The oldest ingredient in your kitchen that you're still using?

[Shalmanese]

The oldest comdiment in your fridge thread has revealed a number of frighteningly old bottles that are sitting around in benign neglect but I'm more curious about the ingredients we're still "using", even if it may be only once in a blue moon.

I have a packet of hickory smoked salt I bought 5 years ago which I'm only now working through. I rarely use ketchup so I have a bottle of ketchup which I think is 3 years old at this point which is still half full. I have some chinese chilli sauce that I only use for one particular dish so it's also at least 3 years old but it still tastes the same.

What sorts of crazy old stuff do others have?

[Lisa Shock]

I have a jar of salt that a friend brought back from a trip to the Himalayas in 1988.

[Dakki]

A chipotle-based pickle I made with my old man (family recipe) back when Nirvana was the coolest thing ever.

There's gallons of the stuff and it seems to get better with age. Fairly sure I'm set for life on this one ingredient, bar a natural disaster or something.

[Kouign Aman]

Chili-infused vinegar I made before 1998. Cant remember if it was 1 or 3 years before.

[andiesenji]

I have some black "forbidden" rice that was aged when I got a 25-pound container about fifteen or so years ago and the tag on the bag suggested that the rice could be aged much longer in an airtight container "for best results" so I have been using it all these years and it is still excellent.

[Peter the eater]

Very entertaining topics!

I've got a lump of honeycomb from a local apiary in the back of my fridge. I bought the slab-in-a-tub probably eight or nine years ago and its giving the gift. I'm not sure honey ever expires, or if it éven needs to be refrigerated.

[SobaAddict70]

That would be a bottle of balsamic vinegar. I can count on one hand how many times I've used it.

[janeer]

Some rosemary syrup and rose hip syrup that I made about 4 years ago and that I use, sparingly, for cocktails and as a garnish for cheese. I have some really ancient dried morels, and whenever I use them, I find them still just fine.

Edited August 17, 2011 by janeer (log)

[David A. Goldfarb]

I think mine has to be the 20+ year old bottle of Liquid Smoke that I mentioned in the "oldest condiments" thread.

[LindaK]

A tube of anchovy paste. I don't always have anchovies around and though not nearly as good, the paste lasts forever and a little bit does the trick.

[heidih]

A packet of mushroom seasoning from Taiwan that has to be 12 or more years old. I transfer small amounts to a glass jar so that the package does not get opened too often. Not as fragrant as new but still adds a "hit" to many dishes.

[Mjx]

A variety of cake sprinkles that I use very occasionally, mostly on birthday cakes requested by other people, lurk behind the herbs and spices in the cabinet. They've been with us for two moves (over six years), and I have no idea of where they came from, no recollection of buying them. They just sort of... manifested.

[liuzhou]

A large jar of Dijon mustard. For reasons I won't bore you with, I know I bought it on the 1st November 2003.

It's still just under half full and tasting fine.

Edited August 17, 2011 by liuzhou (log)

[kaszeta]

I still have a the remnants of a bad tiny dried hot peppers that I bought from a street vendor in Naples, Italy, in 1993. These are some of the strongest, and most flavorful hot peppers I've ever had, since two little tiny inch-long ones are enough to add noticeable heat to an entire kettle of tomato sauce. The bag had maybe 700 peppers in it. Sometime in 1999 I move the remaining peppers to a small gladware container, and I still use them on occasion. There's probably another 50 left, before I need to go back to Naples...

[Country]

That would be a bottle of balsamic vinegar. I can count on one hand how many times I've used it.

Same here. Manicardi Aceto Balsamico di Modena 6. I probably bought it ten years ago, or more, and it's still 3/4 full. Just never got into it.

[andiesenji]

Found this old one!

A bottle of Falernum I purchased when I still lived in Reseda (San Fernando Valley) and before the Vendome liquor store burned down in 1987. (Falernum was not easy to find.)

I know the Sazerac Co. stopped production quite a few years ago but this is the original stuff.

So this bottle is at least 24 years old and I have used it sparingly.

[highchef]

Capers..I've just found them again...gotta be 15 at least. They're still intact, and used a bit this weekend in a wet rub, no one got sick, so I guess they're ok.

[Peter the eater]

Rose's Lime Cordial.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Mine's a 10 year old little tin of Wasabi powder, probably. It's one of the only spices I brought with when I moved down here.

[blue_dolphin]

A moment of silence, please, for this box of cornstarch:

 

I was tempted to keep it around until January '18 so it would be a full 30 years after the "Buy Before" date but I finally used it up 

[cdh]

I've got some Boyajian lemon and orange oils I got in the late 1990s... Kept them in the fridge and they're going strong... being used one chopstick dip at a time. 

[lindag]

I've been guilty of keeping certain canned goods on the shelf until they began leaking, 

[Okanagancook]

Can’t beat the cornstarch but I have a sealed package of dried shiitake mushrooms that we moved from Edmonton 15 yrs ago.

[heidih]

My Chinese fermented black beans were in a jar and at least 18. Suddenly they got a touch of mold so I replaced recently. I must have accidentally contaminated them at last use. My S & B Oriental Curry Powder tin from Japan has a best by date of 12-24-2004. Still fragrant. I used a smidge in a cauliflower soup last week.

[lindag]

 

 

You are such an  inspiration in so many ways😁

@andiesenji

Edited August 30, 2018 by lindag (log)