The portable pantry
August 6, 2012 by SusieI’m away this week with my family on Lake Michigan. As I prepared for our trip, I stumbled on a question all us cooks on vacation have to ponder: what to pack? I don’t mean the usual stuff: swimsuit, sunscreen, a cheap novel or two. I mean: what to pack from the kitchen? knowing that kitchens away from home are full of surprises and–even more so–deficiencies.
Usually I bring a good knife, but this time I couldn’t be bothered. Instead, I grabbed a battered old shoebox of my daughter’s, knelt in front of the spice cabinet and asked: “What can I not live without?”
The first answer was obvious: cumin. I think whole cumin is the first spice you will not find in a summer rental–although there might be an aged, odorless bottle of ground cumin from 5 years ago gathering dust on the shelf. Next I grabbed some Aleppo pepper and some hulled, white sesame seeds, because even the dullest, plainest dish will seem more interesting if I’ve got one of those.
As I packed, I got increasingly paranoid and biased. What if there are no fresh herbs in the Midwest? I threw in the dried thyme and oregano. What if I need to make something with white pepper? What if I don’t have bay leaves? I always don’t have bay leaves when I need them, so it follows I will need them on vacation. And it’s always impossible to find the dried chile you want. So I grabbed a fistful of arból chiles and threw them in the bottom, with the Wet Ones. I might not find the chiles I want, but at least I’d have some chiles I like.
I didn’t bother to bring any baking spices, because if there’s any spice at a rental, it’ll be cinnamon. In a final act of folly, I threw in the onion powder, which is ridiculous because if there is a second spice at a rental, it wil be onion powder.
As it turns out, our temporary home is pretty well provisioned. At least one of the knives is good and sharp, and there’s a big cutting board and plenty of counter space. There’s even a blender, which was probably too much to hope for.
On the other hand, I forgot the sunscreen.
What’s in your portable pantry? What spice can’t you live without? What lengths will you go to to make sure you eat well away from home?
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