The Pantry Dispatch
Guides to the foods, makers and techniques behind what we stock.
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Buying Guide
Bonito del Norte vs Light Tuna in Olive Oil: Which Tin to Buy
Bonito del norte is albacore, the one tuna that may be called white. Light tuna is skipjack or yellowfin. How the two...
Buying Guide
Sardines vs Mackerel in a Tin: Which to Buy
Sardines and mackerel are both silver fish of the Atlantic, packed by many of the same Iberian producers, yet in the tin...
Kitchen Know-How
How to Use Za'atar, from Bread and Oil to Roast Chicken
Za'atar is both a wild herb and the blend built on it: dried oregano-family leaves with tart sumac, toasted sesame and salt....
Complete Guide
Amaretti Guide: Why Some Snap and Some Stay Soft
Amaretti are the little bitter ones: almond cookies made with sugar and egg white and a measure of bitter almond or apricot...
Complete Guide
Hot Honey Guide: What It Is and How to Use It
Hot honey is honey infused with chiles, often sharpened with vinegar. Why sugar takes the edge off chile heat, how four styles...
Buying Guide
Thank-You Gift Basket Ideas That Feel Personal
A thank-you basket works when it fits the person and the place it will be opened: a shared office, a nurses' station,...
Kitchen Know-How
Non-Alcoholic Cocktails at Home: Five Builds That Work
A non-alcoholic cocktail often tastes thin for a measurable reason: alcohol adds body, warmth and sweetness that a glass of juice does...
Kitchen Know-How
Cooking with Tinned Mussels and Clams
Tinned mussels and clams are cooked shellfish with a bonus: the liquid in the tin, which is either a ready-made escabeche or...
Kitchen Know-How
How to Use Sumac: Sour Without Lemon
Sumac is sourness in dry form: a dark red powder from the ground fruit of a Mediterranean shrub, tart with malic acid,...
Kitchen Know-How
How to Use a Fountain Pen, from First Cartridge to Clean Nib
A fountain pen asks for a few habits a ballpoint never does: the right cartridge, a little patience on the first start,...
Kitchen Know-How
Cooking with Tinned Sardines: Uses Worth Learning
A tin of sardines cooks two ways: cold and barely touched, or warmed just long enough to loosen. What is in the...
Buying Guide
Gifts for Tea Lovers, by the Way They Drink It
The surest clue to a tea lover's gift is already in their cupboard: what they brew every morning. Gift ideas sorted by...
Buying Guide
Christmas Food Gifts That Travel Well
A food gift at Christmas has two waits ahead of it: days in a delivery truck and days under the tree. The...
Buying GuideGifts
Fine Food Gift Guide: Gifts Sorted by Budget, Up to $100
A budget sets the size of a gift, not how good it is. This guide sorts fine food gifts into three tiers,...
Producer ProfileCocktail Bitters
Fee Brothers Guide: The Rochester Bitters Family Since 1864
Fee Brothers began as a Rochester family store in 1864, and its bitters came long after, once a chemist in the third...
Regional GuideCandy & Other Sweets
Provence Pantry Guide: The Region's Jars and How to Cook Them
Six Provençal foods that keep in a cupboard, from hillside herbs and old olive groves to the jams of Hyères and the...
Producer ProfileSpices
Daphnis and Chloe Guide: Greek Herbs From Small Farms
Daphnis and Chloe is an Athens herb company, started in a small workshop in 2013, that sources Greek herbs and seeds from...
Producer ProfileChocolate Bars
Mayana Chocolate Guide: The Layered Candy Bars From Wisconsin
Mayana Chocolate, a husband-and-wife company in Spooner, Wisconsin, builds candy bars in layers of caramel, nougat, marshmallow, shortbread and crunch under dark...
Producer ProfileTinned Fish
Ati Manel Guide: Portuguese Tins From Mussels to Garfish
Ati Manel is a Portuguese conservas brand revived by a designer who inherited his great-grandfather's labels, printing stones and recipe notebook. This...
Complete GuideIncense
Incense Guide: How to Burn Stick Incense Well
A stick of incense is lit, then blown out, so it smolders instead of burning. What incense is made of, how sticks,...
Complete GuideTea
Black Tea Guide: Where It Grows and How the Blends Are Built
Black tea tastes of where it grew, when it was picked and how the factory broke the leaf. This guide reads the...
Complete GuideAsian Ingredients
Soy Sauce Guide: The Types and How Shoyu Is Brewed
Soy sauce is soybeans, wheat, salt and water turned into a dark, savory liquid by a mold, yeasts and bacteria over many...
Complete GuideOther Cooking Sauces
Pomegranate Molasses Guide: How It Is Made and Where It Goes
Pomegranate molasses is pomegranate juice boiled down until it is thick, dark and both sweet and sour. How it is made, why...
Complete GuideBarware & Cocktail Tools
Barware Guide: What Each Bar Tool Does and Why Its Shape Matters
Every cocktail tool exists for one of a few jobs: measuring, mixing, chilling, straining and pouring. This guide explains what each tool...
Complete GuideAsian Ingredients
Yuzu Kosho Guide: Japan's Citrus Chile Paste and How to Use It
Yuzu kosho is citrus peel, chile and salt, chopped fine and left to age into a paste that seasons a dish from...
