Stocking up the pantry

A well stocked pantry is essential for any serious cooking. Unless you live next door to a well stocked convenience store or a large supermarket opened 7 days / week, you will have to keep some supplies at hand.

When stocking your pantry, buy the best ingredients you can find. When it comes to food, money is a good servant, but a bad master: so quality, not price, should be your guide.
At Macalla farm, we only buy organic ingredients, except for a few rare spices which simply can't be found organic. Even better, get biodynamic products (bearing the Demeter label) if you can. The stated aim of biodynamic agriculture is to produce the best possible quality (not to get the highest yields!), and, in spite of the fact that there's more labour involved, there's currently very little price premium for biodynamic produce over organic produce, so biodynamic producers are usually passionate about their pursuit and concerned only with producing top quality.

There are many reason to buy only organic products. Firstly, organic food has been shown to be more nutritious. and, because it doesn't contain the residue of the numerous pesticides and herbicides used on conventional crops, it is better for your health

Another reason is that "conventional" agriculture is not sustainable, and is major polluter, so ingredients produced using organic methods are not only better for your health, there are also kinder on the environment.

Finally, organic produce are guaranteed not to contain any Genetically Modified ingredients.
There are two main reason to keep GM ingredients out of the food chain.
Firstly, the long term effect of the introduction on GM material in the food chain are unknown, and in spite of claims by the biotechnology industry that GM food is safe, there's evidence that it isn't.
For a start, most GM crop are engineered to tolerate large amount of herbicide, and therefore is likely to contain much larger quantities of pesticide residue that any other crop. Secondly, GM offers very little benefit to farmers, especially in the long run, and absolutely none to the consumers. The only people profiting from GM food production are the large biochech corporations, such as Monsanto, who hold the patent for these crops. GM is just a blatant attempt by these corporations to control agriculture and food production, and by purchasing GM product in any form, you are only supporting this.
Customers in Europe are now well aware of the threats that GM pose, and will generally avoid it, but in many cases, they might be totally unaware that the food they eat contains GM ingredients. Anything that contains soya or any of it's derivative (lecithin) or corn and its derivative (corn syrup is widely used as a sweetener in drinks, etc.) is likely to contain GM ingredient, and unspecified vegetable oil is suspect to, as it could be rapeseed oil, another crop that is largely GM. Unfortunately, animal produce from animals fed with GM currently don't have to be labelled as such, and again, only an organic label can guarantee that GM is kept out.

Remember, the quality of the final result depends mostly on the quality of the ingredients you put in. People sometimes puzzle over my using organic vintage red wine in a stew, as the Irish would tend to use any plonk for cooking, forgetting that if you use plonk for cooking, you get plonk stew. The difference in taste, when compared with one made with a quality wine, is quite remarkable, even to an untrained palate.

When properly stored, most of the dry stuff will keep for months, so it may be worth teaming up with a few like minded friends and buying in bulk. The difference in price, when compared to retail prices from your local health food store, should allow you to "go the extra mile" and get better quality produce.

Here's a few ideas of what you might find in a properly stocked pantry:

Vegetable oils

These are used for salad dressing, for shallow and deep frying, and for oiling baking tins, etc.

We normally keep cold pressed organic Sunflower oil and the best Organic cold pressed virgin olive oil we can find. We recently discovered a Palestinian fair trade Olive oil (which we bought originally for political reason, as it was significantly more expensive than the Italian one we had been using so far). When I first tasted it, I knew right away that it was well worth the price difference, the taste was just unbelievable, peppery and so incredibly fruity!

There are other oils than can be used for cooking.

  • Pure virgin coconut oil is very heat stable, so good for frying, and last well, but has a very strong aroma, and for that reason, is not very popular.

  • Rapeseed oil has a very light aroma, and can be used for shallow frying or salad dressing, but as mentioned before, you have to make sure it's organic, as it might otherwise come from GM seeds.

  • Grape seed oil is another oil with a light taste, and a relatively high smoke point, which makes it very suitable for deep frying.

  • Groundnut oil, which is often use in Chinese and Asian cooking, is also suitable for frying

You might also want to keep a few more "exotic" oils for salad dressing. We normally keep cold pressed or toasted Sesame oil, whose distinctive nutty taste is so useful for salads dressing, as well as, of course, for Chinese cooking, but there's quite a range to choose from, with Pumpkins seed oil,hazelnut oil, avocado oil, walnut oil, hemp seed oil and the like now widely available.

