The ebb and flow of ingredients

If you looked into my refrigerator daily over the past 20 years, you would have been hard pressed to find a day where you did not see a container of yogurt prominently displayed. As a recent Food & Wine article noted, there are legions of dishes that start with or are finished by a dollop of the tangy dairy product. It’s found in dips, sauces, desserts, drinks, baked goods, and more. However, starting a few months ago the yogurt container disappeared from its usual spot in our fridge.

The disappearance was not planned, nor was it part of any diet or medical requirement. My cooking just…changed. One quart of Greek yogurt passed well by its ‘best by’ date without even being opened. I managed to find a use for it, but it was a struggle. Nevertheless, when it was finally gone I purchased another container, figuring that episode was a fluke since there was always another dish that required it on the horizon. Except this time there wasn’t. I gravitated toward cake and muffin recipes that used different liquid ingredients. Creamy dips and sauces were replaced by sharper, more herbaceous ones. Once an indispensable part of my pantry, yogurt became an afterthought, and horror of horrors, I had to pitch an almost full container because it became overly sour and moldy.

Cooking naturally contains ebbs and flows, and ingredient preferences can wax and wane just like techniques, favored cuisines, and seasonal availability. I have gone through phases where I focused on foods from particular countries or regions, practiced techniques such as deboning a chicken to make galatines, followed a strict vegetarian diet (not related to the deboning), and strategically eliminated categories of foods for medical reasons (a phase I hope not to repeat). Whether this yogurt-less era will pass with time or is a sign of a larger trend remains to be seen. I have noticed that our household dairy consumption seems to be decreasing across the board and I do not feel as though anything is missing, so it might stick around for a while. In the meantime I will enjoy the newly discovered foods that have supplanted the ones containing yogurt. Who knows what ingredients may disappear from my refrigerator in the upcoming months. Whatever they may be, I am sure the replacements will be delicious.