It’s been said so often that it sounds trite and cliché --- the quality of your ingredients is the single most important factor in determining how good your finished dish will be.

But here I am to say it again ….

True, you need to possess some basic kitchen techniques, skills and equipment to effectively execute a recipe. But even the most proficient cook with the finest equipment money can buy will be unable to produce delicious food without great raw ingredients.

Many years ago, on our first trip to Italy, Cyndy and I were having dinner at Castello di Spaltenna in Gaiole. Our main course that evening was roast chicken. The first bite was a revelation.

“Is this what chicken tastes like?!” I thought to myself.

I asked to speak with the chef. I had to know what the trick was to producing this intense chicken flavor.

“No trick,” the chef told me. “Just the best breed of chicken I can find, raised in a good place with a good diet.Great sea salt to season the bird. Local best-quality extra virgin olive oil. Fresh rosemary from our garden. Roast at 475 degrees. That’s it.”

With a dish that simple – just four ingredients – there’s no hiding second-rate quality. Each ingredient must shine on its own, and together with the others, produce a sum of flavor even greater than the parts.

Here are eight ingredients that will change the way you cook at home. If you regularly stock and use these pantry staples, you’ll be surprised how the flavor of your favorite dishes is intensified. And you’ll also discover Tuscan spontaneity and resourcefulness as you learn to create spur-of-the-moment dishes with whatever you happen to have on hand.

Olive Oil

High quality extra virgin olive oil is the foundation of great Italian cooking. With the exception of Italy’s northernmost regions – where olive trees are unable to thrive and butter comes into play – each regional cuisine depends heavily upon the flavor profile and flavor enhancing qualities of good oil.

What makes a great oil? First off, great fruit. Many experts prefer monovarietal (sometimes called monocultivar) oils -- those produced from one single type of olive. But many great oils are produced from blends. In Chianti, for example, it’s not uncommon for a high-quality oil to be made from blending as many as 5-7 different types of olives. Second, and perhaps most important, the best oils are produced from early harvest olives – olives that are still mostly green and produce spicy, peppery and slightly bitter oil. These early harvest oils – sometimes difficult to find – are the best flavor enhancers.

Another consideration: freshness. From the moment it’s pressed onward, olive oil begins to gradually deteriorate as it’s exposed to oxygen, light and heat. Within a year or so, the best qualities of an oil have dissipated. Within two years, the oil is rancid or close to it.

Unfortunately, most olive oil commercially sold in the United States is well past its prime. Check the label carefully before purchasing. If there is no bottling/harvest date indicated or if the date is more than a year past, don’t buy the oil.

Many oils are also misleadingly labeled. For example, just because an oil carries an Italian name or even if the label indicates that it is a product of Italy, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an authentic Italian olive oil. The olives may have been purchased from another source in another country --- at a cheaper price --- and then pressed/bottled in Italy. Or the oil itself might have been purchased elsewhere by the bottler and simply packaged at an Italian facility. You want an oil whose label indicates that it was produced with olives grown by an Italian producer, preferably on the producer’s estate, and pressed/bottled at or near the estate. In other words, provenance matters.

Find a trusted source and invest in great oil. The flavor return will be worth every penny. Don’t be timid about using your best quality oil. Many “authorities” recommend using high-quality oil only for finishing dishes or for dressing salads. They advise that a lower-quality oil is an acceptable substitute for cooking and frying. Don’t believe it. There is no substitute for high-quality olive oil in great Italian cooking. Will using high-quality oil with reckless abandon cost you more? Yes. But if you’re reading this you care about what you cook and what you eat. That marginal investment is something you’re going to be happy about.

Sea Salt

I have a large collection of cookbooks acquired over many years. One of my favorites – and one I always recommend to friends and clients looking to up their game in the kitchen – is “Ruhlman’s Twenty” by the prolific food writer, Michael Ruhlman. It won a James Beard award.

Ruhlman lists and elaborates on what are, in his opinion, the twenty most important techniques in great cooking. You’ll find many that you’d expect, such as “Roast”, “Braise”, and “Saute”. Others are less obvious. The first chapter is titled “Think” (I plan another blog entry dedicated solely to this idea …). Others include “Onion” and “Water”.

