Premium Portuguese Extra Virgin Olive Oil – The Golden Foundation
When Jessica Carreira, chef at Adega, a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant in San Jose, California opens her pantry, the first thing you’ll spot is a large jug of premium Portuguese olive oil. “I always have a jug of Portuguese extra virgin olive oil” in my pantry, she explains with conviction. This isn’t just any cooking oil – it’s the liquid gold that makes the difference between good food and extraordinary dishes.
About 90% of our recipes call for those ingredients so we always have them well-stocked. Think of premium olive oil as the canvas for your culinary masterpiece. Unlike regular cooking oils, this liquid transforms everything it touches, adding layers of flavor that cheap alternatives simply cannot match. The richness and complexity found in authentic Portuguese olive oil comes from centuries of perfected cultivation techniques and ideal growing conditions.
Fresh Unpeeled Garlic – Nature’s Flavor Powerhouse
Most home cooks grab pre-peeled garlic from the convenience aisle, but Michelin chefs know better. Unpeeled garlic is a non-negotiable item for me because the natural oils stay fresh when we chop at the beginning of the day, reveals Chef Carreira. The protective papery skin isn’t just packaging – it’s nature’s way of preserving the volatile oils that give garlic its punchy, aromatic qualities.
Fresh unpeeled garlic bulbs contain significantly more flavor compounds than their processed counterparts. When you peel garlic just before using it, you capture those essential oils at their peak potency. It takes a bit longer to prep but well worth it in the final outcome of the dish! Professional kitchens understand that this extra step separates amateur cooking from restaurant-quality results.
Seaweed Varieties – The Ocean’s Umami Secret
Seth Lai, chef and owner at Ce Soir in Singapore, earned the 2024 Michelin Guide Singapore Young Chef Award, and his pantry always contains an impressive array of seaweed varieties. “My go-to ingredient would always be ‘seaweeds,'” Lai says. This ocean vegetable isn’t just trendy health food – it’s a culinary game-changer that delivers complex flavor profiles impossible to achieve with land-based ingredients.
“Naturally umami, [with a] hint of saltiness and sometimes mild in sweetness, its texture varies from chewy to crispy. From wakame in miso soups to nori sheets for sushi rolls, different seaweed varieties offer unique textures and flavors. Professional chefs use kombu to create dashi broths that form the backbone of Japanese cuisine, while crispy seaweed adds textural contrast to modern fusion dishes.
Maldon Sea Salt – The Finishing Touch That Changes Everything
Table salt might seem adequate for home cooking, but Ferrell Alvarez is a chef and partner at Proper House Group, which includes Michelin Bib Gourmand-recognized Rooster & The Till, in Tampa, Florida, and he refuses to use anything except Maldon sea salt for finishing dishes. While he uses many vinegars and fresh spices, he can’t go without Corto Truly EVOO and Maldon sea salt to finish a dish. “They just make things pop.”
The flaky pyramid structure of Maldon salt crystals creates a completely different sensory experience compared to regular salt. When these delicate crystals hit your tongue, they dissolve at varying rates, creating bursts of salinity that enhance rather than overpower other flavors. Professional chefs sprinkle it on everything from chocolate desserts to grilled vegetables, knowing that this final flourish elevates their dishes from good to unforgettable.
Quality Canned Tomatoes – Summer Sunshine in Every Can
While fresh tomatoes have their place, discerning chefs stock their pantries with premium canned varieties year-round. As a third pantry staple, he adds, “I recently discovered Piccolo Datterini baby plum tomatoes that come in the chef’s essential kit from Corto as well, and these have now become a staple. These aren’t your grocery store basics – they’re carefully selected varieties packed at peak ripeness.
Premium canned tomatoes often surpass fresh ones in flavor consistency because they’re harvested and processed at optimal ripeness. The Piccolo Datterini variety mentioned by Chef Alvarez offers concentrated sweetness and acidity that remains constant throughout the year. If you actually pair all three items together with a fresh basil leaf, it will blow your mind, he enthuses, referring to the holy trinity of quality olive oil, sea salt, and premium tomatoes.
