Here's Why You Need These Seven Odd Kitchen Ingredients
I have literally, I believe, never gone into the kitchen to make something (with the exception of toast, and sometimes even then), that did not use one of these seven things.
Frankies olive oil. Is there another olive oil? I have no idea. I would drink this. I kind of have.
Katz and Co. Vinegar. Today, in things that I would drink that shouldn't be drank. Start with the apple cider, graduate to the sauvignon blanc. I mean it is basically a delicious beverage.
Maniguette. We call it guinea pepper, but that's a vague name that applies to lots of non-pepper peppers. Aframomum melegueta! Also called "grains of paradise"! Native to West Africa! In the ginger family! I have hated pepper most of my life. Pepper is too, hmm, I guess I'd say "front-loaded" for me? Too bitey? This is a slow, slightly burn-ey pepper taste. It's delicious. (Makes tuna salad exciting, as the commercials used to say.)
Cake Flour. Tired of baking the same thing with predictable results? (Yeah me neither. My baking is hideously unpredictable.) But for kicks, just swap in cake flour for your regular flour. 1 out of 5 times it'll be a horrible disaster. The rest of the time, it'll be great and soft and delicious. I have a soft spot for King Arthur Unbleached Cake Flour. (Often cake flour is bleached like a, like a, um, yellow tooth, I guess, which can do delightful things to flour, in making it soft and silky, but seems kinda gross.) This flour does great things to my favorite recipe for German pancakes.
India Tree Dark Muscovado. Unrefined brown sugar is something Americans don't use a lot, but if you use English recipes, they'll be asking for it all the time. (Seriously, shut up, Nigella!) I even put it in my coffee, which is…
Scarlet City's Doubleplusgood Blend. I have literally never had a better cup of coffee. No joke.
Pomegranate Molasses. There's probably some gourmet and organic brand of this now, but I use the old stuff you find in the fun foreigner shops. (While you're there: get tamarind paste too.) What do you do with it? It goes in everything. Like I put it in pasta sauces. You put it on pork. You add it to barbecue sauces. Wherever anything needs something slightly tangy and slightly sweet, ta da.
There. The more you know. Oh also probably onions and garlic, but you knew that.
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Tamarind paste. Ooh. Best rubbed directly onto one's gums.
Kikkoman Soy Sauce
Hellmann's
King Arthur is also a certified B Corporation.
Also, packets of tamarind soup mix can be slightly less goorific.
A pinch in any sauce does wonders.
And Choire, please buy some "00" flour soon.
Retail source in NYC area for 00 flour please! I do not buy food products from Amazon.
I'm in Chicago (Bari Foods on Grand) but, any Italian grocer should have this and maybe a Whole Foods/Treasure Island specialty store.
Pizza dough: 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (chew), 3 cups sifted flour and 1/2 cup 00 flour (lightness and cracker crust), teaspoon salt and yeast.
Of course! Thanks.
(I have several good retail sources for Sir Lancelot Flour.)
You can get 00 at Buon Italia in Chelsea Market. Also at Alleva and Raffetto's.
Grains of paradise but not a single pork product? Dude.
I also recommend sambal olek, a slurry of fresh red chiles easily found in any Asian market, that is a suitable addition to pretty much everything, including brownies.
Unrelated, but I was wondering if bloggers are now subject to the "payola" laws?
Unrefined brown sugar, a;lkdaf;lafkldsf. Reminds you of where rum comes from.
"Cooking with Choire" should be a regular feature. Also David Bry's pot inspired dining suggestions.
1. These sponsored posts are becoming my favorite thing ever on The Awl, I think because they are like those little side bits from really old Martha Stewart episodes called "Good Things". Do you remember those? At the end of one , such as, say using using your coffee grounds to fertilize your roses, she'd say in this magnificently condescending tone, "It's a Good Thing."
2. Apple Cider Vinegar! I drink the Bragg's brand, but YES. Hot water, a couple teaspoons of vinegar, and equal amount of honey, and it's like warm lemonade that also, like, cleans your insides. But with no weird or gross side effects.
I loved being 19-ish, with no real responsibility. I watched Martha fucken Stewart every morning at 10:00. It was a Good Thing.
No sriracha? This list is immediately suspect.
Rooster Sauce is Number One with a Bullet.
Hot Cock, they call it in L.A.
I kind of thought Sriracha wasn't included because it doesn't rank as "odd" …. but then again, neither does olive oil, so I am still befuddled. There is really nothing Sriracha doesn't make better.
@cherri: hot fudge sundaes?
I would like to try a hot fudge sundae with Sriracha.
Hot cock sauce — never not funny.
Elitists. Velveeta. You can eat it, build with it, and use it for a weapon. Sometimes all at once.
Velveeta makes a good soup, but do the youngs care?
Dave Bry, at one time or another, has stolen all of these items.
And made a Public Apology about it.
Totally agree on the pomogranite molasses. You can get it at Sahadi's.
How exactly do these sponsored posts work? Is there some ad exec at Hyundai calling up Choire to say "We'd really like it if you took a whimsical romp through your pantry"? Or is it the other way around, and Choire has to call up the car company and be like "I'm going to wax poetic for a bit about grains of paradise. Gimme some money!"
i think these are an offshoot of the "are you lunch?" game.
I can't believe you've ignored the superfood Corn Sugar.
Not a single Goya product on this list?
Right? At least a pack of Sazón and some Adobo.
Nutritional yeast. Don’t laugh, and don’t use it “in place of” cheese.
Also do not open the container in the presence of a cat, for whom it is as catnip.
So yeah, basically? I'll buy anything Choire tells me to .. why can't I add it all to my cart at once?
::mouse click smashing::
Type 00 flour is at Key Foods and a lot of other "normal" NYC grocery stores. It's usually in 500KG bags (smaller than normal). I can't remember the brand I buy, but it is with the other flours and it has an illustration of a pizza on it. Some brands say "Farina" prominently on them, too.
Grazie.
Does anyone not eat garlic every day? What is it? Draculaphobia? Just keep a wooden stake handy and you can get rid of that pong-aura.
I love this list. I nominate Kikkoman as someone said above. And:
La Yu Sesame Chili Oil
Kikkoman Mirin (super good on plain white rice or noodles)
Barley tea from the Korean or Japanese market
Colman's powdered mustard (you can make Chinese-style hot mustard from this, too!)
Toasted sesame oil
Wasabi (for best deviled eggs)
Cumin seeds
Will also vouch for the King Arthur unbleached cake flour, though Bob's Red Mill unbleached is a little better: Well, that is if you need to make awesome spaetzle or kaseknoepfla. (Also, pancakes put in the oven in a cake pan (?!) instead of a skillet? My Aunt Polly would be mortified.)
Mace.
@dntsqzthchrmn:
You can get close enough to tipo 00 flour the lazy way from http://www.kingarthurflour.com (it is the Itailian Style)if you don't want to do the amazon route, though the amazon is selling it through Taylor's market who you can buy direct from: http://www.taylorsmarket.com if Amazon skeezes you out. I have not been able to find tipo 00 in NYC, then again see above lazy ref, I can order it to arrive just as easy.
Thank you bombed pop. I have King Arthur on speed-dial but their prices! and how un-carbon neutral is shipping flour by UPS.
My friend squirts cock sauce in his 40(oz). As much as I like Sriracha, I keep it out of my beer. Another amazingly different hot sauce: El Yucateco, the green chili habanero one.
I was with you guys right up until the Hot Cock Sauce.