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.
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#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.*
56points
#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.
55points
#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)
- 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)
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48points
#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.
45points
#27
Cured meats like real Iberico ham. Oh my god, get the f**k out of my way and gimme.
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43points
#29
Duck fat. It makes roasted veggies amazing.
37points