We got to chatting about store cupboards on Twitter today, that’s me, Wendy, Linda, Helen and Jules, as Jules had blogged a suggested store cupboard essential list.
I thought what would my own staples be?
And actually, what do I have in my dry goods cupboards? Time for an inventory.
I have several cupboards packed full of food. (I try to keep them clean and tidy, as I had problems with moths this year. I have had them hatch in several things from China (mainly nuts and seeds) so most things are now kept in ziplock bags or sealed containers to isolate them, and I check for any hatchings about once a month. Nothing untoward for the last couple of months thank goodness, so fingers crossed I am clear.)
I am a serial food buyer, I love to try new things. I will make a new recipe that needs something I don’t have and that gets added to the inventory. How much is essential? that is the question…
Here is my New Year cupboard inventory.
GRAINS
- Arborio rice
- Carnoroli rice
- Vialone Nano rice
- Basmati rice
- Sushi rice
- Wild rice
- Ground rice
- Pearl Barley
- Giant Couscous
- Orzo
- Fregola
- Bulgar wheat
- Spelt grain
- Pedon 5 grains
- Barley flakes
- Rolled oats
- Medium oatmeal
- Semolina
- Soup pasta
- Penne
- Linguine
- Spaghetti
- Pastina for soup
SUGARS
- Xylitol
- Brown Splenda
- Candarel
- Stevia
- Soft brown
- Demerara
- Muscovado
- Golden Caster
- Granulated
- Palm sugar
- Icing sugar
- Golden icing sugar
- Fondant icing sugar
- Royal icing sugar
- Jam sugar
- Honey
PULSES
- Chick peas
- Red lentils
- Puy lentils
- Butter beans
- Split fava beans
NUTS
- Flaked almonds
- Whole almonds
- Walnuts
- Chopped hazelnuts
- Whole hazelnuts
- Salted peanuts
- Peanut butter
- Pine nuts
SEEDS
- White sesame
- Black sesame
- Tahini paste
- Pumpkin seeds
OILS
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Lemon Oil
- Cold Pressed Rape Seed Oil
- Garlic Rape seed oil
- Stir fry Rape Seed oil
- Organic Rape Seen Oil (for frying)
- Toasted Sesame Oil
- Walnut oil
FLOURS
- Potato flour
- Cornflour
- Buckwheat Flour
- Sauce Flour
- Bread Flour
- SR flour
- OO flour
- Wholemeal flour
- Rye flour
- Tapioca flour
- T65 Bread flour
- Gram flour
- Soda Bread mix
VINEGARS
- Sherry Vinegar
- Cider Vinegar
- White wine Vinegar
- Red wine Vinegar
- Rice vinegar
- Seasoned Rice vinegar
- Balsamic vinegar
- White balsamic vinegar
- Various home made fruit vinegars
BAKING
- Cocoa powder
- Dried prunes
- Dried apricots
- Golden Syrup
- Black treacle
- Sultanas
- Lexia raisins
- Brown malt
- Dried sour cherries
- Currants
- Instant dried yeast
- Leaf gelatine
- Xanthan gum
- Chia seed
- Baking powder
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Cream of tartar
- Glucose syrup
- Citric acid
- Orange flower water
- Essences and flavourings
- Vanilla essence
- Glace cherries
- Candied peel (orange and citron)
- Dried dates
- Chocolate chips
- White chocolate
- 70% chocolate
- 100% chocolate
- Marzipan
- Rennet
CONDIMENTS AND STOCKS
- Essential cuisine stocks
- Miso stock
- Dashi stock
- Tomato ketchup
- Brown sauce
- Horseradish
- Whole grain mustard
- English mustard
- Chili sauces – sweet and smoked
- Shoyu sauce
- Light soy sauce
- Dark soy sauce
- Teriyaki marinade
- Gravy browning
- Worcestershire sauce
- Fish sauce
- Wasabi powder and ready made tube
- Branston pickle
- Ketjap manis (sweet soy)
- Shrimp paste
- Capers
- Tom Yum paste
- Pickled onions
- Cornichons
- Marmite
CANNED
- Soups
- Chopped tomatoes
- Tomato puree
- Stir in pasta sauces
- Petits pois
- Sweetcorn
- Cannellini beans
- Puy lentils
- Butter beans
- Chick peas
- Red kidney beans
- Oyster sauce
- Coconut milk
- Coconut cream
- Canned chestnuts
OTHER
- Teas- Yorkshire English, jasmine, oolong, mint, camomile
- Coffee – Espresso, Cafetiere, Instant
- Seaweed Salad
- Nori seaweed
- Panko breadcrumbs
- Drinking chocolate
- Custard Powder
Phew!!
So how many of these do you have in your store cupboard?
NOOOO! Lynne back away from the spices….there are too many! xx
and the jams and jellies in the leanto…..
wow, i could never have gone through all your cupboards….i still don’t know where everything is.
We can always come dinner and help you eat your food for you lol 🙂 xx
Wow – impressive! My inventory is a lot shorter (although if you included spices mine would be a little embarrassing).
Alicia (foodycat)´s last blog post ..Pomegranate Slaw
oh I haven’t even started on the spices yet!! go on, you do your spices and I’ll do mine then…
Impressive list, especially all the different rices.
Thanks Jules, I MUST use some up!!!! I just seem to use the same things and leave the others. Next step is to identify the stuff I use all the time, use up the others and then remember not to replace them…
Twitter: maisoncupcake
I’m very similar. I once took a similar stock check and believe it or not I had TWENTY SEVEN types of flour. I have reined it in to about 12 types now…!!
The only bug problem I ever had was in a sealed jar of hulled sunflower seeds. Some kind of mites had hatched out in it. I chucked the entire jar and fortunately nothing else was contaminated.
Sarah Maison Cupcake´s last blog post ..France on Fridays #1: Aix-en-Provence
Sunflower seeds seem really susceptible to bug infestation. I found some recently in some Chinese sunflower seeds, fortunately they were sealed up, so could just bin the lot. We had a problem in sunflower seeds that we had as bird feed too, that was awful because they weren’t checked as often. Every time we opened the cupboard they were in another moth flew out. Took us ages for the penny to drop and to clear them out.
I keep my flours sealed up individually too now, I have had flour mites in some organic flour and they spread like crazy too. So not nice to open up your flour bag and realise it is moving…