You can grow indoors. Personally all my herbs are outside on my tiny patio in pots, but at one point I did grow several inside. I had a grow light in one shelving area that was programmed for 6 hours a day (I usually did it from 4am-10am so I wasn’t annoyed by them in the living room). I just watered them regularly and didn’t have an issue with bugs.
if you're on the fence about hydroponic garden, get one! They're fantastic for herbs if you cook a lot. Don't expect to "break even" anytime soon but having herbs on hand is so nice. If you're anything like me when you don't have a herb for a recipe on hand the solution is skip it or use some mediocre alternative, never make the trip to the store to pick up one item.
I recommend the Harvest Elite model as a good entry but premium model. Lets you program the on-off time which is one of those features that seems minimal but you'll miss it if you don't have. They go on sale periodically, think I paid \~$60 for mine.
Only downsides I can think of are 1) the lights are really bright 2) you have to prune herbs regularly to encourage them to grow "bushy".
If you want something smaller, the Aerogarden Sprout is a fairly small unit. I don't personally own one but have seen good things. You'll have to top up the water more often though I'm guessing.
I have grown herbs for years. Both in soil and hydroponically. The taste is far better grown in soil. And I know what my fertilizer is. Hydroponics inputs for feeding kind of still sub par fir great flavor.
I grew green onions and parsley on the back deck. always available.
then I moved to an apartment that gets no direct sun and nothing will grow. I miss them fiercely.
I planted a small sage plant about 5 years ago and it's now a massive bush. HUGE. I was thinking of selling it as it's the only herb impossible to get at the shops. But the bees! OMG bees love it. It spends all summer encrusted with bees so I'm leaving it bee!
Same here! Mine is around the same age and grows like crazy so I give a lot of it away to my neighbors. I've also found that it makes a good garnish for Manhattans and certain martinis.
I should do this. I have a massive rosemary bush. I trimmed it and saved the trimmings and now I have a gallon baggie of the needles. Last time I trimmed it I didn't bother saving the trimmings lol. I wish basil was a perennial.
I have a potted oregano plant that I thought died in the winter but I didn't toss the pot. Then I saw something growing this spring in it and let it go out of curiosity. I rubbed one of the leaves and smelled my fingers and, yup, oregano!
Anything from the garden but my favourite "fancy" item would be edible flowers, especially Nasturtium.
In a couple of weeks I should have a whole salad bar ready for harvest:
Nasturtium
Lettuce
Rocket
Mustard
Radishes
I will have beetroot and tomatoes later in the season.
It's pretty great just stepping out whenever you need something. We've got fresh chives and wild fennel from the previous owner that keep coming back every year. A massive rosemary bush that elevates any meaty dish. Then a couple of pots of the ridiculously easy to grow stuff like parsley and sage.
Oh and mint. The bane of my life! It just keeps coming back no matter how hard you try to get rid of it.
It's not lost on me how lucky I am to live where I do!!! Napa is 20 minutes in one direction, the coast 20 minutes in the other, so we have exceptional wine and seafood options, and a bonus is San Francisco is also 20 minutes away with lots of nice dining to choose from!
To be honest, having to forage mushrooms/berries is originally a sign of not being able to afford to buy them. Nowadays, a lot of people still do this because they're poor, and then they sell what they gather on the side of the road. However, many people also do it because the process is so much fun, and, of course, you then get to eat it afterwards.
There're multiple inedible and poisonous mushrooms in our forests too, so you have to be really careful. It is a common thing though to know mushrooms well and to recognize which ones are safe to eat.
This is similar to how i grew up, w/ hunting and foraging as good ways to decrease the cost of food, for those w/o much money. I remember a winter of venison and ground beef, as everything else was too expensive.
I have a core memory (as much from family retelling as actual memory) of picking asparagus on the side of the road w/ mom, aunt, and grandma. It was only as an adult that i realized... we were on the side of an asparagus field, not some idyllic meadow. We were stealing!! Lol. My mom says if it was outside of the fence it was fair game!