Technique number 2 -- immediately after “Think” – is “Salt”. I’d never thought of salt as a cooking technique. But Ruhlman forever changed my perspective on this most important of all cooking ingredients.

Salt is the single most important and effective flavor enhancer in a cook’s arsenal. As the late, great Italian cooking instructor and author, Marcella Hazan, once said: “Salt is a magnet. It draws flavor from food.”

In today’s health-conscious world, many view salt as something harmful -- something to be avoided. Certainly, especially for those who suffer from hypertension, too much salt intake can be a bad thing. But as with most everything in life, moderation and common sense should guide us. Without salt, our food would be seriously lacking in taste and complexity.

Nine times out of ten, if I taste a dish in progress and something seems off, it needs more salt.

As with all ingredients, when we talk salt there’s the high-quality, artisanally-produced version and the mass-produced industrial alternative. Seek out the former. It will make a huge difference in how your food tastes.

Naturally produced salts without chemical additives or preservatives are what you want. Many great salts are produced throughout the world. Among Italian salts, it’s tough to beat those from the salt flats of Trapani, Sicily.

Keep in mind that different salts have different flavor profiles and, most importantly, different flavor intensities. Depending on a given salt’s coarseness and salinity, a teaspoon of one may be much stronger than a teaspoon of another. Remember: recipes and recipe quantities are guides – not scientific doctrine. Taste as you go along and use your palate and personal judgment to determine how much salt is the right amount.

San Marzano Tomatoes

Let’s face it: though regional Italian cooking is based on a lot more than tomato sauce, we Americans are prone to think first of exactly that. And we’re not (entirely) wrong.

Quality canned tomatoes play an important role in most regional Italian cuisines. And the king of all canned tomatoes is the San Marzano.

Let’s be clear. When we talk about San Marzano tomatoes, we need to understand that it’s not just the tomato variety that’s important, it’s also where the tomato is grown. San Marzano’s are a variety of plum tomato, especially sweet and particularly good for cooked sauces. Is it possible to grow San Marzano’s in California? Yes. Will they be the best you can find? In my experience, definitely not.

The best San Marzano’s are grown in Italy in the region of Campania (think Naples and surrounding areas) where a unique combination of micro-climate and soil produces prized tomatoes that have earned DOP (denominazione di origine protetta) status. And the best-of-the-best are grown within a particular appellation/sub-zone known as the Agro Nocerino Sarnese in the province of Salerno. My favorite producer is DaniCoop whose Gustarosso labelled DOP San Marzano’s are among the best I’ve ever tasted. They’re a bit more expensive than some competitors, but worth every cent.

Again, buyer beware: provenance matters. Check the label on canned tomatoes. Make sure that you’re getting San Marzano variety tomatoes grown (not just canned) in Italy from the region of Campania. Look for the DOP certification of provenance. Even some Italian purveyors play tricks with the labeling: “Product of Italy” does not necessarily (and usually doesn’t) mean “Made in Italy” or “Grown in Italy”. Such corner-cutting purveyors are buying tomatoes from foreign sources (many from China!!!) and passing them off as the real deal at too-good-to-be-true (because it isn’t true) low prices. Don’t be fooled.

Cetara Anchovies

You either love ‘em or (think) you hate ‘em. It seems like with anchovies there is no middle ground. I’m part of the “love” camp. And I’m known to secretly use this umami-bomb ingredient when “haters” aren’t watching. In certain dishes --- when used judiciously and in proper context --- the haters don’t even notice. In fact, they love the final dish.

Anchovies can add a depth of flavor and complexity to a dish that is hard to describe. They can be the bass line to the melodic high-note acidity of a squeeze of lemon. They help create “balance” in a dish --- a concept that should get more attention. And as I mentioned above, they are the ultimate umami bomb.

Many anchovy lovers think immediately of Portugal --- and they wouldn’t be wrong. Some fantastic specimens come from waters off the Iberian peninsula. But Italy is right there with the best producers. The small fishing village of Cetara on the Amalfi coast is famous – and rightfully so – for its artisanal anchovy producers.

