Peanut oil
High-heat nut oil of West African and Chinese woks.
Pantry · Page 7
The spices that moved the world
Page 7 of 11 — more of the working pantry.
Browse the pantry
Page 7
247 named jars, 11 short pages — so the first paint stays light.
Coconut oil
Solid in the jar, perfume in a South Indian or Caribbean fry.
Canola oil
The quiet modern fry oil — named in the books when flavor should come from somewhere else.
Linseed oil
Flax oil, rare in a hot pan, present when a Central European recipe still writes it.
Cottonseed oil
An old American fry oil the books still name in a handful of recipes.
Vegetable oil
The unlabeled bottle: when the recipe wants fat, not a story.
Neutral oil
The instruction that means: do not let the oil speak louder than the spice.
Duck fat
The golden fat of confit and roast potatoes — southwest France in a jar.
Cooking oil
The unnamed bottle the books reach for when the fat should stay quiet: fry, coat, and get out of the spice's way.
Chile oil
Oil that spent time with dried chile — the red sheen on noodles, dumplings, and a Mexican salsa that wants heat in the fat.
Vegetable shortening
The white fat of a pie crust and a flour tortilla when lard is not in the house.
Pork fat
Rendered pork — dripping, lard's cousin, the shine on a Portuguese or German roast.
Flat-leaf parsley
Italian parsley: flatter, louder, the bunch that finishes a tagine and a gremolata.
Sage
The leaf that loves butter, beans, and a roast — gray-green and a little camphor.
Marjoram
Oregano's gentler sister, sweeter, and at home in German and Polish pots.
Tarragon
Anise in a leaf: the French tarragon that finishes chicken, vinegar, and béarnaise.
Chervil
The delicate parsley of spring — a French fines-herbes leaf that hates a long simmer.
Savory
The bean herb: peppery, small-leaved, and older in European gardens than most cooks remember.
Lavender
Flower as spice — a pinch in herbes de Provence, a warning if you add a handful.
Huacatay
Andean black mint: the wild marigold that makes ocopa and roast chicken Peruvian.
Pennyroyal
The herb the books still call Pennyroyal — a working jar, not a garnish word.
Lemon verbena
The herb the books still call Lemon verbena — a working jar, not a garnish word.
Hibiscus
Jamaica, karkadé, sobolo — the calyx that dyes aguas and teas a deep red.
Wormwood
Chiba in Morocco, absinthe in Europe — a bitter leaf used in pinches, never by the handful.