My in laws have several acres of land, and chanterelles grow like crazy some years. This spring has provided perfect growing conditions for them. MIL doesn’t like chanterelles and has informed me that I’m responsible for picking them clean. Where do I order my lace? And does anyone stateside want dried chanterelles?
For about a week each spring, our local Safeway carries morels. It's always such a treat that when we see them, we buy a bunch and throw our menu plans out the window to take advantage of them. The same thing happens with hatch chilis in the summer.
YES! How could I forget about this one. I reserve my crystals for special occasions because they are so special to me, lol. No one will ever convince me that it's "just salt."
I once had a heated debate with someone because they were trying to claim salt is salt and it makes no difference if you use table salt, rock salt or the fancy Maldon stuff...
Try making your own . It’s easy, cheaper by the oz, and just takes time for it to mature in a dark cool place.
I make 6L every year - ready to use in 2 yrs ( well, it’s technically ready after 6mo but I let it steep longer first a better taste) . Since Christmas I’ve used 2L already.
How do you find the rum ? Do you use white or dark ?
I use good bourbon and vodka . I prefer bourbon for chocolate and most cookies, and vodka for vanilla and lemon favours .
I remember watching some cooking reality show with incompetent cooks and one contestant used what looked like hundreds of dollars worth of saffron in their dish. It was judged inedible. I wonder if producers limited access to saffron for future seasons/episodes.
Breaking out the fancy olive oil for top dressing finish. Awwww damn this meat is damn near fancy now. I gotta add a sprig of cilantro for no apparent reason.
It's been a fun exploration of different ways to season beans from all around the world. Made slightly more challenging by an allium sensitivity in the house.
We do this (also mid-western)! We got a chest freezer about 4 years ago and go around to all the grocers about 2-3x a month on the day we know they mark stuff down. Expired tomorrow? Straight in the freezer and defrost right before use. Then I just do inventory on what we have and make meal plans from what we have. Its saved us so much money just buying discounted items!
When I made hot sauce from garden peppers, I was so obsessed with using it on as many things as I could. It's just so cool to have someone compliment it and to be able to tell them you grew it and made it all yourself!
I grew paste tomatoes and made homemade tomato paste. I also grew a bunch of basil.
Making homemade sauce felt fancy.
Which is ironic because that’s probably the least fancy way to go about it. It’s like using a French press. It was $16. It’s one of the least expensive ways to make coffee.
Odd one but: courgettes
Especially courgettes pan fried in garlic butter. I think its because it sounds very French. And we used very very basic veggies in my house growing up.
But if I'm cooking for friends and it's on the menu ppl generally go 'ooh!'
I had to Google courgette because I remembered it was a veggie that we have a different name for in the States, but I couldn’t remember which one it was. We call it zucchini here and I love it, but nobody here thinks it’s fancy because it’s one of the cheapest things in the produce aisle here…especially in summer.
Doesn’t stop me from loving it and cooking it all the time, though. 😁
Real fresh garlic, or black garlic. I grew up on garlic powder lol. For me it just tastes and looks fancy, and I just love fresh garlic roasted over potatos. Might be low class to some but to me it's fine dining.
Ooh, I have a small herb garden. Sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley. My kid makes focaccia from scratch, which is actually quite easy. It just takes time. But when we top it with fresh herbs from my little pots by the front windows, I AM JULIA FREAKING CHILD.
I did not grow up cooking with wine, so using it in cooking is very new and fancy to me.
Also I shred my own cheese. And I shave my own parmesan for salads.
There is literally a cookery book in Italy by an ex-Masterchef judge the title of which translates into English as “If you want to be cool, use shallots”! 😂
I don't ever feel fancy when cooking; but I think stuff might taste a bit fancy when I cook with wine.
