# What common ingredients aren't in your kitchen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2007, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309 "2007-09-06T22:55:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Micro\_Dot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Micro\_Dot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Micro_Dot)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/1 "2007-09-06T22:55:04Z")
Whenever I have someone stay over they are always amazed I don’t have certain things they are never out of. Things people ask for that I don’t use: olives olive oil, much less extra virgin olive oil (I use whatever’s on sale, canola usually) mayo balsamic or tarragon or any flavoerd vinegar marischino cherries cooking sherry cream cheese whipped cream or substitutes rye bread ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/2 "2007-09-06T23:00:25Z")
No sugar No olives No olive oil Mayo, but no bread No vinegar No maraschino cherries No cooking sherry Cream cheese (for English muffins, bagels) No whipped cream No rye bread ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/3 "2007-09-06T23:03:23Z")
No milk, unless I specifically need it for a recipe. How can someone _live_ without olive oil? Much less cook without it? ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/4 "2007-09-06T23:04:35Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] No milk, unless I specifically need it for a recipe. How can someone _live_ without olive oil? Much less cook without it? [/QUOTE] 😛 I use bacon grease. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/5 "2007-09-06T23:14:59Z")
Things we very rarely have in our kitchen these days: Milk Potatoes Bread (The occasional bag of buns or loaf of sourdough will appear every now and then.) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/6 "2007-09-06T23:20:33Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] No milk, unless I specifically need it for a recipe. How can someone _live_ without olive oil? Much less cook without it? [/QUOTE] Same here. I just don’t like milk, but olive oil? Sheesh, I couldn’t live without it! I always say: give me a little garlic and some olive oil, and I can cook anything! ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/7 "2007-09-06T23:26:18Z")
No pork products (obviously). I don’t keep olives on hand- if I want olives, I get good ones from the olive bar at the grocery store, and use them quickly. No jarred or canned olives for us. Celery- Mr. Neville doesn’t like it, and can taste really small quantities of it, so we don’t use it in our cooking. Most bottled salad dressings. I have some ranch, blue cheese, and honey mustard for dipping sauces, but usually when we want a salad dressing we make it ourselves from oil and vinegar. No milk that is not fat-free, and no half-and-half or cream. No dessert stuff, other than the obligatory Girl Scout cookies and Passover desserts- Mr. Neville and I are fat enough without desserts, thankyouverymuch. That means we don’t have maraschino cherries or whipped cream. Cooking sherry or cooking wine- when we want to use sherry or wine for cooking, we use regular drinking sherry or wine. White vinegar- we always use balsamic, sherry vinegar, or rice vinegar. Pancake topping- we almost never make a sit-down breakfast. Decaf coffee- I’m the only one who drinks coffee, and I know decaf for the abomination unto God that it is. We had a can of it for a while (bought for a visit by my parents), but it lasted for years, until we threw it out when we moved. We have butter, but it’s in the freezer- we pretty much use it only for cooking, not for spreading on things. We might very occasionally have parve (non-dairy) margarine to use with meat recipes, but we don’t have any other kind of shortening. We don’t keep potatoes around- I had a bad experience with forgetting about a bag of potatoes in a cabinet until I found them all full of maggots. We have mayo, but rarely use it, and don’t use it for spreading on stuff- it’s almost always for making aioli. We don’t have Miracle Whip, because that stuff tastes like mayonnaise six months past its expiration date (and I would know). ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/8 "2007-09-06T23:36:05Z")
Potatoes. We rarely have potatoes around, unless I specifically need them for a recipe. As in, Christmas and Thanksgiving, mostly. Eggs: Well, technically we usually have a couple somewhere in the back, usually at least 2 months past their expiration date. We simply don’t cook and eat them very often, and we don’t often bake or make other recipes that call for them. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/9 "2007-09-06T23:42:08Z")
