Geekfood Mk2.

[Lateralus]

I consider the peppercorns a given, and decent salt's nice, but not essential.

Though, Maldon salt FTW

Well I didn't want to assume.

And yes, Maldon sea salt is what I have, and what I'd recommend too. "Table salt" stuff just doesn't come near.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

agreed, though I only use posh for stuff I eat, cooking water gets table salt (unless it's something that needs a lot of salt, like heston chips then I'll use sea salt)

[Lateralus]

Other kitchen essentials (in my opinion) would be soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, olive oil, worcester sauce and honey. A random mix of those and some of the spices above will make loads of lovely stir-fries, as well as being used in other recipes.

Sorry if I've gone a bit overboard with this, but I got into cooking in my second year at Uni, when I lived with a guy who's parents owned a company that imported spices and sold them in the north west, like a small family-run version of Schwartz. Our house was full of free spices for 2 years, and it was awesome.

[FatherJack]

Juniper berries and a clove spice up veg soups and stocks if you grind them up well.

Caraway seeds and cumin seeds in a pepper mill make a sort of instant curry powder.

Those all keep their flavour better than than the powdered dried herbs/spices, which is also why I freeze the tubes of herbs you can buy, especially lemongrass, which is a pain in the arse to deal with dried.

I do have dried basil and oregano though as with a tin of tomatoes they make an instant Italian sauce for bolognese or lasagne and I tend to use them up before they lose their flavour.

Some things I just always have in my kitchen almost above all else are soy sauces and chili sauces - I have about six varieties of each, but if I had to pick one it would be Kikkoman soy sauce and either Dave's Insanity or Cholula chili sauce, depending how hot you like stuff.

Other things I always keep around are miso (either brown rice miso, or the liquidy pouches of miso soup base), cock soup powder, ume plum seasoning, sushi rice flavouring (mirin and rice wine vinegar), chinese wine vinegar, plus temperature-graded oils (EV Olive, Sesame, Rice bran - low to high smoke point), salted capers, lime juice, a jar of anchovies (or Gentleman's relish will do), black olives in brine, a jar of harissa, a tube of tomato puree, a bottle of mushroom ketchup and a jar of sun-dried tomatoes.

Most of those are flavour-enhancers and can be added to loads of things to make them more interesting, even the most boring ingredients like plain white rice or pasta can be made tasty in seconds and since they are cheap you can eat them a lot.


That mirepoix thing berk mentioned sounds basically like the recipe I used last time I made veg stock, so it's perhaps what's in the veg stock you can buy. It was a bit of a pain to make the stock, given it was only an ingredient for a soup I was making the next day, it was almost nice enough to be a soup on it's own, particularly roasting the veg a bit first.
I can't imagine myself ever bothering to boil up chicken bones etc, though so I usually buy stock in. The liquid stuff you buy seems to be closer to the consistency and taste I want but can't seem to achieve with stock cubes.

[HereComesPete]

Okay, possible overkill. Thought instead of just saying stuff I liked I'd try and proffer tasting notes and uses too!

Coriander - every cuisine in the world with the possible exception of inuit types use this stuff. Leaves - gentle citrus lift, seeds - stronger citrus flavours with nutty overtones too, roots - kick to the face strength compared to the other two, used in thai stuff for the potency. All bits lose flavour quickly when picked/ground/chopped.

Lemongrass - lemony, bitter bright flavour for thai/oriental stuff. Pretty much essential when paired with chilli and galangal/ginger to make thai dishes. Goes very woody when dried, needs soaking. Don't let it get damp or it will go the same was as normal grass silage would, stink from all the unstable esters and whatnot.

Borage - bit like cucumber in taste, can decorate with the blue flowers and use it in a leaf salad too. More of a chef wankery herb than anything.

Marjoram - tastes a bit like oregano but sweeter, very strong. Good in a herb crust on chicken.

Tarragon - sublime taste in rich fish sauces like veloute, quite strong aniseed flavour. Only needs a few wispy strands to get the flavour lacing through the sauce. Soggy bits taste fucking terrible, trim harshly.

Rosemary - lamb gravy needs this stuff in. You can also chop it up weeny and bash it into butter for a wonderful herby butter. Strong, slightly astringent flavours, slightly cough medicine in large amounts. Adds depth and richness unless you use too much, then it adds toilet duck flavours. Possibly stops shaky old person mental diseases.

