---
title: The Pantry
sort: 140
section-id: site
keywords: pantry guide, olive oil, vinegar, tinned fish, pasta, spices, flour, pantry essentials
description: Amelia Fontaine's essential pantry guide — what to keep, why it matters, and how to choose well.
language: en
---

# The Pantry

A well-stocked pantry is the difference between cooking feeling like a chore and cooking feeling like an opportunity. When you open the cupboard and find good olive oil, the right vinegars, and the pasta shapes you want, the question "what's for dinner?" becomes easier to answer well.

This is not a list of everything you could have. It is a list of the things I consider non-negotiable — the things I always have and that I think are worth spending money on when budget allows.

## Olive Oils

I keep two olive oils. One for cooking; one for finishing.

**Cooking olive oil:** A good, mid-range extra virgin olive oil from any reputable source. It will lose its delicate flavour compounds when heated, but it will still taste like olive oil and will not introduce off-flavours. I buy this in 3-litre tins for economy. The Sicilian and Calabrian oils are good value; look for a harvest date on the tin, not just a best-before date, and buy oil pressed within the past 18 months.

**Finishing olive oil:** This is worth spending money on. A single-estate extra virgin from Liguria, Tuscany, or Crete, pungent and fresh, used as a condiment rather than a cooking fat. Drizzled on beans, soup, burrata, grilled fish, roasted vegetables at the moment of serving. You use less of it, so the cost per use is not as high as it appears. Taste before you buy if possible.

**A note on "extra virgin":** Extra virgin means the oil is cold-pressed and has low acidity. It says nothing about flavour quality or freshness. There is a significant industry of inferior oils labelled EVOO; tasting is the only way to tell. Good finishing olive oil should taste grassy, peppery, and fresh; it should catch in your throat slightly. If it tastes flat or rancid, it is old or was never good.

## Vinegars

**Red wine vinegar:** The workhorse. For dressings, deglazing, marinades, quick pickles. I want a proper aged vinegar, not a cheap acidic substitute. The difference is enormous.

**White wine vinegar:** Similar uses to red, but milder and less assertive. Better for delicate dressings and where you do not want red tones.

**Aged balsamic from Modena:** Not the cheap stuff, which is caramel-coloured grape must. Traditional balsamic is aged for a minimum of 12 years, sweet-sour, thick, and extraordinary on strawberries, Parmigiano, or vanilla ice cream. You use it by the drop. A small bottle lasts for years.

**Sherry vinegar:** The most underused vinegar in my opinion. It has a nuttiness and complexity that suits braised dishes, bean soups, and Spanish-influenced food. I use it to finish lentil soup and it transforms the dish.

**Apple cider vinegar:** Good for pickling, dressings, and as an acid balance in certain meat dishes.

## Tinned Fish

My pantry considers tinned fish a staple rather than an emergency protein. Good tinned fish is not a compromise.

**Anchovies in olive oil:** One of the most useful ingredients in the kitchen. They dissolve into almost any dish they are added to, leaving flavour rather than fishiness. I add them to tomato sauces, to braised meat dishes, to dressings. A tin of Ortiz anchovies is worth the premium.

**Tinned sardines:** Portuguese sardines are exceptional — meaty, flavourful, and sustainable. I eat them on toast with good butter and lemon, or in pasta with breadcrumbs and raisins (pasta con le sarde, the Sicilian classic).

**Tinned tuna in olive oil:** Not in water. The oil-packed version has a completely different texture and flavour. Good for tonnato sauce, for pasta, for salads. The Ortiz brand is excellent; Spanish albacore is my standard.

**Tinned clams:** For quick pasta alle vongole when fresh clams are unavailable.

## Dried Pasta

Pasta shapes matter because the sauce adhesion, cooking time, and mouthfeel vary by shape. I keep:

**Rigatoni or penne rigate:** For hearty sauces, baked pasta, and dishes where the sauce needs to go inside as well as outside.

**Spaghetti:** For carbonara, aglio e olio, and the classics.

**Linguine:** Slightly flatter than spaghetti; better with seafood sauces.

**Pappardelle:** Wide, flat; made for mushroom and game ragù.

**Casarecce or trofie:** Short, twisted shapes that hold pesto and chunky sauces.

I buy pasta made with bronze-die extrusion, which gives a rougher texture that holds sauce better. De Cecco and Rummo are widely available and reliable. Setaro is exceptional if you can find it.

## Tinned and Jarred Tomatoes

**Whole San Marzano tomatoes:** For tomato sauces that need to cook down. The San Marzano variety has thick flesh, few seeds, and low acidity. The DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) certification is meaningful here; it designates tomatoes actually grown in the Agro Sarnese-Nocerino area of Campania.

**Passata:** Sieved tomato purée, for quick sauces and soups. I make my own in late summer; otherwise I buy the Mutti brand.

**Tomato paste:** Concentrated tomato flavour, to be used in small quantities as a base layer in ragù, braises, and other long-cooked dishes.

## Spices

I keep fewer spices than most kitchens and replace them more often. Spices go stale. The most important ones to keep fresh:

- Whole black pepper (always grind fresh)
- Whole nutmeg (for béchamel and pasta)
- Cumin seeds (toast and grind as needed)
- Coriander seeds
- Smoked paprika (Spanish pimentón, ideally)
- Dried chilli flakes
- Bay leaves (dried; fresh are better but dried are reliable)
- Cinnamon stick (for braises, not powder)
- Saffron threads

## Flours

**00 flour:** The finely milled, low-gluten flour for fresh pasta and pizza doughs. The protein content and fine milling give the silky, supple dough that pasta requires.

**Plain (all-purpose) flour:** For general baking, thickening sauces, and most everyday uses.

**Strong bread flour:** High-gluten flour for bread. The higher protein content creates the gluten network that gives bread its structure.

**Fine semolina:** For dusting work surfaces when rolling pasta, for certain breads, and as a dusting agent to prevent sticking.

## Pantry Organisation

I keep oils, vinegars, and dried goods in a cool, dark cupboard away from the stove. Heat and light degrade oils and spices quickly. Tinned goods on a dedicated shelf, oldest at the front. Spices in tightly sealed jars, checked annually — if a spice smells of nothing when you open the jar, replace it.

The pantry does not need to be large. It needs to be thoughtful.
