"Desert Island Pantry"

[Mrs Sparkles]

What are the "must have" ingredients in your kitchen?

When I look in my pantry I see so many different things that I found this very difficult to answer.

Eventually I came up with this list:

• Rice - "new crop" fragrant rice and Basmati, carnaroli plus a range of others
• The trinity: garlic, red chillies (big and small) and ginger
• Chicken stock (I use the Maggi concentrate a lot here, for small quantities. I found some of the FoodService one, which I like. Every now and then I make a batch of my own)
• Chick peas - dried
• Onions and shallots
• Canned tomatoes
• Spices - cumin, cinnamon,tumeric,cardamom and saffron would be my shortlist
• Salt, soy and fish sauce
• Natural yoghurt - full fat
• Lup cheong and/ or bacon

I'm curious to hear what others have on their lists. No, I'm not a journo, just a stickybeak!

[me too]

All the things you have suggested are spot on for me but I would also add:

 - Pasta probably spaghetti and penne though I make my own lasagne sheets
 - tomato paste
 - good strong durum wheat flour to make the pasta
 - olive oil
- dried mushrooms, porcini, ceps etc.
 - tins of beans, any kind (not Heinz Baked Beans) great for salads, stews etc.

Thank goodness it is lunch time

[also]

Definitely:  - garlic and onions,
                 - capsicums
                 - canned tomatoes
                 - lemons/limes

With the above, I can put together meal with just a few other ingredients added - something nutritious that my family would be happy to eat!

[Scummy Mummy]

Can I have a "Desert Island Drinks Cabinet" instead? 

[Mrs Sparkles]

C'mon Scummy, you know I evicted the Vodka from my freezer!

[marriedguy]

With this I can knock out just about anything.

Flour
Milk
Butter
Lemon/Limes
Onion
Capsicum
Celery
Carrot
Soy sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Eggs
Salt
Black peppercorns
Garlic
Ginger
Parsley
Tomato paste
Chicken / Beef stock.

[Curry Queen]

Gin
Beer
Vodka
oh, and there's that bottle of advocaat left over from Christmas 1902

curry paste
popadoms
rice (basmati of course)


I'm not actually organised enough to have a proper store cupboard - but I keep flour, lentils, herbs and spices in the fridge and freezer, so all I need to whip up a quick dahl is an onion and some tomatoes.  Dahl and rice - you can't beat it, the ultimate comfort food.

[local lass not logged in]

Garlic, onion and ginger
eggs and flour
spices
basmati rice
Oyster sauce (I like the Premium one best. can't remember the name)
Fish sauce

....a few packets of ready made pastes.  Chicken rice, rendang (Dessa brand, available at Sheng Shiong, good stuff)