Complete GuideSodas & Waters
Craft Soda Guide: Botanical Brewing and the Grown-Up Soft Drink
A craft soda is defined less by its flavor than by how it is made. This guide follows a botanically brewed soda...
Complete GuideCoffee & Tea Tools
Pour-Over Coffee Guide: Brewing by Weight at a Mile High
Pour-over coffee is hot water poured by hand through a bed of ground coffee and a paper filter. This guide explains the...
Complete GuideTea
Matcha Guide: From Shaded Leaf to Whisked Bowl
Matcha is green tea grown in shade, dried flat as tencha and stone ground into a powder that is whisked and drunk...
Storage and Shelf LifeTruffles & Bonbons
Filled Chocolates Guide: What Is Inside and How Long It Keeps
A filled chocolate is a chocolate shell around a second food, and that center decides how it tastes and how long it...
Complete GuideOther Chocolate
Cocoa Powder Guide: Natural or Dutch-Process, and Which to Use
Natural and Dutch-process cocoa start as the same pressed powder; an alkali bath splits them apart in color, acidity and flavor. How...
Complete GuideBaking
Rose Water and Orange Flower Water Guide: How to Use Them
Rose water and orange flower water carry the scent of a flower in plain water, and a few drops change a whole...
Complete GuideNotebooks
Notebook Guide: Dotted or Ruled, and What Paper Weight Means
A notebook comes down to three choices: the lines on the page, the weight of the paper and the size of the...
Producer ProfileChocolate Bars
Mirzam Chocolate Guide: Dubai Bean-to-Bar on the Spice Route
Mirzam has made chocolate from the bean in Dubai since 2016, flavoring its bars with dates, cardamom, Alphonso mango and Emirati desserts...
Complete GuideCandles & Scents
Candle Care Guide: Why the First Burn Matters Most
A new candle needs a long first burn, about one hour per inch of width, so the wax melts nearly edge to...
Producer ProfileTinned Fish
Ekone Oyster Co. Guide: Smoked Oysters from Willapa Bay
Ekone Oyster Co. has smoked and tinned shellfish on the shores of Willapa Bay, Washington, since 1980. This guide explains the bay,...
Producer ProfileHoney
Savannah Bee Company Guide: Five Single-Flower Honeys
Savannah Bee Company began with a beekeeper among the tupelo trees of the Georgia and Florida line, and its range is built...
Regional GuidePasta
Sicily Pantry Guide: The Island's Jars and How to Cook Them
Six Sicilian foods that keep in a cupboard, from Etna's citrus to the capers of Salina and the salt pans of Trapani,...
Producer ProfileChocolate Bars
Friis-Holm Chocolate Guide: How Turning Cacao Changes a Bar
Mikkel Friis-Holm, a Danish chef turned chocolate maker, sells two bars made from the same Nicaraguan cacao that differ only in how...
Complete GuideGrains
Heirloom Beans Guide: The Varieties and What Each One Cooks Into
Every heirloom bean cooks into something different, and the differences come down to three things: the skin, the broth and the inside...
Complete GuidePasta Sauces
Jarred Tomato Sauce Guide: What the Italian Names Mean
Sugo, marinara and arrabbiata each name a different idea of tomato sauce, and the label says more than the name. What the...
Complete GuideTinned Fish
Tinned Shellfish Guide: How Each Bivalve Is Packed and Served
Mussels, cockles, clams and razor shells are all bivalves, but each one reaches the tin by a different road and wants a...
Complete GuidePasta Sauces
Pesto Guide: Four Sauces and the Pasta Each One Suits
Pesto is a family of pounded sauces, and basil is only the best known member. What goes into Pesto Genovese, walnut sauce,...
Complete GuideTinned Fish
Fish Pâté Guide: How Tinned Pâtés Are Made and How to Serve Them
A tin of fish pâté is cooked fish blended smooth with olive oil and seasoning, sealed and heat-processed so it keeps in...
Complete GuideTinned Fish
Tinned Mackerel Guide: From the Fillet to the Pâté
Mackerel is a fatty fish with a rich, pronounced flavor, and one word on the label covers several fish and many forms....
Complete GuideSoups
Ramen Broth Guide: Building a Ramen-Shop Bowl at Home
A bowl of ramen is assembled to order from separate parts: a concentrated seasoning called tare, a broth, a flavoring oil, noodles...
Producer ProfileCoffee & Tea Tools
AeroPress Guide: How the Press Works and How to Brew a Better Cup
The AeroPress steeps coffee in a tube and presses it through a paper filter in about two minutes. This guide covers where...
Complete GuideSoups
Bisque Guide: What Makes a Bisque, and How to Serve One
A bisque is a smooth French shellfish soup that takes its color and flavor from the shells themselves. This guide covers the...
Complete GuideTruffles & Bonbons
Gianduja Guide: Turin's Hazelnut Chocolate, From Wedge to Jar
Gianduja is chocolate blended with finely ground hazelnuts, a Turin invention born when cocoa ran short. How it became the gianduiotto, the...
Complete GuideSavoury Spreads & Dips
Preserved Lemons Guide: How Salt Cures a Lemon and How to Use It
Salt, lemon juice and a few weeks turn a whole lemon into a soft, salty condiment with a rind that can be...
Complete GuideSalsas
Salsa Macha Guide: The Mexican Chile Oil with Nuts and Seeds
Salsa macha is dried chile fried in oil with peanuts or seeds, a Mexican salsa that is spooned rather than poured. This...
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