My Pantry

August 1, 2015
Although she is one of America's best-known chefs, Waters has to go home and cook her own meals from time to time. So, like any intelligent cook, she has learned to have a battery of ingredients always on hand with which to flavor whatever fresh items she has picked up from the market. She values a well-stocked pantry, the basics of which she now shares. Most important to the larder are ample fresh, fragrant spices. Beans and grains form the backbone for many a menu. Waters even goes so far as to prepare her own salted and pickled fish, which, when used judiciously, add profound flavor to a dish without making it fishy. The truly ambitious may make their own simple, unaged cheeses. Not everyone has access to the sorts of ingredients available in Waters' Mediterranean climate, but creative cooks can adapt local produce in season to Waters' techniques.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)