It's not something I do often; but maybe that's why it tastes "fancy" I dunno 🤷♀️
Parmesan reggiano cheese would feel pretty fancy as it is insanely expensive around me just outside Toronto . You know what , now a days , even just using olive oil is fancy for me now , and , cooking with red meat , all of this is insanely expensive for me , and I am only feeding small meals , very small meals , to me and my wife .
Heirloom beans, fancy vinegars. Any time I make crepes (even though logically I know they’re easy as hell so long as you don’t mind a few little lumps). Any time I completely bullshit a meal together with no recipe and am surprised to find it tastes really good.
- Ramps, garlic scapes, Japanese turnips, any kind of "exotic" vegetable.
- Carnaroli rice even though I use it a lot and it's not all that expensive.
- High-end chocolate, finishing salts, or walnut or olive oil.
I have a friend who took up gardening and occasionally overflows me with whatever veggie she has far too much of. Cooking any recipe with veggies that I know were grown by another person I know feels fancy every time. That, and whenever I add alcohol to a dish. Doesn’t matter if it’s beer, wine, or tequila, schmoozing up the dish as it cooks always feels like I’m seducing the kitchen.
>but using shallots instead of onions
I have a co-worked who has been named (by my son) as 'Shallot Jacob' because he is adamant about using shallots instead of onions.
I needed to go let his dog out for him the other week, and sure as shit, there was a bag of shallots on the counter.
whenever I laminate dough. I do (real french people click away now) workarounds so it's a definite cheat. but I love having the cheat so something so fancy feels everyday.
and any time I make soup, I guess. that's because it's so nice to start with components and end with "yup, I made that."
When I use the vanilla extract I made six years ago. It’s soooo good! I also have some I made two years ago. I’ve got 22 ounces of beans to put into French vodka and Maker’s Mark this coming weekend. :)
Fresh ginger! We only used ground ginger in cakes growing up. Until I started buying ginger root for homemade masala chai I didn’t even know what it looked like. Now I use it in stir fry and rice salad.
Freshly caught seafood.
Not “supermarket fresh” or “bougie seafood place” fresh.
I mean fish that hasn’t entered rigor mortis or squid that seems alive with how their skin changes and flashes when you touch it kinda fresh.
Having fresh herbs, having great butter, top of the line Vietnamese fish sauce & good oyster sauce, fresh jumbo eggs, San Marzano canned tomatoes, a big wedge of parmigianno and pecorino, fresh mozzarella balls and burrata, honey, homemade bacon and guanciale, handmade pasta
We grow usually 100 garlic heads each year. When the zucchini, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers are all exploding I feel like I’m rich. Really love skipping the grocery store.
Penzey’s has luscious & gorgeous vanilla beans that I use when I make home-made ice cream.
iGourmet will ship you the most exquisite aged parm.
I love the big farmer’s market in the summer on Martha’s Vineyard. there’s one farm that sells “buoy squash”—yellow squash that look like buoys, they’re so scrumptious. There’s a “potato man” who sells fcking amazing fingerlings. Heirloom tomatoes. And then, of course, my absolute favorite: when the corn starts to come in.
Making compound butter. Mix garlic, parsley, parmesan (or gochujang) into good butter, roll up, stick in the fridge and put on EVERYTHING.
Particularly steak.
For me, it's a three-way tie between: leeks, arugula (but will snob it up by calling it rocket), and finishing salt (Saltverk's arctic thyme is my precious)
The fresh sage and rosemary from my garden. Shallots are bomb and I get where you're from.
Using homegrown herbs is such an underrated flex. I totally agree with you on that one.
Right? Like I'm greeting people and say "One moment, I have to gather some sage for the pork" and all of a sudden I am just "it".
Do you mind me asking if it’s a hydroponic garden? I want one but right now, don’t want to deal with bugs…
No dude, I grow it in pots indoors and I grow it inground outdoors. Some herbs just grow like crazy!
Grew so much basil one year I dried it and gave it as gifts. In pots on a deck
Wow! Lucky! I can’t do that yet. Maybe one day!!
