Blank Slate Kitchen Sichuan Chili Oil
Fragrant Sichuan chili oil is as common in Chinese restaurants as ketchup is in American diners. Blank Slate's Kitchen small-batch rendition pairs the heat of chili with zesty ginger and aromatic shallots and garlic for an especially bright flavor.
Namikura Kyoto-Style White Miso
Savory, sweet and flavor-dense, white miso is an absolutely essential pantry item. Winey-sweet, buttery and deeply rich, this organic version from Japanese family producer Namikura Miso Co. is more complex and less salty than other brands, which means it can be used more freely with soy sauce without dishes tasting overly seasoned.
Villa Jerada Ras El Hanout
Literally translated as “top of the shop,” this Ras El Hanout is a warm, complex, savory North African spice blend that can be a go-to rub for chicken, grilling, or simply mixed with Greek yogurt or softened butter. Every pantry should have a jar. Key ingredients in this blend include saffron, rose petals, grains of paradise, fennel seeds, monk pepper, galangal, orris root, white peppercorns, anise star, lavender, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cardamom and allspice.
Villa Jerada Harissa
Villa Jerada’s Harissa No. 1 is our favorite version of this North African red pepper paste for its bright, complex flavor. While many store-bought varieties have a one-dimensional spicy flavor, this harissa layers acidity and fruitiness with preserved lemons, a touch of vinegar and tomato paste for a lively, tangy condiment. Villa Jerada uses just enough high-quality Moroccan olive oil to make the harissa spreadable and smooth without diluting its flavor, as opposed to conventional brands that contain a high proportion of water and vegetable oil.
Soom Premium Tahini
Many supermarket tahinis are over-roasted, which gives them an unpleasant, bitter flavor. They are also too thick and hard to stir into a creamy blend. Soom's tahini has a full, nutty flavor as well as a pourable and well-balanced texture, made from roasted and pressed premium white sesame seeds that have an ideal oil-to-protein ratio.
Pojer and Sandri White Wine Vinegar
We love this white wine vinegar for its sweet aroma and bright acidity. The light, bright flavor and pleasant minerality of this white wine vinegar is best highlighted in a crisp vinaigrette, or you can use to quick-pickle vegetables, as in our Herbed Egg Salad with Pickled Red Onion, inspired by a cooking lesson from Deborah Madison.
Just Panela Granulated Panela Sugar
Here at Milk Street we have rediscovered more flavorful pantry items including flours, vinegars, oils, and salts. At the top of our list, however, is sugar. This raw, unrefined sugar from Colombia packs a complex, earthy flavor that’s terrific in everything from tea, coffee and cocktails to oatmeal or grapefruit. The bittersweet flavor also does well in savory applications, like a pot of Mexican beans or tomato-based pasta sauces. It will become your sugar bowl standard.
Mymouné Pomegranate Molasses
I discovered this Pomegranate Molasses from Mymouné through a Cambridge restaurant called Moona; the Lebanese company makes all of its products by hand in small batches, and their pomegranate molasses is the sharpest and brightest I have ever tasted. The bottle will last a long time, and it is so much better than the sweeter, less balanced supermarket products. It's a a powerhouse ingredient used throughout the cooking of the Middle East and the Caucasus region that I guarantee you'll love. — Christopher Kimball
Acetaia Leonardi White Balsamic Vinegar
This white balsamic from Acetaia Leonardi is aged for eight years in oak barrels, so its flavor is exceptionally smooth and rounded. We like its honeyed fruit undertones and full-bodied consistency, which comes from the aging process and is a key indicator of a vinegar's quality. The family producer has been making vinegar since 1871 and is one of the last in Modena, Italy, to grow the same grapes that they use to make their vinegar. Try using this vinegar for brightness in our White Balsamic and Tarragon Chicken or Belgian Mashed Potatoes with Winter Vegetables (Stoemp); it will sharpen flavors and add dimension without calling too much attention to itself the way other vinegars do. Or drizzling it over roasted vegetables, such as in our Roasted Carrots with Balsamic Raisins and Pine Nuts or Slow-Roasted Tomatoes. We like to use a couple tablespoons to deglaze the pan after roasting meats, scraping up the browned bits and finishing with butter. White balsamic vinegar even plays a key role in our Harissa, for a mild acidity as a counterpoint for the earthy spices in the hot pepper paste.
Acetaia Leonardi Gold Medal Balsamic Vinegar of Modena IGP
The balsamic vinegar has an inky, almost syrupy consistency and is balanced between acidic and sweet, with a rich dried-fruit undertone. Quality this high is best enjoyed straight, drizzled over most any grilled or roasted meat, roasted vegetables, cheeses or garden-fresh tomatoes. Or try as a counterpoint to sweet berries or vanilla ice cream.
BLiS Gourmet Barrel Aged Fish Sauce
This bourbon barrel-aged fish sauce is mellowed by seven months of sitting in oak, so the earthy, meaty funk that one expects from any fermented fish product is beautifully balanced by a complementary sweetness. BLiS's product is also rounded out with soft notes imparted by the seven-month aging process: warming spices, vanilla, and fruit woods, as well as a subtle smoky depth.
Benriner Mandoline Slicer
A mandoline vegetable slicer by Japanese company Benriner is standard equipment in most Japanese homes and restaurant kitchens around the world. We prefer this tool’s simplicity, durability and efficacy over other more complicated models. It comes with three interchangeable blades: The fixed straight blade—which is also removable and replaceable, ensuring long-term durability—creates slices ranging from .5 mm to 5 mm. Use the dial on the underside of the mandoline to fine-tune and adjust the thickness of your slices. You can also screw in one of other two blades, which allow you to julienne or finely shred your vegetables. We especially love that the finger guard, which extends across the width of the entire blade, is easy to handle and keeps a firm grip on ingredients while slicing. Additionally, a non-skid base, safety handle and notches in the mandoline will keep the device steady whether you lay it across a bowl or prop it against a countertop.