No matter how much or how little experience we have in the kitchen, many of us have at least a handful of culinary secrets. It might be as simple as remembering to season our food well. Or how adding just a bit of butter or garlic can make a huge difference to the flavor profile of a dish. The more we’re willing to experiment, the more we can learn.
The friendly everyday cooks of the popular r/Cooking subreddit spilled the beans about the fancy ingredients that they’ve personally found to be extremely worth the expensive price tag. In their opinion, they’re completely worth the hype. Scroll down for some inspiration for the next time you want to make something new. Oh, and be warned, you might get incredibly hungry reading this!
Bored Panda reached out to famous pie artist and author Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin (@thepieous) to get her thoughts on expensive vs. cheap ingredients. You’ll find the insights she shared with us as you read on.
#1
Real maple syrup
Image source: jenipants21, Kobby Mendez / unsplash (not the actual photo)
#2
High quality Olive oil. I got some from a farm in California and it was amazing. So fresh, fragrant and flavorful.
Image source: LowAd3406, Karolina Grabowska / pexels (not the actual photo)
#3
I like slightly higher end butter. Kerrygold is always solid.
Image source: PassionateLifeLiver, Nathan Dumlao / unsplash (not the actual photo)
#4
Not fancy but something most people use. Whole nutmeg. Once I started using at rather than the pre gound stuff and I never looked back. Also good local honey from different pollinating sources. You can taste the difference between honey from bees that polinate say clover and the honey from bees that pollinate apple blossoms.
Image source: Whokitty9, Brian Snelson / flickr (not the actual photo)
#5
Good fresh farm eggs
Image source: elchinguito, Tina Witherspoon / unsplash (not the actual photo)
#6
Real aged balsamic vinegar.
Image source: DConstructed, CA Creative / unsplash (not the actual photo)
#7
I dunno if this counts, but homemade chicken stock. Some people are equating fancy with expensive or rare, which is valid. The first time I tasted an aged balsamic I was blown away, spent 20 minutes trying to convince myself not to spend $50 on a tiny bottle of vinegar, failed and bought it, and I have not regretted it. It’s so good. But when I’m feelin real fancy, I make stock. I made my last stock with 5lb of chicken drumsticks on sale for $4, a cleaver, a carrot, a shallot, a celery, a bay leaf, a vinegar, peppercorns, water, and an electric pressure cooker. That might not sound fancy, but the product is so far beyond those boxed stocks. Just, unbelievably beyond you don’t understand till you’ve done it. The effort and quality is what makes homemade stock fancy for me, not the price or rarity.
Image source: raewrite
#8
Parmesan reggiano. Maldon salt. Berkshire pork.Good Scotch.
Image source: sam_the_beagle, Caroline Roose / unsplash (no the actual photo)
#9
Nothing in particular…but I’m always skeptical when someone gets a cheeseboard that has a ridiculously expensive cheese…like there’s no way this is worth 50 dollars a pound or whatever…and every time I eat it and my words.
Image source: Thepandamancan23, judy dean / flickr (not the actual photo)
#10
Smoked paprika….
Image source: Normal_Machine4548, Kier in Sight Archives / unsplash (not the actual photo)
#11
Cardamom.
It is just ridiculously tasty in baked goods.
Image source: Mega—Moo
#12
Fresh, good coffee beans.
Image source: BoomerJ3T, Michael Burrows / pexels (not the actual photo)
#13
Good quality peppercorns for freshly cracked pepper.
Image source: russianbanya, Anne Nygård / unsplash (not the actual photo)
#14
High quality mustard
Image source: EveFluff, Elevate / unslpash ( not the actual photo)
#15
Black garlic. Thank you Bob’s Burgers for that tasty treat.
Image source: Few_Explanation1170, H. Alexander Talbot / flickr (not the actual photo)
#16
Vanilla bean paste
Image source: AuntieHerensuge, amazon
#17
Gruyère cheese for macaroni and cheese.
Image source: weasel999, Tina Witherspoon / unsplash (not the actual photo)
#18
Saffron is amazing
Image source: walkstwomoons2, Vera De / unsplash (not the actual photo)
#19
Chef here…REAL truffles and truffle oil….I swear it’s easier to get pure cocaine than real truffle oil.
Image source: WHAMMYPAN, amirali mirhashemian / unsplash (not the actual photo)
#20
Harder to find wild mushrooms like morels, chanterelles, and maitakes. I hate that they cost so damn much. I’m looking forward to moving to a place where I can forage.
Image source: danappropriate, Sarah Stierch / unsplash (not the actual photo)
#21
Roquefort cheese and smoked aged garlic. Ruinously expensive, but takes pasta sauce from “that was lovely, cheers” to *silent weeping at the beauty of the world.*
Image source: aninvisiblerabbit, Anna Nekrashevich / pexels (not the actual photo)
#22
Not really fancy, but parmigiana reggiano is really *the* only parmesan. Sichaun peppercorns for Chinese stir frys, grass fed ground beef for grilled burgers, local honeys as opposed to most any store brands.
Image source: Abused_not_Amused, Art Rachen / unsplash (not the actual photo)
#23
Triple creme brie and callebaut chocolate.
Image source: simplyelegant87, marinfrenchcheese
#24
Canned San Marzano tomatoes for pasta sauce. Changed everything.
Image source: bay_streety
#25
I’m Asian, so here’s something a bit different:
– Real baijiu for Chinese stirfries (vs ordinary shao xing wine)
– Real sake for Japanese dishes (vs ordinary ryoshiru)
– Ceremonial-grade matcha
– Legit fermented fish sauce (this is cheap in general, but the premium ones are really good – there are fake stuff made with just the extract plus artificial caramel coloring and salt 😠)
– Fermented soy sauce (again, cheap in general but the higher grades from small artisans in Japan are just…🤤)
– Real local vinegar (i especially hate it when there’s additional citric acid in a bottled brand. I buy from small local producers)
Arborio rice, basmati rice (thought i could get away with using normal everyday rice because these two are expensive here but i’m a believer now)
Image source: n0_sh1t_thank_y0u
#26
Luxardo cherries for cocktails.
Seems insane to spend $20 on a jar that small of anything, let alone something that I go through in like a month or two. But it’s now just a non-negotiable part of my budget.
Image source: anon, Patrick Truby / flickr (not the actual photo)
#27
Cured meats like real Iberico ham. Oh my god, get the f**k out of my way and gimme.
Image source: ButtMcNuggets
#28
Not really fancy but I’m f*****g heavily with shallots right now
Image source: GucciMonk
#29
Duck fat. It makes roasted veggies amazing.
Image source: nursingninjaLB, Joy / flickr (not the actual photo)
#30
Bone marrow. It’s like beef butter it’s amazing.
Image source: 2Hours2Late
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