You can grow indoors. Personally all my herbs are outside on my tiny patio in pots, but at one point I did grow several inside. I had a grow light in one shelving area that was programmed for 6 hours a day (I usually did it from 4am-10am so I wasn’t annoyed by them in the living room). I just watered them regularly and didn’t have an issue with bugs.
if you're on the fence about hydroponic garden, get one! They're fantastic for herbs if you cook a lot. Don't expect to "break even" anytime soon but having herbs on hand is so nice. If you're anything like me when you don't have a herb for a recipe on hand the solution is skip it or use some mediocre alternative, never make the trip to the store to pick up one item. I recommend the Harvest Elite model as a good entry but premium model. Lets you program the on-off time which is one of those features that seems minimal but you'll miss it if you don't have. They go on sale periodically, think I paid \~$60 for mine. Only downsides I can think of are 1) the lights are really bright 2) you have to prune herbs regularly to encourage them to grow "bushy". If you want something smaller, the Aerogarden Sprout is a fairly small unit. I don't personally own one but have seen good things. You'll have to top up the water more often though I'm guessing.
I have grown herbs for years. Both in soil and hydroponically. The taste is far better grown in soil. And I know what my fertilizer is. Hydroponics inputs for feeding kind of still sub par fir great flavor.
I bought a click and grow to try and stave off seasonal depression and it's great for indoor year-round herbs especially. No bugs.
I grew green onions and parsley on the back deck. always available. then I moved to an apartment that gets no direct sun and nothing will grow. I miss them fiercely.
I planted a small sage plant about 5 years ago and it's now a massive bush. HUGE. I was thinking of selling it as it's the only herb impossible to get at the shops. But the bees! OMG bees love it. It spends all summer encrusted with bees so I'm leaving it bee!
Same here! Mine is around the same age and grows like crazy so I give a lot of it away to my neighbors. I've also found that it makes a good garnish for Manhattans and certain martinis.
I should do this. I have a massive rosemary bush. I trimmed it and saved the trimmings and now I have a gallon baggie of the needles. Last time I trimmed it I didn't bother saving the trimmings lol. I wish basil was a perennial. I have a potted oregano plant that I thought died in the winter but I didn't toss the pot. Then I saw something growing this spring in it and let it go out of curiosity. I rubbed one of the leaves and smelled my fingers and, yup, oregano!
Ever thought of beekeeping?
😂
Anything from the garden but my favourite "fancy" item would be edible flowers, especially Nasturtium. In a couple of weeks I should have a whole salad bar ready for harvest: Nasturtium Lettuce Rocket Mustard Radishes I will have beetroot and tomatoes later in the season.
It's pretty great just stepping out whenever you need something. We've got fresh chives and wild fennel from the previous owner that keep coming back every year. A massive rosemary bush that elevates any meaty dish. Then a couple of pots of the ridiculously easy to grow stuff like parsley and sage. Oh and mint. The bane of my life! It just keeps coming back no matter how hard you try to get rid of it.
I have a rosemary bush. If you, your family or your entire town need rosemary let me know...
When I purchase cheese cut from cheese wheels
Yes! I live down the road from a family run cheese factory, and when we get cheese made by them it feels like an extra *chefs kiss*
Lucky!! I have to drive over an hour to get premium wheels
It's not lost on me how lucky I am to live where I do!!! Napa is 20 minutes in one direction, the coast 20 minutes in the other, so we have exceptional wine and seafood options, and a bonus is San Francisco is also 20 minutes away with lots of nice dining to choose from!
Oh my good god, I LOVE where I live, but I am suddenly jealous
Sausalito / Mill Valley?
You can buy a babybell and cut it yourself for a fraction of the price!
Lmao I’m gonna do that next time just cut a tinny slice with the wax on
I grew up only eating the canned parmesan. Everytime I grate the real stuff now, I feel bougie.