Dried fruits

No pantry is complete without a selection of at least 2 different types of dried fruit. They are used, whole or chopped, in baking, in porridge,in curries and other dishes. They can be rehydrated and stewed, on their own or in combination with fresh fruit, and they make delicious, wholesome snacks for children of all age.

We normally keep dates, because their extreme sweetness makes them irreplaceable, figs, because they are so distinctive, apricots (make sure they are unsulphured), and of course, raisins, because they are so versatile. Prunes, dried mango, dried apples or dried bananas and crystallised ginger are other popular choice, not to mention a few "exotic" berries, like cranberries and gogi berries.

Nuts and seeds

These are used in baking, in salads, in stir fries and curries, added to muesli or porridge, or again as healthy snacks. Although a basic "kit" with 2 or 3 nuts and one or 2 seeds would be enough for most recipes, they last well, particularly the seeds, so it's worth getting a good few. We normally keep a full range of them,including:

  • Hazel nuts, great in cookies. There are also my favourite nuts to snack on.

  • Almonds, whole or powered, are used used in baking as well as in porridge and muesli. If you are using them as snack, blanch them, as the skin is indigestible

  • Walnuts, very useful for baking, as well as in salads

  • Cashews nuts, used in Asian cooking, as well as, occasionally, for baking

  • Pistachio nuts, mostly for baking, but also make a delicious snack.

  • Peanuts, used in stir fry and some in Indian recipes

  • Sunflower seeds, for muesli. Also add an interesting crunch to porridge, stir fries, salads, bread, etc.

  • Pumpkin seeds, mostly for salad and as a snack, but also sometimes used in baking

  • Sesame seeds, useful for salad and in some oriental dishes. You could grind them into tahini paste, but it's easier to get ready made tahini.

  • Grated dessicated coconut, a most important ingredient which finds it's way in all kind of baked produce, but also in curries, porridge, muesli, and even in salads!

Other choices would be pecan, Brazil nuts, alfalfa seeds (great of sprouting), hemp seeds and linseed (to put in bread).

Spices

See the section on spices

Dried Herbs

In the summer, fresh herbs from the garden are, of course, much better, and even if you have very limited space, herbs are well worth growing. but in the winter, dried herbs might be the only option. There are used for teas and to flavour dishes. A basic “kit” could consist of:

  • Mint, makes a most refreshing tea, on it's own or combined with a wide variety of other herbs. It can also be used in various type of salads and a important ingredient to Indian Raita. Makes a most refreshing cordial

  • Basil, the classic herb for all tomato based dish, and an essential ingredient for pesto. Can also be made into a delicious tea.

  • Thyme, used widely in Mediterranean cooking. Makes a very nice tea

  • Rosemary, another classic Mediterranean herb, used in stews, casseroles and to flavour roasted vegetable. It has a very strong camphorous taste so if you are combining it with other herbs, it should be used carefully or it will over power them

  • Bay leaves used in stew, soup, curries, etc.

  • Oregano, another classic Mediterranean herb, used in stews, casseroles, pasta sauce, etc. Closely related to marjoram.

Add marjoram, sage,fennel, dill and curry leaves if you have plenty of space.

Chamomile and lemon verbena are most useful for tea.

Dried Seaweed

Used in soup and stir fries as well as garnish for salads, these often neglected vegetables are amongst the most nutritious. We normally keep the following sea weeds:

  • Hijiki, a Japanese sea weed looking like a small black earthworm, with a strong taste of fish, which works wonder in stir fries.

  • Dulse (Undaria pinnatifida), a red seaweed harvested off the coast of Ireland where it is called dillisk. It can be used, cooked or raw, in soups and salads, and can be eaten raw as a a snack. It is very high in iron.

  • Kombu. (Laminaria sp.) another Japanese sea vegetable, used cooked in soup. I personally like its rubbery texture, but some people are put off by it.

  • Nori (Porphyra umbilicalis) a versatile sea vegetable than can be used in salads, and of course, to make these very special Japanese rice rolls.

  • Sea Spaghetti (Himanthalia elongata) Very popular in France, where young shoots are harvested at low tide and eaten raw in salads in springtime. Cooked, it goes well in stir fries or with pasta. Also available pickled, in jars.

