deveined

To make the sauce, roast the tomato and garlic in an ungreased roasting pan at 350°F for 30 minutes. Place the dried red peppers in a sauce pan with the water and 3 Tbsp of vinegar. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Heat 1 Tbsp of the oil in a small skillet and fry the bread until golden on both sides. Transfer to a food processor. In the same oil fry the almonds until golden and add to the processor, along with the boiled red peppers, crushed red pepper, garlic and tomato. With the motor running, pour in gradually the remaining 1/2 cup of olive oil, plus the remaining vinegar, salt and pepper. Strain through a mesh strainer. Taste for seasoning, adjust as needed, and place in a serving bowl. Set aside.

Bring a small amount of water to a boil in a sauce pan, and cook shrimp for 2 minutes until just done. Cool, and serve with the sauce at room temperature. Or combine shrimp and sauce, and serve over pasta or rice.

Also in The Perfect Pantry:
Mushrooms and pepper in puff pastry
Pueblo vegetable stew
White chili
Slow-cooked beef and green chile stew
Spicy turkey rolls

Balsamic vinegar (Recipe: mango-mint gazpacho)

You're not going to believe me when I tell you there is no balsamic vinegar in The Perfect Pantry.

Of course there is, you will say.

You write about balsamic vinegar all the time, you'll point out. And look at the label on the bottle. It says balsamic vinegar. Of Modena. It-a-ly.

You won't be wrong, exactly, but you won't be absolutely correct, either.

Every year, only 3,000 or so bottles of true balsamic vinegar are designated aceto balsamico tradizionale and given the Denominazione di Origine Protetta (D.O.P.), the seal of authenticity from the consortia of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

Each of those 3,000 bottles has aged for a minimum of 12 years, many for 25 up to 100 years.

True balsamico is made not from wine, but from unfermented Trebbiano grape pressings, boiled down to a dark syrup. The syrup is placed into oak kegs, along with a "mother" or starter, usually a bit of previously aged balsamico. As it ages, the vinegar is decanted to smaller and smaller kegs made of a variety of woods -- chestnut, cherry, ash, mulberry, and juniper -- each of which adds character and flavor to the vinegar. Over time, moisture evaporates from the kegs, thickening the vinegar and concentrating the taste.

The resulting vinegar, the true tradizionale, proudly carries the D.O.P. mark on the label. And it doesn't sell for $6.99. (If you want to taste the real thing, without mortgaging your home to buy a bottle, try this lovely little sampler from Zingerman's. Or mortgage the house for this.)

What we outside Italy call balsamic vinegar is often really balsamic condiment, a blend of grape must and red wine vinegar. (See the label? No D.O.P. No tradizionale.) In Italy, this would be called condimento. The quality varies from maker to maker, depending on the quality and blend of grape must and wine vinegar used.

This is the balsamic to use for cooking, and, if it's a very good condimento like my favorite Rubio, to use on salad, with strawberries, on bruschetta, on beets, or drizzled on chunks of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

MANGO-MINT GAZPACHO
A fruity twist on the classic summer soup. Serves 8-10.

2 slices of day-old Italian bread, crusts removed
3-4 large tomatoes, very ripe, cut into chunks
1-2 Kirby (pickling) cucumbers, seeded, cut into chunks
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, seeded, cut into chunks
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded, cut into chunks
1 red bell pepper, seeded, cut into chunks
1 ripe mango, peeled, cut into chunks
2 tsp mint leaves, chopped (or more to taste)
1/4 cup basil leaves, chopped
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 cup V-8 juice
Black pepper, to taste
2-3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, optional

Tear bread into chunks and soak in cold water for 1 minute. Remove, and squeeze out the water. Add bread to a large stainless steel bowl, along with next 10 ingredients. Using an immersion blender (or in batches in a regular blender), puree the mixture until it is a pleasing soup-like consistency, but still with distinct bits of vegetables. Add balsamic, V-8 juice and black pepper, to taste. Stir in the olive oil. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour, or overnight, to allow flavors to mingle. Serve cold.

Also in The Perfect Pantry:
Gazpacho
Chilled asparagus soup
Slow-roasted tomato bruschetta
Smoky spicy salad dressing
No-cook summer antipasto