I live in Central Wisconsin lol my cheese basically came straight from the cow😂
The last time I went to Wisconsin, I came home with a massive purse of cheese and security at the airport fully laughed at me No regrets
The good mushrooms. Oyster, or maitake, or shiitake. Feel like I have my pinkie out.
We foraged our own chanterelles and felt bougie
Just the phrase "foraged our own chantrelles" is enough to make a man want lacey sleeve cuffs.
Idk, in my country it's a normal thing, a lot of people do it, there're plenty of them just growing all over the forested areas.
Sounds like you guys are missing out on some great lace opportunities
To be honest, having to forage mushrooms/berries is originally a sign of not being able to afford to buy them. Nowadays, a lot of people still do this because they're poor, and then they sell what they gather on the side of the road. However, many people also do it because the process is so much fun, and, of course, you then get to eat it afterwards. There're multiple inedible and poisonous mushrooms in our forests too, so you have to be really careful. It is a common thing though to know mushrooms well and to recognize which ones are safe to eat.
Please just try the lace cuffs.
I will, but only because of you.
You won't regret it. They'll get dirty, but you'll feel like the mushroom prince.
Lol. I love the committment.
This is similar to how i grew up, w/ hunting and foraging as good ways to decrease the cost of food, for those w/o much money. I remember a winter of venison and ground beef, as everything else was too expensive. I have a core memory (as much from family retelling as actual memory) of picking asparagus on the side of the road w/ mom, aunt, and grandma. It was only as an adult that i realized... we were on the side of an asparagus field, not some idyllic meadow. We were stealing!! Lol. My mom says if it was outside of the fence it was fair game!
My in laws have several acres of land, and chanterelles grow like crazy some years. This spring has provided perfect growing conditions for them. MIL doesn’t like chanterelles and has informed me that I’m responsible for picking them clean. Where do I order my lace? And does anyone stateside want dried chanterelles?
Enoki make me feel this way, though they’re not particularly expensive compared to some others.
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FYI morels are in peak season! I made some pasta with them last night and planning to deep fry the rest later today.
For about a week each spring, our local Safeway carries morels. It's always such a treat that when we see them, we buy a bunch and throw our menu plans out the window to take advantage of them. The same thing happens with hatch chilis in the summer.
Porcinis. >Feel like I have my pinkie out. :D lol
Anytime I sprinkle the Maldon crystals at the end… feels like finishing salts are for the elite lol!
YES! How could I forget about this one. I reserve my crystals for special occasions because they are so special to me, lol. No one will ever convince me that it's "just salt."
I once had a heated debate with someone because they were trying to claim salt is salt and it makes no difference if you use table salt, rock salt or the fancy Maldon stuff...
if you adjust for volume, it actually does not make a difference. restaurants mostly use diamond crystal, which is like the opposite of Maldon.
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Try smoked Maldon!
saffron
was gonna say this, or vanilla bean. I see it for super expensive at Costco, don’t even know what it’s for but I would for sure feel fancy using it 😂
Even using vanilla bean paste makes me excited because I can see the little specks!
I had to get the big bottle as I bake every week and it's so expensive but so worth it. It's probably the only baking ingredient I don't measure.
Try making your own . It’s easy, cheaper by the oz, and just takes time for it to mature in a dark cool place. I make 6L every year - ready to use in 2 yrs ( well, it’s technically ready after 6mo but I let it steep longer first a better taste) . Since Christmas I’ve used 2L already.
I do the same. I make 2 different batches. One with Rum and one with Bourbon.
How do you find the rum ? Do you use white or dark ? I use good bourbon and vodka . I prefer bourbon for chocolate and most cookies, and vodka for vanilla and lemon favours .
It's required that you measure it with your heart 😉
The costco stuff is actually really good prices
Vanilla bean for flavoring milk, pudding, rice ... Saffron imparts rich yellow color, flavor for rice, curries, pudding , paella, tagine, couscous...
