I had a conversation with my mom this week that made me think about the way I shop for food and how important - perhaps pathologically - the contents of my kitchen cupboards are to me.
We were discussing how full our pantries were, compared to most people whose kitchens we have seen. Admittedly, a lot of people we know in Manhattan don’t particularly like to cook and, since they take full advantage of the abundance of excellent takeout here, have only whatever they have purchased that week in fridge and cupboard. They might have the odd half package of pasta and jar of tomato sauce for emergency purposes, and a few gently used bottles of exotic spices from dinner parties past, but that’s about it.
My mom and I both have what could be referred to as groaning larders, partly because we both love to cook (and therefore want whatever we want to cook on hand when we want to cook it), and partly because, having spent so long in Japan (earthquake country), we always want to have supplies handy should there be an emergency. L. and I were in Japan during the Fukushima earthquake (hard to believe the tenth anniversary is this week) and I remember being relieved to know that I could keep us going for a while should stores shut down. At the beginning of the pandemic, when everyone was panicking and hoarding supplies, it was reassuring to open my freezer and cupboards and to see that we could keep going for a while without worry. The “make sure that you have enough advance food for three days” directive made me look like a major over-achiever.
That being said, my kitchen stores are constantly shifting organically, and I keep items current by using them, and constantly updating stocks. There are no out of date cans, desiccated dried beans, spices with the faint scent of their former selves, or dried goods that time forgot in my house; there is certainly (I hope) an element of quality to my quantity. Which is not to say that when certain canned items go on sale, I don't over-indulge...
And I will admit to a jolt of unwarranted happiness when I open the freezer and see multiple pint jars of tomato sauce and chicken stock waiting to be used, or when I swing open the cupboard doors and am able to admire the neatly lined up cans of beans, or happen to notice how pretty the different colored dried beans and grains look in their containers. There is also a certain satisfaction in knowing that, come Tuesday, I have five varieties of pasta from which to choose, depending on what I happen to feel like at that particular moment. I have also found that I derive a certain contentment in knowing that, when I finish something while cooking, I have been organized enough that the replacement is always waiting in the wings and I won’t find myself mid-way through a recipe with only a tablespoon’s worth of the quarter cup of whatever I need.
Is that neurotic? Possibly. Does it make sense to how I cook? Absolutely. What does your pantry look like and does it bring you joy or indifference?
This Week's CSA box contained:
Herbs: a bunch of curly parsley, a few sprigs of sage
Greens: two baby Gem lettuces, a head of Boston lettuce, a baggie of Rainbow chard “thinnings”, a bunch of gorgeous red kale
Alliums: -
Vegetables: two small Daikon radishes, a punnet of Brussels sprouts, five red beets of varying sizes, four black radishes, a Savoy cabbage, a mess of orange carrots, six huge Yukon gold potatoes, a punnet of tiny Sugar Bomb tomatoes, a leek, a bunch of baby turnips, five Jerusalem artichokes
Fruit: four Pink Lady apples
Remainders: some of last week’s cilantro and Italian parsley, a few sprigs of scallion, a quarter of a red pepper, half a cucumber, a third of an eggplant, a handful of arugula leaves and two parsnips
So, with the addition of the above remainders and some avocadoes (minus whatever I have for lunch) these items will be transformed into:
Sunday “Pantry Roulette”; fridge, freezer, and pantry item dinner]
Bento Dinner:
Arugula Salad with Ginger-Carrot Dressing 🔁
Oshinko
Steamed Rice
Monday [Wildcard; a more complex or fiddly dish than usual to test my culinary skills]
Proper Burger and Trimmings for L.
“Rainbow” Burger for me
Oven Fries
(Note: we were supposed to have this on Saturday, but my mom fed us very well at my birthday tea and we did not have dinner at all that night. Still, since I had laid in the ingredients, we decided to recycle this to today.)
Tuesday [usually Pasta]
Boston Lettuce Salad
Beet and Black Radish Salad with Sushi Ginger Dressing
Pork Tenderloin Medallions with a Mustard Crust
Steamed Baby Turnips
Herbed Kaniwa Pilaf
Wednesday [L.'s choice and b’day dinner for a friend]
Homemade Hummus with Blistered Tomatoes, Black Radishes, Pickled Ramps and Multigrain - Sunchoke Chips
Classic Roast Chicken with Sage Stuffing
Pan Juice Braised Herbed Root Vegetables
Creamy Epoisses with Mulled Wine Poached Apples 🔁
Thursday [Fish]
Edited on the morning of since I had used the Brussels Sprouts elsewhere and we had a hankering for greens:
Pan Fried Monkfish Medallion Burgers with Parsley-Caper Sauce and Avocado
Arugula and White Mushroom Salad
Friday [Veggie-centric]
Penne with Meat Sauce for L.
Penne with Multi Veggie Tomato Sauce for me 🔁
Saturday ["Picnic"; something that is easy to assemble and easy to eat in front of a movie]
Beet Soup with Cumin and Coriander
Oven Falafel with Raw and Pickled Vegetables and Tahini 🔁
Whole Wheat Pita Breads
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