Artisanal Pasta – The Italian Foundation Done Right
Despite being well-versed with the most expensive ingredients in the world, Bombana’s pick for his must-have pantry staples at this time are far more humble. Pasta and canned tuna are his comfort food and the main ingredients for his home-cooking. Hailed as the “King of White Truffles”, Italian chef Umberto Bombana and his restaurant are well-known for their signature white truffle dishes. The three-MICHELIN-star venue proves that even the most sophisticated chefs rely on simple, quality basics.
“I am from Italy, and pasta is my comfort food. Pasta is so versatile because you can pair it with different sauces to create a wide variety of dishes. It should always be in your home. I can easily create ten pasta dishes using the ingredients that I have at home,” he says. Quality pasta made from durum wheat provides the perfect canvas for showcasing other premium ingredients without competing for attention.
Premium Vinegars – The Acid That Brightens Everything
Every Michelin-starred kitchen maintains an impressive vinegar collection, and for good reason. Alice uses red wine vinegar for salads, but she also keeps bottles of champagne, sherry, balsamic, apple cider, and rice wine vinegar for a variety of uses. Each type serves specific purposes in professional cooking, from deglazing pans to creating complex salad dressings.
The right vinegar can transform a dish by adding brightness, cutting through richness, or providing subtle complexity. Rice vinegar offers delicate sweetness perfect for Asian-inspired dishes, while aged balsamic provides depth to Italian preparations. Champagne vinegar brings elegant acidity to delicate sauces, and sherry vinegar adds nutty complexity to Spanish-influenced cuisine. Professional chefs understand that having variety means always having the perfect acidic component for any flavor profile.
White Miso Paste – The Umami Game Changer
Miso paste represents one of the most important flavor discoveries in modern cooking. Miso is the ultimate reference point for the flavor sensation known as umami – the thick paste is deeply savory, with toasty, funky salty-sweet richness. This umami flavor forms the base of a lot of everyday Japanese cooking. While many home cooks think of miso only for soup, Michelin chefs use it as a secret weapon in everything from salad dressings to meat marinades.
Use this Japanese ingredient as a marinade with sake and mirin on fish, then finish in the broiler – the nutty flavors in the miso and sugars in the marinade will caramelize nicely. Or, add 1 teaspoon of miso to your next salad dressing, with a little freshly ground ginger paste, 2 tablespoons of sesame oil, and 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar. This fermented paste adds complexity that’s impossible to achieve with traditional Western ingredients alone.
Shiro Dashi – The Professional’s Liquid Gold
Donald Young, chef behind Chicago’s Duck Sel, says of his go-to Japanese soup stock base, “A touch of shiro dashi in almost everything always makes it better.” This concentrated soup stock base represents the essence of Japanese cooking philosophy – building layers of subtle, complex flavors rather than relying on heavy-handed seasonings.
He seasons many of his dishes with this salty, smoky, and umami ingredient. Shiro dashi contains the perfect balance of kombu seaweed, bonito flakes, and seasonings, providing instant depth to everything from simple vegetable dishes to complex sauces. Professional chefs appreciate how this ingredient can transform ordinary ingredients into restaurant-quality dishes with just a small addition.
Artisanal Honey Varieties – Nature’s Complex Sweetener
While most people think of honey as a simple sweetener, Michelin chefs understand its incredible complexity. but also regularly sweetens things up with honey. “There are so many different honeys that they can provide so many different nuances.” Chef Young from Duck Sel uses honey not just for sweetness, but for the unique flavor profiles different varieties provide.
Wildflower honey offers floral notes perfect for delicate desserts, while buckwheat honey provides robust, molasses-like depth ideal for savory applications. Orange blossom honey brings citrusy brightness to Mediterranean dishes, and chestnut honey adds earthy complexity to cheese plates. Professional kitchens stock multiple honey varieties because each brings distinct characteristics that complement different ingredients and cooking techniques. He also substitutes sugar for honey, explaining that he loves “using it to make marshmallows to add complexion, or into my cakes to have an inert sugar” that provides more than just sweetness.
The pantry choices of Michelin-starred chefs reveal a fundamental truth about exceptional cooking – it starts with exceptional ingredients. These ten staples prove that culinary excellence doesn’t require exotic components or complicated techniques. Instead, it demands a commitment to quality, understanding how ingredients interact, and respecting the role each element plays in creating memorable dishes. What surprises you most about these surprisingly accessible chef secrets?