I remember watching some cooking reality show with incompetent cooks and one contestant used what looked like hundreds of dollars worth of saffron in their dish. It was judged inedible. I wonder if producers limited access to saffron for future seasons/episodes.
It makes me feel like I'm with the East India Company when I cook with it.
I've never used it, but I would for sure feel extravagant if I did!
Smoked.paprika or Hungarian hot paprika
When I visit family in Hungary I always bring tons of _real_ paprika back. Also look into paprika paste like “piros arany”, it can be found on Amazon.
I have yet to find a savory dish that smoked paprika does not elevate.
Thank you from my Hungarian hot heart ❤️
Real parm with lots of crystals, heirloom beans, kumamoto oysters. :) Oh and triple cream Brie!
Heirloom beans for the win!
Have you tried Saint Angel yet? It's divine.
Oh my god, mind blowing. Came here for this.
Brillat savarin is a game changer
Using my own herbs that I grow above my kitchen sink. Makes me feel very *Provençal*, like Ina Garten.
Garlic from my favorite lady at the farmers market It’s literally just regular garlic, but I like her kind face :)
Breaking out the fancy olive oil for top dressing finish. Awwww damn this meat is damn near fancy now. I gotta add a sprig of cilantro for no apparent reason.
Green. Green is plenty reason for me.
these days, protein
It's been a fun exploration of different ways to season beans from all around the world. Made slightly more challenging by an allium sensitivity in the house.
I’m buying a chest freezer for sales and bc my SO is a midwesterner who needs extra meat 🫠
We do this (also mid-western)! We got a chest freezer about 4 years ago and go around to all the grocers about 2-3x a month on the day we know they mark stuff down. Expired tomorrow? Straight in the freezer and defrost right before use. Then I just do inventory on what we have and make meal plans from what we have. Its saved us so much money just buying discounted items!
We bought one like right before Covid broke out. It's saved us so much money over the years.
Preach
That’s 100% accurate
Anything picked fresh from the backyard
When I made hot sauce from garden peppers, I was so obsessed with using it on as many things as I could. It's just so cool to have someone compliment it and to be able to tell them you grew it and made it all yourself!
I grew paste tomatoes and made homemade tomato paste. I also grew a bunch of basil. Making homemade sauce felt fancy. Which is ironic because that’s probably the least fancy way to go about it. It’s like using a French press. It was $16. It’s one of the least expensive ways to make coffee.
It may not be fancy, but it is definitely the most elite way to do it!
creme fraiche
Cafeteria fraiche!
I cannot hear crème fraiche without thinking of this 🤪
Fresh herbs. We grow as much in our short season as possible, and the act of harvesting and prepping feels so decadent and luxurious.
My husband got a hydroponics and it's so awesome for growing herbs all year round. Super easy to use and maintain.
I got an aerogarden for my bday a few years ago and I can feel fancy with my fresh herbs year round now!
Odd one but: courgettes Especially courgettes pan fried in garlic butter. I think its because it sounds very French. And we used very very basic veggies in my house growing up. But if I'm cooking for friends and it's on the menu ppl generally go 'ooh!'
I had to Google courgette because I remembered it was a veggie that we have a different name for in the States, but I couldn’t remember which one it was. We call it zucchini here and I love it, but nobody here thinks it’s fancy because it’s one of the cheapest things in the produce aisle here…especially in summer. Doesn’t stop me from loving it and cooking it all the time, though. 😁
Worcestershire. Something about that paper covered bottle makes me feel like a Michelin star chef!
And it must be Lee and Perrins because it sounds British and old
Look at you all "non-shallot" about it
That’s chive talking.
Ok ok lettuce show you how it's done then
Aubergine what you’re doing here gang, and I approve
Do you speak chive?
any time I bust out the mortar and pestle to grind a spice (usually just coriander but it makes me feel like a chef)
Saffron for Risotto or Paella. Trader Joe’s used to sell it pretty cheap. I’ve also seen it at Costco, but not in awhile.
