Ruth Reichl Shares a Few of Her Go-To Pantry Items

Ruth Reichl has been writing about food and taking readers along for the ride for decades, at the New York Times, as an author, and as the last editor-in-chief of Gourmet — an experience she chronicled in her latest book, Save Me the Plums (coming out on paperback on May 5). She’s also never stopped cooking, and she has the enviably well-stocked kitchen to prove it.

Reichl offered up a tour of her pantry and kitchen over Instagram Live, as part of the Eater @ Home virtual event series. In the spotlight: beautiful appliances, including an antique juicer that she bought for $2 at a thrift store; treasured utensils, like a skimmer (“I make a lot of chicken stock, so a skimmer is useful... As long as you have chicken stock in your freezer, you’re golden!”) and an old-fashioned pie cutter (“I have probably had it for 40 years”); and lots of food items filling the cupboards.

Here are a few of Ruth Reichl’s favorite pantry and refrigerator staples:

• Yang Jiang Preserved Black Beans (“If you're going to do any Chinese cooking, you're going to want salted black beans.”)
• Bitterman Sea Salt
• Burlap & Barrel Zanzibar Black Peppercorns, Black Urfa Chili, and Ground Black Lime
• Royal Basmati Rice
• Red Boat Fish Sauce (“A wonderful fish sauce!”)
• Hot Fire “OG” Jala-Banero Hot Sauce
• Fly by Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp
• The Art of Pecan Pure Pecan Oil (“If you think peanut oil is good, try pecan oil.”)
• NY Shuk Signature Harissa
• Nettuno Anchovies in Sea Salt (“These are really good anchovies... They’re packed in salt and important by Gustiamo, a company I like a lot.”)
• Seed + Mill Tahini
• Berle Farm Cow Milk Yogurt (“They list the names of all the cows on the label.”)