When Cheaper is Just Fine Part 2

[skoolpsyk]

Just like the other thread, but what ingredients do you feel are not worth shelling out the big bucks?!

[Fat Guy]

Excellent topic idea. Here's the predecessor topic.

The classic example here is olive oil that you're going to cook with.

[Jinmyo]

Hm. I must admit: caviar as merely an ingredient or condiment in a dish. Salmon roe, bottarga shavings, even lumpfish roe will often do.

[melkor]

Most produce is better when you grow it yourself or get it from a local farmer, almost always cheaper that way than from the store.

[fifi]

Dried mushrooms, specialty rices, canned coconut milk, just about any condiment you can imagine from Whole Foods or other specialty stores. Go to an Asian market and be amazed.

[Jinmyo]

Dried mushrooms, specialty rices, canned coconut milk, just about any condiment you can imagine from Whole Foods or other specialty stores. Go to an Asian market and be amazed.

This is very true. So much so it rarely occurs to me to mention it so I'm glad that fifi did.

One of the most egregious and obvious examples is dried shitake. But it runs across the gamut.

[Schielke]

Large cuts of meat from Cash and Carry or similar supply stores.

[Schielke]

Dried mushrooms, specialty rices, canned coconut milk, just about any condiment you can imagine from Whole Foods or other specialty stores. Go to an Asian market and be amazed.

This is very true. So much so it rarely occurs to me to mention it so I'm glad that fifi did.

One of the most egregious and obvious examples is dried shitake. But it runs across the gamut.

The same goes for indian spices. I bought a huge bag of dried chilies for a couple bucks at a middle eastern market. The same amt. would have cost me a fortune at a grocery store.

[ballast_regime]

Caviar, truffles, more expensive (and often endangered) species of raw fish, etc. -- all have less expensive counterparts that I tend to prefer or think are underrated.

IML

b/r

[pixelchef]

Bottled water.

.. and I often buy grouper and pretend it is sea bass.

[IrishCream]

Bottled water.

Thank you for bringing up one of my pet peeves. I can't bear to drink tap water but the price of bottled water is outrageous. It costs as much as soda, even more in a convenience store. I gave in and bought a fridge that dispenses supposedly filtered water...and it is paying for itself.

But back to topic...I would love to buy a truffle, but is it worth it? Can I get my money's worth out of it?

Five years ago I planned to cook a recipe that required vanilla beans. I paid 6 bucks for two beans at Williams and Sonoma (only place I could find them in Houston). Never cooked the recipe. The beans still sit in their container.

[Suzanne F]

Five years ago I planned to cook a recipe that required vanilla beans.  I paid 6 bucks for two beans at Williams and Sonoma (only place I could find them in Houston).  Never cooked the recipe.  The beans still sit in their container.

If they still have any perfume left, put them into a container of sugar. Then you'll have vanilla sugar, a very nice addition to recipes.

As for truffles, yes, it probably would be worth it, for white. But there are many other, less expensive ways to get truffle essence: shavings and bits, oil (not cheap for the good stuff, but a little goes a very long way). Urbani has many, many truffle products available.

[Chad]

Any pre-packaged spice mix. There's a very good reason the celebrity chef on the label is smiling .

Okay, I'm ignorant. What's wrong with dried mushrooms?

Chad

[melkor]

Five years ago I planned to cook a recipe that required vanilla beans.  I paid 6 bucks for two beans at Williams and Sonoma (only place I could find them in Houston).  Never cooked the recipe.  The beans still sit in their container.

So make vanilla extract out of them. Take a pint mason jar (or mayo jar or whatever), slice the beans the long way, then cut them into 1" chunks, toss them into the jar and fill it with vodka. Put the bottle in a dark cabinet and shake it once a week or so. In a month or two it'll be vanilla extract. I refill my little vanilla extract bottles from the mason jar of vanilla, the extract gets stronger the longer it is in contact with the beans.

[Jinmyo]

Okay, I'm ignorant. What's wrong with dried mushrooms?

Not to speak for fifi but I believe what was being spoken of is buying them at Whole Foods etc rather than at Asian markets.

[slkinsey]

Okay, I'm ignorant. What's wrong with dried mushrooms?

Nothing's wrong with them. It's just that you can pay big bucks for them in a fancy "gourmet" supermarket or you can get them for cheap in a big Asian market.

On preview: what Jinmyo said.

[fresco]

It must be said, though, that the people who are willing to pay any amount of money to satisfy a unique food craving help to create a market for items that then often become available generally for a lot less. You see the same thing at work in consumer electronics, fashion, etc.

[JAZ]

I'll go out on a limb here and say any kind of expensive sea salt.