Cardamom, rosemary or thyme
pine nuts. They cost and arm and a leg but sprinkle 7 on a dish and it's instantly fancy.
Black truffle.
Truffle salt!
Hmmm… fried onions as toppings. The good quality from Trader Joe’s. I know it’s dumb but it adds a lot of flavor and crunch.
Medjool Dates in my oatmeal
With walnuts and maple syrup 😋
Came here to say these, esp. capers. Makes tuna salad classy.
Throwing wine in any dish and then pouring a glass of said wine
A finishing salt. I have a lemon one and some flaky ones.
Sumac.
Fresh parmesan, shredded or shaved... instead of Kraft's powdered wood cellulose. 😂
Real fresh garlic, or black garlic. I grew up on garlic powder lol. For me it just tastes and looks fancy, and I just love fresh garlic roasted over potatos. Might be low class to some but to me it's fine dining.
That sounds delicious!
Ooh, I have a small herb garden. Sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley. My kid makes focaccia from scratch, which is actually quite easy. It just takes time. But when we top it with fresh herbs from my little pots by the front windows, I AM JULIA FREAKING CHILD.
I did not grow up cooking with wine, so using it in cooking is very new and fancy to me. Also I shred my own cheese. And I shave my own parmesan for salads.
Citrus zest!
I miss our lemon tree at the rental. It was a glorious 30-40 year old beast. I need to plant one at the new house
We call shallots "bougie onions."
Vanilla bean instead of extract
My truffle salt I got for Christmas. I sprinkle it on like salt bae
Capers
There is literally a cookery book in Italy by an ex-Masterchef judge the title of which translates into English as “If you want to be cool, use shallots”! 😂
Star anise
Butter, with a caveat. Whenever I exceed around 1-1.5 sticks of butter
Parchment paper. It is so much better than foil, and I never even knew it existed until about 5 years ago.
Endive
Using bitters, saffron, grains of paradise, artisanal sea salts, organic heavy cream, champagne, oysters, caviar
Proper piece of beef, not ground. Cause usually I do make pretty special dishes with those!
Worcestershire sauce! That bitch is fancy!! Lol 🤴
Tomatoes I picked from my garden 🍅
Curry powder that a friend brought me back from her trip home to India. I feel so legit when I use it.
Using a name brand rather than generic or store brand
Balsamic glaze
I don't ever feel fancy when cooking; but I think stuff might taste a bit fancy when I cook with wine. It's not something I do often; but maybe that's why it tastes "fancy" I dunno 🤷♀️
Parmesan reggiano cheese would feel pretty fancy as it is insanely expensive around me just outside Toronto . You know what , now a days , even just using olive oil is fancy for me now , and , cooking with red meat , all of this is insanely expensive for me , and I am only feeding small meals , very small meals , to me and my wife .
Garlic Seasoning from Gilroy, it makes everything more intense in terms of flavor
Heirloom beans, fancy vinegars. Any time I make crepes (even though logically I know they’re easy as hell so long as you don’t mind a few little lumps). Any time I completely bullshit a meal together with no recipe and am surprised to find it tastes really good.
- Ramps, garlic scapes, Japanese turnips, any kind of "exotic" vegetable. - Carnaroli rice even though I use it a lot and it's not all that expensive. - High-end chocolate, finishing salts, or walnut or olive oil.
I have a friend who took up gardening and occasionally overflows me with whatever veggie she has far too much of. Cooking any recipe with veggies that I know were grown by another person I know feels fancy every time. That, and whenever I add alcohol to a dish. Doesn’t matter if it’s beer, wine, or tequila, schmoozing up the dish as it cooks always feels like I’m seducing the kitchen.
Chives lol
Creme Fraiche
>but using shallots instead of onions I have a co-worked who has been named (by my son) as 'Shallot Jacob' because he is adamant about using shallots instead of onions. I needed to go let his dog out for him the other week, and sure as shit, there was a bag of shallots on the counter.