Dill - good for tea apparently, I wouldn't know, I'm not often away from red tea or earl grey. You've probably all seen it in pickle jars, it's good for fish sauces and with white meats. A bit in an oil/wine vinegar dressing is nice on greenery too. Gentle flowery flavour, bit grassy and lifting.

Chives - weak onion flavour. Not really anything it can't work with unless the flavours get too rich. Salads, light sauces, chopped up and sprinkled as chef wank.

Mint - pepper/spear/pennyroyal - good in thick spicy Mediterranean/near east cuisine. I'm a fan of this in a five bean/apricot/chick pea stew, handfuls of the stuff along with loads of coriander make a wonderful aroma, just drop it all in at the very last second.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

Okay, possible overkill. Thought instead of just saying stuff I liked I'd try and proffer tasting notes and uses too!

Your powers of palette are beyond me (yay braindamage) feel free to add to my wordages on things.

[HereComesPete]

"Table salt" stuff just doesn't come near.

Bleurgh, table salt can get te fuck. Magnesium and sodium salts added to help with caking problems that also happen to be very similar to anti-perspirant body sprays that could well cause armpit cancer? No thanks!

[buzzmong]

Bleurgh, table salt can get te fuck. Magnesium and sodium salts added to help with caking problems that also happen to be very similar to anti-perspirant body sprays that could well casuse armpit cancer? No thanks!

Aluminium Chlorate/Chlorohydrate is the active ingredient in Anti-perspirants and is the one linked to breast cancer and alzheimers.

There's a bit of random trivia to invade the food thread with

I'll link it in by saying that it's one of very few elements that simply does not seem to be used at all by the human body and is toxic in high concentrations. So don't eat it

[FatherJack]

My Dad's supposed to be on a low-salt diet, not sure if that's low-sodium or just salt (any chloride) in general, but I do wonder about this LoSalt (mostly Potassium Chloride) stuff he buys and what other nasties, potential heavy metals and other stuff is in it. I tried it and it just doesn't taste salty enough, so you use more.

They went to some Sea-Salt making place on their last holiday, saw it being made and brought some back - it being about as pure as it's possible to be. Surely that's got to be better for him, as long as he uses it sparingly.

[HereComesPete]

I'd say the sea salt definitely. No basis other than loSalt like you say appears to contain stuff that whilst it's currently fine, I expect in a few years they'll* say it's carcinogenic or such.






*health types love doing this. I intend to drink and smoke until I fall over. I'm thinking I may make it a lot longer than people expect, or die of liver failure/heart disease/cancer at 50. Either way I enjoyed the trip.

[FatherJack]

whilst it's currently fine, I expect in a few years they'll* say it's carcinogenic or such

In Daily Fail Mode it seems almost daily they change their minds about the health benefit/deficits of various stuffs. I think like most my parents only take notice of the ones that suit them - the piece in my Dad's failpaper today about HRT increasing lung cancer risk was scoffed at, but some anonymous one years ago that copious amounts of red wine is beneficial has been taken up with aplomb.

[friznit]

27 Pages! Can we make a summary page with stickies and/or links to the stuff like HCP's rather useful post up there?

[HereComesPete]

some anonymous one years ago that copious amounts of red wine is beneficial has been taken up with aplomb.

Seems to work for the old french chef who taught me, I think he's pickled and died about 300 years ago, he just hasn't noticed yet.

[FatherJack]

27 Pages! Can we make a summary page with stickies and/or links to the stuff like HCP's rather useful post up there?

Well, the Essential Ingredients thing is a new addition, but could happily sit as a useful addition to the the wiki alongside the recipes once it has a little more momentum.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

27 Pages! Can we make a summary page with stickies and/or links to the stuff like HCP's rather useful post up there?

Yes, as you're unemployed and all, it'd be a good way for you to spend an afternoon.

[amblin]

.

[HereComesPete]

Page is set to private.

Is there a friend thinger for flickr?

[FatherJack]

Ass-cepted

[FatherJack]

Anyone else see Jimmy's Food Factory?

Basically practical-type farmer bloke tries to knock up his own versions of supermarket foods in his barn. This week was breakfast, did cornflakes and instant coffee, with a look at milk and sugar done industrially. Shame he didn't do OJ.

Bit light on Science - he was cacking himself over his powdered coffee exploding at 200°C, which I'd guess is way below its flashpoint - but quite interesting, with the promise of some proper horrids to come like plastic cheese and mechanically-reclaimed meats in future eps.

[Stoat]

Anyone else see Jimmy's Food Factory?

Aye, quite enjoyable.