The Paleo Pantry Part I: All You Need to Launch your Paleogastronomic Experience
Seeing as we are dealing with less food substrates in the paleo lifestyle, it would seem easier to build a suitable pantry list. On closer inspection, it is actually more challenging for the paleogastronomer.
We racked our brains to put together our quintessential basic paleo-pantry list. We call this the basic list. Over the next few weeks we plan to add thematic mods to your pantry to cover different regional cuisines.
We have stretched the pantry concept to include a few stand-bys that should be refrigerated or frozen.
Send your comments and additions.
Recipe: Basic Paleo Pantry
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Proteins
Canned Tuna – always great for salads or to fill the post workout protein window. Do yourself a favour and buy the Italian tuna in jars like Callipo brand. More expensive, but worth the taste.
Smoked Fish – Smoked mackerals, herring, salmon or whatever fish turns you on. Whip up a quick and amazing meal by mixing chunks of smoked fish into scrambled eggs and top with some fresh chopped herbs.
Eggs – Not much need to dwell on these. Great protein profile and taste. If you can, buy farm fresh eggs at a farmers market. It makes a world of difference.
Bacon, Pancetta – Keep a half pound of each in your freezer. Bacon and pancetta (italian bacon) are great ways to add flavour and a bit of saltiness to soups, sauces and salads.
Nuts And Seeds – Again, keep a pound of unsalted nuts and seeds turn your crank. A hand full a day taste good and is good for you. We prefer dry roasted varieties from Whole Foods for their taste and texture, but raw, or blanched are fine.
Protein Powder – For the paleo-super jock, grab some tasty PVL Vanilla Milkshake protein powder. Tastes great, less filling.
Fats
Grapeseed Oil – Our oil of choice for stir frying and shallow frying. Grapeseed oil leave no residual taste. In salad dressings, it really hangs in the background as an emulsifier.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - A good olive oil will depart an amazing flavour on foods, depending upon it’s origin. Do yourself a favour and go to an olive oil tasting. Some are grassy, some peppery, some sweeter. Find one you like and roll with it.
Fruit, Veggies and Alliums
Frozen Fruit - Buy frozen fruit or better yet buy fresh fruit, like bananas, mango, papaya, whatever turns you on, then peel, core, cube and freeze. Always great for breakfast, pre and post workout shakes.
Garlic And Onions – Always keep a few bulbs of garlic and onions of your choice: green onion, white onion, spanish onions, red onions, all will do. The basis of flavour for sauces and stocks, all these are good for your blood as well.
Lemons and Limes - Natures natural acids a blast of lemon or lime juice sprights up salad dressings, and any protein. The juices of these act to “cook” proteins in fish, a la ceviche, and raw beef tenderloin, a la carpaccio. The zest of lemons and limes are a great condiment for almost any dish.
Fresh Herbs - Your haymaker for salads, sauces and salsas. Keep some fresh thyme, rosemary and oregano. The great thing is that if they dry up, no problem. Crumble them into small glass containers and you have fresh dried herbs!
Olives – Nutritious and naturally salty, good olives add body and savoury to stews, ragus, and sauces. Check out the olive bars at many fine grocers, try out as many as you can, and buy a half pound of whatever variety turns your crank. Our fave? Pitted Kalamata.
Capers – Like olives, some good capers add a briney flavour and pungeant texture to salads, stews and sauces.
Salt, Spices and Condiments
Kosher Salt – We don’t advocate going wild with salt, but it is one of our 4 basic taste. Our position is that if you can keep your salt intake, as a percentage of total food and beverage consumed, to the concentration of our blood level, then you are in good shape.Bearing this in mind, our general salt of choice is kosher salt for its texture and usability.
Finishing Salt – This may sound like a broken record but venture down to your local fine grocer and taste test some finishing salts. Maldon, Himalayan, Spanish Grey, Fleur de Sel, try them all and find out what turns you on. Buy some and use it for it’s intended purpose, to finish a dish. Sprinkle a pinch on meats, vegetables, hell, pretty much anything. A small detail that produces big returns in flavour.
Mustard - Sweet, hot, tart, there are literally hundreds of varieties, wholegrain, prepared or dry. Again head down to your local fine grocer, try out some different mustards and roll with one or more you like.
Vinegar - Vinegar is your haymaker. Forget balsamic, grab a nice bottle of spanish sherry vinegar, and nice champagne or white wine vinegar from France. These two offer endless possibilities for dressings and sauces.
Spices - Here is our big tip. Frequent a grocer that allows you to buy spices by weight. Buy minuscule, 1 or 2 grams, worth of spices you like such as cumin, chili powder and white and black pepper. Buy a few bay leaves. Keep enough on hand for a month or two, and replace often. Spices are cheaper to buy by weight and it reduces the amount you waste.
Chilies - For now lets stick with some chili flakes. They are easy to use and provide the requisite heat and punch for those with a penchant for heat. We will have more to say about these in our upcoming “Mexican” and “Thai” renditions of the paleo pantry
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Tags: canned tuna , chopped herbs , fresh eggs , italian bacon , protein powder , protein profile , regional cuisines , salad dressings , soups sauces , vanilla milkshake