Other choices include Agar agar and the Irish Caregheen moss, used mostly as gelling agent for deserts, Sea Lettuce (Ulva lactuca and Monostroma spp.), used in soup and salad, Arame, a very versatile sea weed with a mild flavour, and wakame, used in Japan in miso soup and in salad.

Pulses and beans

  • Red lentils. These small lentils cook quickly. We use them as a basic ingredient in dahl and sambar, often mixing them with other lentils. They can also be used for soup

  • Yellow split peas. Also used for dahl. Can be used to replace Toor Dahl or chana dahl in Indian recipes.

  • Puy lentils. The king of all lentils, with a wonderful texture and flavour. Can be used in soup, of course, but also makes wonderful salads. Do not overcooked.

  • Black beans

  • Cannelonni beans

  • Red kidney beans

  • Mung beans. A small green bean used in Indian and chines cooking. Can also be used for sprouting. Does not need soaking. De hulled mung bean are light yellow in colour, and are known as Mung Dahl

Grains

We usually stock the following grains:

  • White basmati. A variety of long grain rice grown in India and Pakistan. It has a wonderful fragrance and flavour and a very good texture when cooked. Brown basmati is also available, but because it takes longer to cook, we tend not to use it often.

  • Long grain brown rice takes a long time to cook, but is more nutritious.

  • Quinoa, a grain crop originating from the Andes, where it was an important crop for the Incas. It is actually the seeds of a plant related to beetroot. It has a very hight protein content, and a balanced set of amino acids. It needs to be rinsed thoroughly to remove its bitter coating. It can be cooked like rice, in twice its volume of water, for about 15 minutes. If you can, get the red variety, which taste much nicer.

  • Bulghur wheat is made of whole wheat kernels that have been boiled, dried, and crushed. It is a versatile grain used widely in Middle Easter cuisine, and well know as the main ingredient in tabbouleh. It also very good in Pilafs.

  • Couscous. made from semolina and wheat flour, couscous is a staple food in North Africa. It is traditionally steamed, but can also be used in pilaf, which is a very quick way to cook it.

  • Oat flakes (porridge oats, see the section on porridge) and jumbo oat flakes, used for muesli.

  • Barley Pearl barley, which is barely grain processed to remove its hull and bran, is the most common, but pot barley is more nutritious (and has an interesting, chewy texture). Needs quite a bit of cooking though.

  • Semolina. Used in baking, and for some Indian dish.

Other grains we found worth trying are amaranth and millet. There are also many different types of rice, all well worth a try. We tried buckwheat, an important food crop in some part of Easter Europe, but didn't like it rather strong flavour.


 

Flour

The best of course is to grind your own grain, as flour, especially wholemeal flour, doesn't keep very well. A good quality small hand mill can be bought for less than two hundred euros, and a small electric one for not much more. They will insure that you always use freshly ground flour. If you are buying flour, rather than grain, make sure you buy it often and in small quantities, as flour (unlike grain) doesn't keep very long. We find the following flours most useful:

  • wheat the whole purpose grain used for everything from baking to thickening sauces.

  • Spelt, with its slightly nutty flavour, makes the best breads and we also use it extensively for baking. Unfortunately, it is very expensive.

  • Rye for breads, particularly sourdoughs.

  • Buckwheat for pancakes. Can also be used in bread. Gluten free.

Treats, drinks and miscellaneous

  • Chocolate, Indispensable for baking and various deserts, and sometimes also used as a snack Get one with a high proportion of cocoa (70 % or over).

  • Coconut milk and / or cream. Find its way into various curries and soups and even sometimes in porridge

  • Biscuits a cop out option when we haven't baked cookies!

  • Cordials, jams, chutney and pickles. Preferably home made.

  • Honey, We don't normally use honey for cooking, as ayurveda holds that this makes it poisonous, but is makes a nice desert with yoghurt.

  • Molasses. A very good source of iron. Used in baking

  • Vinegars We normally keep a good quality organic cider vinegar and one or two types of balsamic vinegar. The are used for salad dressing, of course, but also in marinades, for pickling, etc. Red or white wine vinegars are also good choices.

  • Beer, used for crepe batter, for some stews and of course as a summer drink.

  • Wine, for some stews, such as the infamous Bean bourguignon. Also for mulled wine and for drinking in good company.

  • Cider, used for soup and stew, as well as for drinking. We also occasionally make mulled cider.

Soups    Salads and starters   Main courses    Grains    Breads    Ghee  Deserts   Bread   Herbal teas  Porridge

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