La Cantina
“You don’t need a silver fork to eat good food.”
– Paul Prudhomme
Everyone know’s that Italians tend to hold enough food and drink to last at least a year in their cellars. Packs of pasta stacked high, different brands, bought on special presumably. Cases of tomatoes, cans, jars, the homemade stuff, vats of olive oil.
Various vegetables from the market or the garden preserved in mason jars, pickled, in oil, in sirop, canned. Hunks of cured meats and sausages hanging from the ceiling the old fashion way, far from any pencil pusher with a clipboard telling you it isn’t sanitary. Chest freezers with lasagnas, tiramisu, stuffed olives, lamb chops, lamb legs, all the meats, some ice cream and other prep.
My grandmother used to own a bakery, so her cellar “went hard” as the kids say. Deli slicer ready to go, whole legs of prosciutto, dried bread in empty flour bags ready to be processed into breadcrumbs for fried artichokes or cutlets. Nonno made wine, or the closest thing to wine he could manage at least. Hundreds of litres stored in big glass demijohn’s at the back of the cellar, transferred into gallons for daily consumption when needed.
Most of us don’t have cellars these days, but some aspects of this way of living can be incorporated into our modern world and should. Depending on the size of your dwelling scale accordingly, and if necessary do more with the little you have. Every cook needs a pantry and that’s what we’re getting at here, the basics and then some based on your needs.
An important thing to remember is that a pantry is like a wine cellar and is meant to be developed over time, through discovery, acquisition of goods, information and opportunity. There is no need to spend hundreds of dollars on multiple olive oils, vinegars and all the finest spices at the beginning. Buy salt, good salt, flour, rice, pasta, tomatoes, some herbs, good produce, get a little foundation going. Once that is working for you and you’ve got a decent olive oil and some base vinegars and you want to explore then try a few things. Chances are you’ll try something at a friend’s place that you’ll like and your repertoire will expand that way.
Don’t be limited by the “Italian only” mentality, great products can come from anywhere you just need to know what you’re looking for. Spanish anchovies reign supreme, good olive oil comes from all around the Mediterranean, butter, cheese, olives, spices, not from Italy can make your pantry diverse, interesting and better.
Keep your shit tight, ORGANIZE. Containers, labels, sections, some sense of order helps a lot. I know it’s really romantic to just have things placed how they fall in the moment, but it’s a road to lunacy. What a beautiful feeling to know where everything is when you need it.
We will break down all the products that make up a proper pantry in this series “La Cantina”.