olives marischino cherries cooking sherry cream cheese rye bread brown sugar Crisco Peanut butter Alcohol ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/10 "2007-09-07T00:33:28Z")
A lot of the stuff you guys are listing I don’t consider particularly common to begin with. I wouldn’t surprise me to find that someone doesn’t have maraschino cherries, decaffeinated coffee, or rye bread. Some people like them but it’s far from a huge crowd. I don’t keep a lot of potatoes around myself. I didn’t use many to begin with and a five pound bag sprouts and starts burning off its starch before I finish them. And that makes me even less inclined to use potatoes. Same problem for dairy (other than butter); I buy small amounts of milk, cheese, or cream when I need it. I try to buy produce the day I use it so unless it’s something that keeps (like onions) my fridge doesn’t have a lot of produce in it. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/11 "2007-09-07T00:48:37Z")
My list on not-on-hands: olives decaf coffee meats - I buy fresh if I need it texas pete (or other brand) wine vegetables - again I buy as needed fruit - buy as needed bread equal or sweet-n-low (yuck!) margarine or non-butter spread (Only real butter in this house) ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/12 "2007-09-07T01:10:56Z")
Bread(half of it always goes to waste) eggs coffee meat(only buy it occasionally, and use it right away) ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/13 "2007-09-07T01:15:57Z")
olives-- I just don’t like the flavor cooking sherry mayonnaise honey hot sauce bacon ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/14 "2007-09-07T03:00:43Z")
I don’t even remember what’s in my kitchen . . . except for bacon salt (all 3 flavors). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/15 "2007-09-07T03:43:06Z")
Pork Wine ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/16 "2007-09-07T04:25:50Z")
What I find interesting is how many people list “olives”. I hate olives, but I thought I was unusual. Olive oil, yes. Olives? No thanks. ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/17 "2007-09-07T04:42:26Z")
Ketchup. I loathe its very existence. White bread. Iceberg lettuce (it’s just crunchy water, people!) I don’t normally keep alcohol in the house- I don’t often drink here, I usually go out to bars or to friends’ houses, so they get any leftover alcohol. Whipped cream Margarine- I try to avoid trans fats, thankyouverymuch. Cookies. Sometimes I’ll buy Nilla Wafers, but that’s it. Ice cream or other dessert-y items. I eat fruit and yogurt instead. I do have maraschino cherries for my occasional whiskey sour. I neeeeeed olive oil, I don’t know what to do without it. And one uncommon item I always have is tahini. You never know when you need to make hummus. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/18 "2007-09-07T05:23:21Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] Pork Wine [/QUOTE] Move to Qatar you can have wine…no pig 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/19 "2007-09-07T05:47:46Z")
Hmmm, things people would think I have in my kitchen but don’t: Crackers Cookies Snack chips of any kind Candy (just 65% or more chocolate, which none of my guests want!) Soda Microwave popcorn (I only air-pop) Milk (just soy) Maraschino cherries - I didn’t know those were a staple! Mayonaise Bread Olives - I didn’t know those were a staple, either! But lots of EVOO I do have dried fruit, almonds and walnuts on hand, and high fiber cereal to go with the soy milk. Whole wheat pasta, wraps, veggie burgers, canned beans and tomatoes, apples, garlic and onions are staples in my cabinets and fridge. Usually a guest’s stay begins with a shopping trip to get them food. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309/20 "2007-09-07T06:56:04Z")
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe] Ketchup. [/quote] I was afraid I was going to be the only one in this thread to confess to a ketchup-free kitchen. > [@](#): > > Iceberg lettuce (it’s just crunchy water, people!) I don’t keep much of that on hand, but I loves crunchy water. (Yes, I do eat ice. Lots of it.) > [@nashiitashii](#): > > hot sauce But but but… that’s one of the four food groups! The flavor group! 😃 To continue with the spirit of the OP - olives (when did they become normal, though?) honey cooking wine (No objection to it, just haven’t picked up any, lately) sliced cheese white bread - for that matter most any form of pre-baked bread. Rosemary steak sauce OJ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-ingredients-arent-in-your-kitchen/418309.md?page=2)