The Pantry: What I Always Keep in the House
A good pantry isn’t about having everything. It’s about having the right things. A pantry should grow out of the way you cook—not the way somebody on the internet tells you you’re supposed to cook. That sounds obvious, but take a look at most lists of “essential pantry staples” and you’ll find everything from canned coconut milk to twelve kinds of flour, specialty vinegars, dried beans you may never cook and spices that will sit untouched until you finally throw them away five years from now. That’s not a pantry. That’s inventory. I look at a pantry differently. The ingredients I keep around are the ones that repeatedly earn their space. They’re things I know I can reach for on a Tuesday afternoon, pair with whatever meat, fish or vegetables I have in the refrigerator, and turn into dinner without making another trip to the store. That’s really the purpose of a well-stocked pantry. It gives you options. And once you start thinking about a pantry...