The Pantry Staples I SPLURGE on (and the Ones I DON’T)

Personally, from a Mediterranean country that is a big olive producer, the olive oil matters. But I agree that not every dish needs good olive oil. It depends on the dish a lot. I have two different bottles of olive oil, and whenever I cook I use the cheaper one for most things. When I'm cooking something that is heavy on the olive oil taste, i use the good one. I make pasta aglio e olio a lot because it's extremely tasty, fast, and easy to make and whenever I make it i use the good olive oil with good quality dry pasta and it makes a huge difference in the final dish.

I agree on the spices but I would add that it is even more important to use whole spices and not pre-ground ones. They keep a lot longer and you can really taste the difference from a freshly ground black pepper from the pre-grounded stuff.

Brian, you can get 15 lb bags of good rice (I buy Japanese rice grown in California) for around $2/lb or less from either Asian supermarkets or even Amazon. 'Tamaki Gold' is my go-to when I can get it for a good price, but 'Nozomi" is really good too and usually cheaper. Where that bag you held up is over $4/lb and about the same. And I grew up in Japan and am pickier about my rice than just about anything else.

Pro Tip: You can get a large jar of Better than Bullion at Costco for less than the grocery store, and it's actually an even better version. It's both organic AND reduced sodium, with about half as much salt as the regular version. Makes a huge difference, since it leaves room for other salt sources in the dish.

Agreed on spices, though it's worth noting that getting them from Asian, Arabic, Indian, or other such specialized markets often yields good quality, large quantity, and rock bottom prices. From my own experience at least, I can pick up a pound bag of spice or spice blend for the same cost or less that the little jar at the supermarket. Also those places are often locally owned so it's nice to support them IMO.

Bravo! I love this! I hated that you always mention "Better Than Bouillon" it had been my secret for years. The Ham Base in over cooked country green beans is a game changer! Also incredible in red beans and rice. I had my friends 80-year-old grandmother back me in a corner and demanded that I tell her my secret flavor in my green beans. 2 or 3 years later she became very ill, and I stopped by her home and dropped off a jar of the BTB ham base. I cracked the jar and she got a little on her finger, licked it and looked me in the eye and called me a horrible cheater LOL. Then she got better and beats me to every single function with my own green bean! It's been a complete pleasure watching your channel grow!

Largley agree. Things I would add: A good tomato paste is, in my opinion, an absolute must in the kitchen. Buy a big jar of a really good tomato paste when on sale, and freeze it in cubes. Super handy to have at hand, and you don't need to feel like it's going to spoil in the can because you didn't use it up fast enough.

I genuinely appreciate the actual different advice here. Every food youtuber seems to always say the exact same things as if reading off of a script about how you MUST always use the best wines and the best olive oils. To only ever use the super high end spices because "everything else is dust!". It caused me to spend a lot of extra money when I first started until I realized it really didn't matter as much. I also appreciate how you aren't pretentious about your cooking. That's gotten to be exhausting across the food youtubers.

I love the shout out to Ethan’s channel and the tomato video. Your channels complement each other and help those of us looking for high quality food information.

I think dried chili flakes are one of the easiest and most rewarding self-made spices someone can do in my opinion. I had so much fun experimenting with different dried chilis and honing in desired my flavor and spice profile. I go with primarily Thai chilis and some Smokier Mexican chilis and find the “sweetness” and smokiness with the heat make a dang fine chili flake for any dish.

I’m a bean freak and was thrilled when Camillia beans started showing up in Publix here in St Pete, FL. And while I’m on the topic of beans, everybody please adopt the practice of brining your beans I learned from Cooks Illustrated. 1 gallon of water with 3 T of pickling salt (no iodine and dissolves in room temperature water easily) per pound of beans for 6 to 8 hours. Preseasons the beans and allows them to cook more evenly.

I'm disabled and on food stamps so the difference in price with beans and rice does make a bank-breaking difference, for me. 😅 That said, one of my few "splurges" is a good aged balsamic-- that stuff goes nicely with just about everything, and a little goes a long way. Absolutely worth it. And generally agree about the rest of everything else!

I agree with you on the generic spices, but something your channel taught me is the difference between the authentic spices for certain dishes. For example, I made your Butter Chicken recipe the first time with generic US chili powder, then two weeks later with Kashmiri chili powder and the taste difference was substantial. Ditto for Ancho and Chipotle chili powders when required.

Costco usually carries BTB in a much larger jar and similar in price to grocery store. I love it because it's cheaper than chicken broth and I don't have leftover cans that I eventually have to throw away. Stuff seems to last forever in the fridge.

Spending extra bucks to get nice pepper flakes has made a huge difference for me. Flat Iron Chili Co has some amazing products. Dark and Stormy chili flakes are insanely better than normal red pepper flakes

pro tip: learning how to cook better is going to make WAAAAAYYYYYYYY more of a difference than boujie ingredients

I agree for most spices but specifically for paprika it can make a big difference to use the real imported stuff- for something where you're using a teasooon or less it doesn't matter, but for goulash when I'm dumping in a half cup you really notice the cheap stuff. Often times on cheap brands the ingredients will list "silicon dioxide" (literally sand) added for declumping, and at Hungarian-food quantities it feels noticeably gritty in your mouth

When you started talking about olive oil I gasped a bit - Sacrilege! - then I continued to listen. Due to a lesson from America's Test Kitchen I started purchasing California Olive Ranch brand. They have a style they call 'Everyday' and it's a perfect workhorse for every day use. As you qualified, good enough to eat raw, but not crazy expensive as to be wasting money by cooking. Plus, the better quality than the store brand is noticeable.

I recently started using Better than Bouillon and was amazed at how good it is. Although I am shocked at the price you quoted; $10-12 a jar? It's around $5 in my neck of the woods and even the Organic is no more than $7 or 8, but often goes on sale for less. I'm intrigued by the idea of fresh beans, but the price is shocking. Groceries are already killing us right now, so this is the wrong time to start upgrading ingredients unfortunately. But I'll keep these tips in mind for when/if life becomes more affordable. I used to buy really good vinegar but wasn't going through it fast enough. I threw away quite a bit of expensive vinegar so I just don't buy it anymore.

It’s probably important to note that different types of rice (short grain, jasmine, basmati) have different use cases. If you are making South Asian curries, basmati goes well, donburis work much better when you are using koshihikari short grain rice and a Singapore-style Hainanese chicken rice dish or Cantonese stir fry would be best with Thai Hom Mali jasmine rice. And of course risottos will call for Arborio rice. That’s the long way of saying that recipes are developed for the type of rice which is available in the region. Ps, have you tried Vietnamese grilled meats on broken rice? I do agree that rice quality does matter but more important is using the right rice for the right dish. Hint: I have all of the types I mentioned above except broken rice. P/s the “Megachef” brand of fish sauce is actually pretty decent too.