Although quality anchovies can be found packed in olive oil, I prefer those packed in salt. Store them in your fridge after initially opening them and they will last for months. A quick rinse under fresh water, a deft removal of the tail and spine, and you’re ready to add big flavor to your food.

Guanciale

My friend Sergio is as Roman as it gets. Born and raised in the city and a lifelong resident, he is my authority on all things Roman be it soccer, politics or authentic Roman cuisine.

Not long after meeting Sergio and his wife, Antonella, we invited them to our home for dinner. Now you must understand … all Italians have an opinion on food and all share one in common: Americans can’t possibly cook good Italian food. So expectations were low and suspicions high when Sergio came to dinner.

To make matters worse, I had decided to prepare a pasta course of Rigatoni all’Amatriciana – one of Rome’s most famous and hallowed dishes. Romans don’t believe that Italians from other regions can make it properly, let alone an American transplant from Boston. But on I pushed, confident in my mastery of the dish.

As Sergio hovered behind me at the stove, I could sense he felt something was terribly wrong. But from my perspective, all was going well. My Amatriciana sauce was coming together toward a perfect consistency, and I’d stopped the cooking of the rigatoni at that sweet spot just short of al dente. That would leave me enough additional cooking time to perfectly “marry” the rigatoni with the sauce --- a technique that is unfortunately little understood and even less observed in U.S. kitchens.

I finished the dish and we all sat down to eat it. As far as I was concerned, I’d hit the ball out of the park. The dish was delicious. But I nervously awaited judgment from my Roman friend.

“John …. Complimenti!! This is a very, very good pasta dish.”

“Grazie, Sergio”, I replied. “You have no idea how much that means to me.”

“However – John – I must tell you. This is not amatriciana.”

“What do you mean? Of course it’s amatriciana. I made this especially for you.”

“John … you cannot have an amatriciana without guanciale. You used pancetta. For me – for any true Roman – you must use guanciale. To use pancetta is to disrespect this important dish.”

Huh. Who knew that the substitution of cured pork belly (pancetta) for cured pork cheek (guanciale) would disqualify a pasta dish from regional authentication. But therein lies a lesson …

Guanciale has a completely different flavor profile from pancetta. A little gamier and fattier -- a great contrast to sweet tomatoes and onions (the other ingredients in an amatriciana sauce). Pancetta has it’s place in the Italian pantry and in many dishes. But if you want to re-create the Roman holy trinity of pasta dishes --- amatriciana, carbonara and la gricia --- find yourself some guanciale.

Pasta di Gragnano

Speaking of pasta …. Let’s make an important distinction. There are – generally speaking – two types of pasta: dried and fresh. Fresh pasta is made for the most part with flour and eggs, with the possible addition of a little olive oil and/or water. These are the silky smooth noodles --- fettucine, tagliatelle, pappardelle, lasagna --- and stuffed pasta shapes --- ravioli, agnolotti, tortelloni -- that star in dishes like fettucine alla Bolognese, pappardelle al cinghiale, lasagna and tortellini in brodo.

There is also dried pasta. Dried pastas are produced with water and hard durum and/or semolina flour. The resulting dough is mechanically pressed through dies to form shapes such as spaghetti, linguine, penne, rigatoni and paccheri, to name just a few. The pasta is dried and sold in packages with a long shelf-life.

Typically, fresh pastas are handmade on an as-needed basis in restaurant kitchens and homes throughout Italy. Dried pasta is left to artisans who operate pasta factories --- some being small-batch artisanal producers others (think Barilla) who operate on a huge industrial scale.

The best dried pastas come from an area in the Campania region known as Gragnano. These are DOP protected pasta products. The best of the best use bronze dies for the extraction of the pasta shapes, producing a rough pasta surface perfect for holding sauces. These high-quality producers also dry their pasta slowly and at low temperatures --- insuring a final product that holds its integrity during cooking. One of my favorite producers is Faella.