[ChocoChris]

Vanilla extracts can get pricey. I love to garden and whenever I see a way overpriced food in the produce section, I tell my husband, I'm gonna grow it. Many red peppers, edamame, heirloom tomatoes, alpine strawberries and golden as well as red raspberries later, I've been enjoying the 'fruits' of my own gardening at a fraction of the cost.

Also, as mentioned above, any ethnic food from a mainstream grocery store is way overpriced as a trip to a produce market will show you. It's amusing.

[Bux]

I think a distinction has to be made between expensive ingredients that offer little bang for the buck and ingredients that are just cheaper in some stores than others. Of course the same brand of canned goods is just as good no matter the cost or the name on the shopping bag you get to carry it home -- assuming it's not outdated or damaged. When it comes to fresh produce, whether it's home grown or not, there's often little relationship between price and quality and generally speaking, you need to select it yourself. Home grown vegetables are a better bargain, if you don't have to count your time spent gardening, not to mention all the peripheral expenses. We used to grow tomatoes on our roof in NYC. They were great, but generally speaking not any better than the ones we can buy at the height of the season at the Union Square Greenmarket about a mile away. We gave up the tomatoes. The garden looks nicer with flowers and we get some excercise every Saturday in season. We still grow raspberries and blueberries.

[Jinmyo]

I'll go out on a limb here and say any kind of expensive sea salt.

I'll saw off that limb.

Fleur de sel's clean crunch is glorious for steak and lamb. Hawaiin pink salt is a great garnish. Brittany grey salt really does have a distinctive "sulfury" taste.

Generally though I use kosher salt.

And table salt for scouring and salt-roasting.

[Jinmyo]

Home grown vegetables are a better bargain, if you don't have to count your time spent gardening, not to mention all the peripheral expenses. We used to grow tomatoes on our roof in NYC. They were great, but generally speaking not any better than the ones we can buy at the height of the season at the Union Square Greenmarket about a mile away. We gave up the tomatoes. The garden looks nicer with flowers and we get some excercise every Saturday in season. We still grow raspberries and blueberries.

We used to have a vegetable and an herb garden to supply the kitchen. The problem was that I wouldn't use anything that I wouldn't have bought.

Thus most of it became compost and some became vegetable stocks.

[Bux]

I'll go out on a limb here and say any kind of expensive sea salt.

I'll saw off that limb.

Fleur de sel's clean crunch is glorious for steak and lamb. Hawaiin pink salt is a great garnish. Brittany grey salt really does have a distinctive "sulfury" taste.

I like to think that Breton salt has a distinctive flavor, but I've not sat down and done a taste test. I suppose I should try it straight, as brine and in a nice chicken stock. Fleur de sel has a great crunch and even more important, it has a crystaline structure that causes it to really stick, or hook, to food so more of the crunch goes to your mouth with the food instead of falling on the plate. I think expensive salts are worth the price when used appropriately. Way back on this site however, I questioned the use of fleur de sel in solutions. I don't think it has a distinctive taste when dissolved. I believe the discussion revolved about Pierre Herme's macarons au caramel au fleur de sel. The consensus was that it probably didn't add that much to the final cost per macaron, but that it was an affectation -- any sea salt would have done as well. On the other hand, not using gold leaf on his chocolates would have no detrimental effect on their taste either. Gold leaf has no flavor, but I've seen it used as a garnish by many a chef. Of course if conspicuous consumption is the goal, a cheaper product just won't work.

[fifi]

Thanks Jin for clarifying the mushroom issue. I just checked and I have a bag of dried Shitakes, about the size of a good sized bag of Fritos. I paid $5.95 for it at an Asian market.

I have to question gardening to get produce or fruit on the cheap. I seriously doubt that if you add up all you spend making a garden and tending it you will come out all that cheap. I am talking about the typical hobby gardener. When I garden, I don't consider the cost issue. I consider it a rewarding hobby that gives me goodies as a bonus.

On salt... I agree with Jin. The "gourmet" salts are great for condiments where flavor and texture nuances make a difference. But to put them in food where they dissolve is a waste. I saw a cooking show once where the "chef" insisted on using sea salt to boil pasta. That is just nuts.

[Bux]

On salt... I agree with Jin. The "gourmet" salts are great for condiments where flavor and texture nuances make a difference. But to put them in food where they dissolve is a waste. I saw a cooking show once where the "chef" insisted on using sea salt to boil pasta. That is just nuts.

A lot depends on the price you have to pay. When we were in the salt flats of Guerande in Brittany, we were able to buy kilo bags of sel grise for what seemed like not much more than kosher salt at the supermarket. You have to watch the overweight on the plane coming back though. A small package is mighty heavy. I still don't use it to boil water. The low cost of getting to the supermarket is a major factor.