Some of our regular purchases are:
mint
cilantro
coconut milk
sticky rice
I am the type that can’t be without cumin spice for my ramen noodles. I’ve bought maybe two or three bottles over the last 18 months.
Chinese black vinegar? Ritter Sport chocolate bars? Fresh ginger?
I have no idea what other people routinely buy, though.
Cumin is one of the many spices i always have on hand. I buy it in bulk, and just fill the little convenient bottle from the big jar in the cupboard from time to time.
I probably go through more cinnamon sticks than most.
We like Ritter Sport, and we buy candied ginger.
Maybe Yakult? I drink that stuff.
When I buy foodstuffs*, only the best will do..Tut-tut and pip.pip, Old Sport!
Saltine crackers. The cheapest variety, in the smallest package(no bargain, there). Yep, only the best.
*always wanted to use that word in a sentence.
I buy lots of stuff that some people will have that others generally don’t. Like I wouldn’t even consider cilantro odd, but I live in a Mexican neighborhood, and I’m guessing 75% of my neighbors have cilantro on hand. The only one that really comes to mind that I have been buying regularly for the last six+ months and absolutely always have on hand in the fridge is Turkish labneh. That’s probably my most uncommon frequent and regular purchase, at least in this neighborhood. (I’m not counting oddball pantry items I have that I might buy once every two to six months; I mean stuff I buy weekly or every two weeks.) The neighborhood I buy it in, though, I’m guessing most folks have some sort of labneh in their fridge.
If you’ve never tried it, putting a cinnamon stick in a pot of homemade chili is fantastic.
I like cinnamon in a lot of savory dishes. I was just reading yesterday about the spaghetti that Corfu is famous for, and one of the ingredients is cinnamon.
I have no clue what most people nornally buy, but a few things that we routinely have on hand that may be out of the ordinary:
*- Perrier sparkling water. I drink a lot of this.
*- Chocolate chips. Not exactly the most exotic item, but my wife mixes a spoonful into her granola or oatmeal each morning. We don’t, or at least very rarely, use them for baking.
*- Tahini. I like to put a smear on sliced apples or bananas – it adds a nice nutty compliment to the sweetness of the fruit.
Or look at Cincinnati chili, which is essentially just cinnamon flavored spaghetti sauce when served over spaghetti.
My husband does this, too.
Thanks for this tip! I love tahini and will be glad to find a new thing to put on my apple slices.
Anchovies. I keep tins stocked at all times.
Pink tea and zuzu crackers
Frim fram sauce
Fatback and corn liquor
I can’t think of a single example.
Limes? I buy a lot of limes, is that weird?
I didn’t think so.
mmm
Most of the stuff I like that others don’t gets discontinued. Seems like one more thing every year vanishes from the shelves without an alternative offered. Just gone.
Not sure about others but I have cinnamon on my porridge every morning. I also go through a reasonable amount of teriyaki source (usually either in a stir fry or as a marinade for (grilled) salmon.
At the other end of the scale I only use a tiny amount of salt for seasoning. A few weeks ago I bought my first salt for about 15 years.
Judging by what is no longer available for purchase:
Celery WITH ITS LEAVES, for soup.
Broccoli with stalks, same.
Old chickens, same.
It kills me, because I know this stuff is being wasted to make pretty produce for people who don’t cook. And I have to buy much more expensive chickens for much less flavorsome soup.
Beets. They are essential for Bloody Marys and borscht!
This.
An old stewing hen is also what you want for cacciatore.