Alice Waters - My Pantry: Homemade Ingredients That Make Simple Meals Your Own

When I come back home from a trip, one of the first things I need to do is walk into my kitchen and look around. It always makes me feel better when I know exactly where I am. First I see, next to the stove, the old Middle Eastern copper tray, and on it the glass cruet of vinegar, and the pepper mill and friendly little bowls of salt mixtures and chile flakes; and I open the cupboard, and spot the pasta and lentils and beans, and look up and see a beautiful row of jars of homemade preserved tomatoes alternating with jars of apricots sparkling in syrup. Theres the crock of chestnut honey, where it belongs; therere the tin boxes filled with cumin and coriander seeds, if I want to toast and grind a spoonful or two. And I feel flooded with relief and comforted by the knowledge that, no matter how tired I am, at least Ill be able to dream up something to cooksomething delicious!and right away, too. In maybe five minutes I can have some pasta on the stove: I have that preserved tomato, there are herbs (I always think of my herb garden as a living extension of my pantry), there may even be a wedge of grating cheese. A familiar pantry is like being surrounded by friends who wont let you down, within instant reach.

Simplicity and economy and ease in the kitchen all come from having a pantry youve made your own from ingredients youve mixed and made yourself. Such a pantry is not just a shortcut to cooking something special in a hurry (a jar of caponata, say, for an instant delicious pasta sauce); it also encourages the best kind of impromptu cooking. A well-stocked pantry helps you think creatively about how to feed yourself, and anyone who happens to be with you, a thoughtfully prepared, flavorful, and wholesome meal, without expending very much time or effort. Ive come to realize that its the way I use my pantry, more than any individual ingredient, recipe, or technique, that defines my personal cooking aesthetic. And my pantry contains not just the staples you would expect, but the extra seasonings, condiments, and embellishmentsfor lack of a better term, the grace notesthat truly define my cooking and my home.

My pantry is always changing. I get exposed to flavors Ive never tasted before, and my pantry has to adjust. For example, when I first visited Italy many years ago, I tasted ingredients that were completely new to me then that have since become absolute essentials. The flavors of green-gold Tuscan olive oil, syrupy aged balsamic vinegar, sun-dried tomatoes, chestnut honey, and fresh, grassy buffalo mozzarella really woke me up; I wanted to fill a suitcase and smuggle all these things back with me to the United States (in fact I did smuggle back more than a few!). Little by little, with the encouragement of hungry cooks like myself, farmers and artisanal producers throughout California and beyond began making similar products: delicious fruity olive oil, tangy fresh goat cheese, caramel-y wildflower honey, and exquisite sun-blushed tomatoes. Im somewhat ashamed to admit, though, that it was only fairly recently I realized some of these things could easily be made at home. With a memory of ricotta made from the milk of sheep pastured in the Roman Campagna in my mind, I began experimenting with making my own cheeses. Many of the other flavors and ingredients I once considered rarefied and unobtainable, I now make in my own kitchen. And as global connectivity increases, its easier to find such things as sumac and Marash chile peppers. In short, its an exciting time for the pantry!

So here is my advice, and a few handfuls of recipes, for making some beautiful and delicious things with ingredients that can easily be in anyones kitchen. Just remember, sometimes the best dishes are the simplest: a drizzle of warmed honey over a slice of fresh ricotta, or the Coming Home Pasta I always make for myself when I return from a trip: spaghetti tossed with a heap of sauted garlic, dried chile flakes, the odd salted anchovy, and a handful of chopped parsley. And remember, too, that sometimes the greatest, most complex effects are produced by the smallest causes: A pinch of saffron, for example, can be magic.

Organizing your pantry is not just a practical approach to cooking; it will help you economize and minimize your environmental impact, too. You can make your kitchen a lot greener by making some ingredients yourself instead of buying them readymade. Consider, for example, the difference in waste and carbon expensenot to mention the difference in costwhen you make your own yogurt in reusable glass jars instead of driving to a store to buy it in disposable plastic containers. Plus, when you make something yourself, you always know exactly whats in it and you can be sure about the healthfulness of your food. And perhaps most important of all, making your own allows you to experiment with a recipe and adjust it according to your own palate.