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Storecupboard and Staples

There’ll be very little in this book that you won’t find easily in your local shops or a supermarket.

Apart from fresh produce, the following items are all the things you need to cook the recipes in this book. If there’s anything you have trouble sourcing in your neighbourhood, I can’t recommend souschef.co.uk highly enough. They won the Observer Food Monthly award for Best Independent Retailer. You’ll see why. A treasure trove of the world’s delights, just a click away.

Storecupboard basics

Oil

I use olive oil for nearly everything – a cheaper one for cooking and fruity, strongly flavoured, top-quality extra-virgin ones for dressings. I keep a cheap vegetable/ sunflower oil in stock for deep-frying (straining, cooling and reusing it a couple of times) and love having other interesting things like argan oil or smoked olive oil on hand for using on salads and to dress vegetables while still warm. My (organic, virgin) coconut oil generally lives in my bathroom, where it makes an excellent face cleanser and moisturiser; it only makes occasional forays into my kitchen.

Vinegars

I love the wide variety of vinegars available and they all have their uses. I have shedloads nearby at all times, but the ones I use most frequently are sherry, balsamic, white wine, red wine, apple cider and rice wine.

Other condiments

Mayonnaise, tomato ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, hot sauce, honey, American-style mustard (like French’s), English mustard powder, pomegranate molasses, Dijon mustard, wholegrain mustard.

Spices and dried herbs

Bay leaves, cloves, cardamom pods, chilli flakes, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon sticks, garam masala, mustard seeds, pul biber (Turkish mild chilli flakes, AKA Aleppo pepper), smoked paprika, star anise, dried thyme, ground cumin, whole nutmeg, vanilla pods, ground cinnamon, Chinese five-spice, turmeric, mixed spice, curry powder, allspice berries, cayenne pepper, chipotle chilli flakes, celery salt, dried oregano.

Nuts and seeds

Blanched almonds, cashew nuts, ground almonds, hazelnuts, nigella seeds, peanuts, pine nuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds.

Salt and pepper

Black peppercorns in a mill, Maldon sea salt flakes, smoked salt, vanilla salt, pink peppercorns.

Rice and dried pulses

Black beans, red lentils, green lentils, brown rice (short grain is my favourite).

Pasta

If I could only choose two, I’d pick linguine and rigatoni. Hopefully I’ll never be called upon to make such a huge decision.

Tins

Coconut milk, tinned tomatoes (chopped, cherry and whole plum), cannellini beans, sweetcorn, chickpeas.

Jars

Pickled jalapeños, passata, pickled turnips, preserved lemons, roasted peppers, capers, olives, chermoula, anchovy fillets. They can live happily on the shelf until opened, then move to the fridge.

Asian ingredients

Miso, udon, thin rice and soba noodles, soy sauce (I use Kikkoman), Sriracha chilli sauce, rice paper wrappers, sesame oil.

Middle Eastern ingredients

Orange blossom water, tahini, sumac, dried rose petals, dried barberries.