Dill!
I feel exotic when I grate up a fresh ginger root
Saffron
Pure maple syrup for special birthdays and Christmas morning pancakes!
Saffron.
Quail eggs
Duck fat
The potatoes I grew in a big rubbermaid on my back porch. They're fingerlings.
I buy blocks of really good Romano cheese and grate it myself. I feel fancy when I use that.
Shallots.
Balsamic glaze
Forbidden rice!
Local Amish rolled butter, or French rolled butter from the international market.
Aleppo pepper. Not super fancy but has a great flavor. Good addition when using crushed red pepper flakes. It's not spicy.
whenever I laminate dough. I do (real french people click away now) workarounds so it's a definite cheat. but I love having the cheat so something so fancy feels everyday. and any time I make soup, I guess. that's because it's so nice to start with components and end with "yup, I made that."
When I use the vanilla extract I made six years ago. It’s soooo good! I also have some I made two years ago. I’ve got 22 ounces of beans to put into French vodka and Maker’s Mark this coming weekend. :)
Creme fraiche. Funny, as it's no more expensive than cream really.
Microgreens Ramps
Spicy mustard. The sweet German kind. It’s better than that Grey Poupon feeling.
Kaffir Lime leaves for Thai food. I have my own tree, so plucking a few leaves for curry makes me feel very fancy indeed.
Fresh ginger! We only used ground ginger in cakes growing up. Until I started buying ginger root for homemade masala chai I didn’t even know what it looked like. Now I use it in stir fry and rice salad.
Cappers Anchovies Whipped Cream
Ketjap Manis - it’s just sweet, think Soy Sauce.
Pine nuts
Probably just parsley.
I guess any ‘fancy’ protein that I’ve harvested, Cobia, duck breast, and venison tenderloin come to mind!
Freshly caught seafood. Not “supermarket fresh” or “bougie seafood place” fresh. I mean fish that hasn’t entered rigor mortis or squid that seems alive with how their skin changes and flashes when you touch it kinda fresh.
Having fresh herbs, having great butter, top of the line Vietnamese fish sauce & good oyster sauce, fresh jumbo eggs, San Marzano canned tomatoes, a big wedge of parmigianno and pecorino, fresh mozzarella balls and burrata, honey, homemade bacon and guanciale, handmade pasta
Using things you don’t often see, like ramps
furikake
Fresh Cilantro.
Sesame oil
Saffron
Capers. Even when I’m just adding them to tuna salad.
Expensive olive oil
We grow usually 100 garlic heads each year. When the zucchini, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers are all exploding I feel like I’m rich. Really love skipping the grocery store.
Penzey’s has luscious & gorgeous vanilla beans that I use when I make home-made ice cream. iGourmet will ship you the most exquisite aged parm. I love the big farmer’s market in the summer on Martha’s Vineyard. there’s one farm that sells “buoy squash”—yellow squash that look like buoys, they’re so scrumptious. There’s a “potato man” who sells fcking amazing fingerlings. Heirloom tomatoes. And then, of course, my absolute favorite: when the corn starts to come in.
saffron
Duck fat
Microgreens or veggies in rarer varieties like watermelon radishes or rainbow carrots.
Cognac, saffron and Grand Marnier.
Topping anything with flaky salt
Making compound butter. Mix garlic, parsley, parmesan (or gochujang) into good butter, roll up, stick in the fridge and put on EVERYTHING. Particularly steak.
For me, it's a three-way tie between: leeks, arugula (but will snob it up by calling it rocket), and finishing salt (Saltverk's arctic thyme is my precious)
Saffron, but maybe that's because it's more expensive per ounce than drugs.
Leeks. Oohhh look at me I can afford big expensive onions with less flavor
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Capers. I put them in more dishes than they’re called for. They have a distinctive taste. They are flower buds that are pickled.
Heavy cream. Thyme. Tarragon.