Bottega - Michael Chiarello [5]
Salt
Salt is the new olive oil and deserves the same attention; if you change only one ingredient in your kitchen, change the salt. Switching to gray salt will give a home cook the same positive effect as switching from corn oil to extra-virgin olive oil.
Salt is the only ingredient that goes in everything you cook and bake. The simpler your food, the more important it is that each ingredient be stellar, and this is especially true of your salt.
At home, I use gray salt for all salt added during cooking, but I use kosher salt for brining and for making preserved lemons or duck breast prosciutto. I use gray salt in my pasta water, but I know many cooks prefer to use kosher salt. Basically, unless the flavor of the gray salt is too full for a dish, gray salt is what I use 99 percent of the time.
Because it’s moist and coarse, gray salt is more of a challenge to distribute equally. I dry large quantities of it in a 200°F oven for 2 hours, then pound it or grind it in a spice grinder until it’s medium-coarse. I keep it in a tin beside my stove. You can also buy ceramic salt grinders made explicitly for gray salt (see Resources).
Fleur de sel, the top layer of sea salt that forms during certain weather conditions, is a finishing salt, not a cooking salt. Use it as a condiment on foods just before serving.
Salumi
At Bottega, we make all of our own cured meats. I’m very proud that every ounce of prosciutto we use at Bottega comes from pork we cure and slice ourselves. To duplicate the flavors found at Bottega in your home cooking, use only imported prosciutto di Parma when a recipe calls for prosciutto.
In my own home, cured meats from Bottega and from Italy—mortadella, prosciutto, pancetta, and a selection of salami from Calabria—are always at the ready, because they make such a fine and easy antipasti. Serve a selection of cured meats with warmed olives, some bread sticks, and a good wine, and you’re good to go for the most spur-of-the-moment gathering. Don’t buy sliced salami—because the meat can dry once it’s cut, slice it yourself just before serving.
Spices
Fresher is always better where spices are concerned. Smell your spices, and if the aroma is faint you’ll know the flavor has faded. Buy new spices in small quantities every 6 months or so, and purchase from a place that has quick turnover. We buy our Bottega spices from the Chefs’ Warehouse (see Resources). The quantities are bigger than the home cook can use, but you can always buy with friends and divvy up the spices. A farmers’ market is a great place to smell spices before you buy.
Tomatoes
I always have cans of whole San Marzano tomatoes in my pantry. In the summer, I don’t use these often; I pick tomatoes off the vine as needed. But in winter, these cans are opened every week.
I never buy diced or puréed tomatoes and very rarely use tomato paste, preferring to push the whole canned tomatoes through a food mill just before cooking. It takes about 11/2 pounds of fresh plum tomatoes to make 2 cups of puree. A 28-ounce can of whole Marzano tomatoes makes about 31/2 cups purée.
I’m a big fan of Muir Glen’s organic canned tomatoes. Because Muir Glen uses enameled cans rather than unlined tin, there’s no worry about tinny flavors.
Truffle Oil
This ingredient has become a little passé in restau-rant kitchens, but it never made a showing in the home pantry, which is a shame. Truffle oil lets you flavor everything from potatoes to prosciutto—just a few drops will change the tone of a dish. I prefer white truffle oil because it’s lighter than black.
Vinegar
Invest in high-quality vinegars; the wrong vinegar can ruin a beautiful salad. Taste vinegars and find brands that you like. Bad wine vinegar (and there are a lot of bad vinegars out there) tastes harsh, with an unpleasant aroma. Good wine vinegar is fruity, aromatic, and mellow.
Balsamic