Top Ten Staple Ingredients in Cooking

It's almost impossible to create a dish without olive oil! Usually added to a heated pan, to start cooking. They are also used to make dressings for salads. A bonus advantage to using olive oil, is that is is considered healthier than butter, or other kinds of oil.

Like many root vegetable, Garlic is used to add a spicy flavour to dishes. It is also perfect to marinade meat. Garlic is the most common vegetable used next to onions, shallots, and ginger. A tip would be to cook garlic first before adding in other vegetables rather than putting it in raw.

Who could forget flour! Flour is the most important ingredient in baking, as well as cooking. With flour we are able to make bread, and pasta. Flour helps add thickness to gravies, as well as sauces.

Eggs provide protein, help bind other ingredients together, as well as add thickness to pastries, and custards.

Lots of stuff has eggs in it, but I never realise it.

While regarded as a fruit, tomatoes are an important ingredient in many cuisines such as Italian, Indian and Mexican. They provide acidity, as well a sweet taste to dishes. They are used for sauces, salsa, and salads. Basically, tomatoes are the most common fruit that we use in cooking.

Rice is an ingredient that is used by nearly every cuisine. They can be eaten as a side dish or more commonly as a main dish like fried rice, risotto, and jambalaya.

Like Garlic, onions are used to add a bit of spice to dishes. There are many types of onions such as green onions, Spanish onions, shallots and leeks. Depending on the dish, we use different types of onions.

Every dish needs salt because it brings out the flavour in cooking. However, many people regard salt as unhealthy. Luckily you only need a pinch. There are healthier alternatives like sea salt.

Potatoes are the main vegetable as well as a favourite to many people. Can be mashed, baked, or even elated as a side dish.

I'm a black pepper man!