Store cupboard
Be sure you always have to hand the things you use regularly - olive oil, butter and salt. My own basics include roasted tomatoes, gooseberry vinegar, wine vinegar, spice pastes, good garlic butter and loads of fresh herbs.
Also buy yourself some good dry store ingredients: nuts, dried chillies, spices and herbs. These ingredients will form a basic selection from which a whole range of dishes can be created.
Apply the same buying policy to your fresh ingredients as you do your fish. Buy the freshest as this will give you the best flavour. It makes your kitchen so much more exciting when you've got stuff like this knocking about. Keep your kitchen alive and full of possibility.
I always have chervil in the store cupboard. Not only does it taste great but a few sprigs of this pretty herb on the plate, or mixed in with a salad garnish, can give a really professional looking finish.
If you have an Asian supermarket near you, use it. They're like Aladdin's caves. Stock up on sour yellow curry paste, fresh lemongrass and galangal.
Try Ikan Bilis, tiny dried anchovies which are wonderful deep-fried and sprinkled over a bowl of noodles or salad. Or do as I do, and eat them like peanuts!
Don't miss out! Click here for your printable shopping list:
• ginger
• sea salt
• garlic
• fresh herbs - tarragon, chervil, coriander, parsley, dill, rosemary, thyme (try and buy cut herbs and store them in the fridge in a plastic container covered with a damp cloth)
• dried bay leaves
• good quality saffron
• fennel bulbs
• star anise
• fresh chillies
• dried chilli flakes
• peppers
• tomatoes
• lemons
• limes
• unsalted butter
• good olive oil (splash out on a bottle of good stuff - I like a brand called Ravida - or have a good quality lemon oil on hand)
• an ordinary virgin olive oil, for dressings
• vegetable oil
• a bottle of pastis or Pernod (maybe that bottle of ouzo you bought on holiday could have a use!)
• white wine
• white wine vinegar
• red wine vinegar
• salted capers
• salted anchovies
• fish stock (I make it fresh and then freeze it in containers)
• dried pasta and noodles
