The well-tempered pantry

The start of a new year always calls my attention to the pantry. Any cook worth her salt knows that the pantry is the center of the culinary arsenal as it includes the raw materials that allow the kitchen to operate. Just after the food frenzy of the holidays, the beginning of the year is a good time to take stock of the items that you call upon in your cooking.

A cook's pantry is more than a place to store ingredients. Grandma has a generous pantry that houses her deep freezer stacked with frozen homegrown foods and shelves lined with jars of preserves, canned vegetables and miscellaneous ingredients, but this room is for more than storage. Her pantry is the collection of her culinary personality and creative process in the kitchen.

I keep a wide range of items in my pantry so I can have the broadest range of possibilities when I cook. I also like to experiment with things that I discover when I travel, so my pantry continues to expand.

However, there are a few staples that I cannot live without and I always keep on hand. I call it my Desert Island List. You know the game. You have to list things that you would take if stranded on a desert island.

In "Culinary Artistry," authors Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page include a chapter collecting the Desert Island Lists of top chefs from around the country. A range of interesting items make the lists, but one thing is clear: Most cooks have a certain core group of go-to ingredients from which they cook. These items are like a cook's culinary DNA.

It is highly unlikely that I would find myself stranded on a desert island. However, if faced with the choice of what to bring to cook from forever, I would not hesitate to put together a roster of ingredients.

My list would include the following: extra virgin Italian olive oil, a variety of citrus, a whole pig, kosher salt, truffles, tomatoes, onions, red wine, cornmeal, and greens such as collards, kale and chard. With the exception of truffles (I actually use white truffle oil), these are the staple foods that I cannot live without because they are the basis of my culinary identity.

Looking to expand your culinary identity? Try these quick recipes for compound butters and a flavored salt. They are easy to make and will be nice additions to your pantry. Happy New Year!

Recipes

Garlic-Chive Compound Butter

Sweet-Spice Compound Butter

Lemon Compound Butter

Lemon-Herb Salt