Try an experiment. Prepare a simple tomato sauce. Put two pots of water on your stove and bring both to a rolling boil. Add salt to the boiling water. In one pot, drop in some industrially-produced spaghetti from a less-than-stellar producer. In the other, drop an equal amount from a DOP-designated Gragnano producer (try Faella, if you can find it; but there are many other great ones …). Cook both to the proper point just shy of al dente. Add each to a saute pan in which you’ve put some of your tomato sauce and “marry” the pasta with the sauce, stirring vigorously over medium heat and, if necessary, adding a little pasta water to the pan to develop a nice, rich consistency. Turn off the heat and finish with some Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Taste both. Which would you rather eat?

You’ll spend a bit more for quality dried pastas. But the taste return on investment will be well worth it.

Farina Doppio “oo”

Fresh pasta is the skilled combination of eggs, flour and maybe a few other wet ingredients. Most of the time, the flour in play is Farina Doppio “00” – or double zero flour. The double zero designation refers to the fineness --- not the strength or protein content – of the flour. Double zero is the finest-grade milled flour with an almost powdery consistency. It produces fresh pasta that’s silky with a melt-in-the-mouth texture.

If you plan to invest time in learning the art of making fresh pasta, then Farina Doppio “00” should have a place in your pantry. Though you can achieve acceptable results with all-purpose flour, you’ll find a noticeable difference when you use double zero. A good brand – readily available in specialty food shops in the US – is Antico Caputo. It’s also the preferred brand of Italian pizza makers.

Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano Reggiano is arguably the “King of Cheeses”. It’s certainly one of the world’s most loved and most widely consumed --- as well as widely counterfeited. And it should have a place in any respectable Italian pantry.

Produced in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region, this umami-bomb is made from 100% cow’s milk in accordance with strict DOP rules, guidelines and traditions. It’s great eaten on its own – maybe with a drop of beautiful aged balsamic vinegar. But this cheese is the gold standard grated on pasta, soups and risotto. It adds depth to a classic Caesar salad. And any number of roasted vegetables can be finished with a sprinkling and then browned one last time in a hot oven to add another layer of flavor.

Look to a trusted source for your Parmigiano Reggiano – a local cheese-monger preferably – and note the distinct DOP mark of the cheese consortium on the rind of the big wheel. That’s the sign of authenticity.

Parmigiano Reggiano must be aged in accordance with DOP rules for a minimum of 12 months. Some producers age for even longer periods – 24 months, 36 months and even longer. The best way to determine what you prefer is to taste. In general, cheeses aged in the 12-24 month range are best suited to grating, while older wheels are ideal for straight-up cheese eating.

So now what??? …

You’re locked and loaded. You’ve found your trusted sources, checked and double-checked the provenance and authenticity of your ingredients and filled your pantry with a beautiful arsenal of staples with the potential to produce mind-altering flavors. Now what?

My best advice …. Set yourself free. Trust your instincts. Keep it simple.

With just the eight ingredients listed above – plus a few throw-ins – you’ll have many delicious meals at hand. A simple pasta al pomodoro; spaghetti aglio, olio and peperoncino; a roast chicken to rival what Cyndy and I ate at Castello di Spaltenna; fresh spring asparagus “gratinata”; rigatoni alla carbonara; pappardelle al ragu …. Experiment and enjoy!!

For more information on and sourcing of the ingredients described above turn to these trusted purveyors and authorities:

For San Marzano tomatoes, high quality extra-virgin olive oils, Sicilian sea salt, dried pasta, anchovies and many other great Italian food products check out Gustiamo: https://www.gustiamo.com/

For Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (and many, many others from Italy and all around the globe) visit Wasik’s Cheese Shop: https://wasiks.com/

For olive oils, dried pastas, San Marzano tomatoes, anchovies, farina doppio “00” and slews of other Italian specialty foods visit Eataly: https://www.eataly.com/us_en/

For an encyclopedic overview of the world of high-quality olive oil visit Olive Oil Jones, the creation of legendary specialty food hunter and connoisseur, Steve Jenkins. It’s also a source of great oils from Italy, Greece, Spain and elsewhere: https://www.oliveoiljones.com/

For great cooking tips and information on where to find a copy of “Ruhlman’s Twenty” visit Michael Ruhlman’s blog: https://ruhlman.com/

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