Anchovies are an open secret in professional kitchens. These little silver fish add a savoury – or umami – depth to numerous dishes, from soups to sauces to stews. They can be laid whole onto a lamb or beef joint (they melt in the oven) or chefs will use a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce or Asian fish sauce, both of which contain anchovies. Try them in is simple recipe for orecchiette pasta with rapini.
Another common chef ingredient, balsamic vinegar's sweet-sour essence adds a kick to dishes. It can be used as a sticky glaze, in dressings and marinades, and adds tang to steak sauces. In restaurants it’s also frequently drizzled over berries and ice cream or used in other dessert dishes.
Bay leaves are often seen as an optional ingredient so their value isn’t fully appreciated, especially as they’re usually removed at the end of cooking. But bay leaves give dishes a savoury sweetness and chefs will add them to stock, soups, stews or lay them on fish and meat before roasting.
Butter and other types of fat such as pig, duck or goose fat may not sound appetizing but no chef worth their salt will skimp on them. Fat carries flavor and adds richness to dishes and silkiness to sauces. According to the New York Times, a typical restaurant meal can contain eight tablespoons of butter – about twice our recommended daily amount of fat – which is partly why eating out tastes so good. Emulate at home but in moderation.
Cardamom is largely used in Indian cuisine but its aromatic and warming qualities stretch further than curries. Cardamom is excellent in sweet dishes and baked goods, and works especially well with chocolate, custard and tea (think chai). It's also used in rice dishes and cocktails and works well with many meats, such as in this recipe for blueberry and cardamom-glazed ham.
Home cooks often regard cinnamon as a sweet spice only suitable for pastries and hot chocolate. But it’s a common savoury ingredient in Mexican and Indian cuisine, where its warm pungent flavour and aroma adds depth to dishes. It can also add a fragrant note to braised meats, ribs and meaty stews.
Described by the Globe and Mail as the ‘chef’s new weapon’, citric acid is a naturally occurring substance found in fruit that comes in white powder form. It’s long been used as a food additive, where it acts as a preservative, and to add a sour note to dishes and drinks. Chefs use it in the cheese-making process, and in jams and buttercreams.
For chefs coffee isn’t just for drinking. Aside from adding it to the usual dishes – mousses, cakes and martinis – the slightly bitter, peppy flavour is an ideal enhancement to stocks, stews, pot roasts and braised meats. You can pour a small amount of brewed coffee into sauces, use it to deglaze a pan or even try toasted ground coffee beans in meat rubs. Looking for something sweeter? We love this hot coffee soufflé.
Dashi, a cooking stock infused with kelp and dried tuna flakes, is an integral part of Japanese cuisine. It’s the base of miso and noodle broths and is mixed with flour to make okonomiyaki (a type of pancake). Its rich umami savouriness now attracts chefs who are using it as a flavour enhancer in other cuisines, adding dashi to soups and stews, or to cure or marinade fish. Use it at home to make these udon noodles with sweet and savoury beef.
Yogurt has been used in Mediterranean cooking for millennia – it provides a light creaminess and is a staple in dips such as tzatziki. Today it’s not restricted to particular cuisines; chefs apply it as a marinade (it’s a very effective meat tenderiser in dishes such as this grilled tandoori chicken) and it’s used in bread and cakes. Yogurt can also be baked in both savoury and sweet dishes, from mac 'n' cheese and pizza bases to set puddings.
Chefs don’t confine this heady Tunisian paste to North African cuisine; its hot fragrant flavour also works beautifully spread on meat chops or fish, as a marinade for vegetables, and in soups, pasta sauces and dips such as aioli. You can even use it to make these delicious harissa-spiced burgers.
While most of us reach for a jar of horseradish cream, freshly-grated horseradish is stimulating and perky. It's a great textural and spicy addition to salads, garnishes, gremolatas, relishes, sauces and even granitas – and a refreshing way to cut through roast meat and heavy or oily dishes. Fresh horseradish, as any self-respecting mixologist knows, also turns a good Bloody Mary into a great one. Use it in this two-step horseradish and sugar-crusted beef recipe.
Chefs, as a rule, love lemon juice for its transformative qualities. It lifts and freshens while the acidity balances dishes. Only a little is required. Lemon juice also cuts through fat – essential for chefs cooking with meaty or heavy dishes – and pastry chefs use it in the making of caramel to enhance the flavour and prevent the sugar from going grainy.
Classically-trained chefs finely chop a trio of celery, onions and carrots to create a mirepoix, a flavour base for stocks, stews, soups and sauces that’s fundamental in numerous French dishes. Leftover celery leaves won’t be discarded either, but thrown into stocks, poaching liquors and soups for a vegetal aroma.
A gentler sweetener than refined white sugar, palm sugar has a warming, mellow taste (especially the darker type) and can be grated into dishes to provide balance if they’re too sharp or sour. Because it can be slightly sticky and fudge-like in texture, chefs also like to use palm sugar as a meat rub as it becomes crunchy and chewy when caramelized.
Parmesan is a wonderful cheese that’s added to – or on top of – many dishes. Parmesan rinds tend to be overlooked by home cooks but savvy chefs throw them into soup and sauces to add a salty, savory richness or make Parmesan broth as a base for risotto. Rinds can also be added to steaming food to impart flavor or used to infuse olive oil.
Peanut oil is a staple ingredient in Asian cooking where its high smoke point allows food to be fried to a crispy finish while remaining succulent inside. And because it doesn’t absorb aromas readily it can be reused – a plus for kitchens with tight margins.
Edible rose petals add a mild, fragrant, flowery taste. They can be added to salt, sugar and bouquet garni to flavour and colour, or used to make jam. Rose harissa, a version of the famous Tunisian paste made with crushed rose petals, and rosewater have long been used in Middle Eastern, Indian and Chinese recipes. They're also an excellent addition to desserts, such as this saffron and rose poached apricot pavlova.
For chefs seasoning is key. Salt is a unique flavour enhancer and good chefs understand the importance of using salt during, as well as after, cooking. They will taste as they go and add as much as they can without turning the dish salty. Forget table salt – ground sea salt is always favoured.
Home cooks tend to use onions when a recipe calls for shallots but shallots shouldn’t be substituted – they are subtler, softer and sweeter and are an essential ingredient in French and Thai dishes. Chef Anthony Bourdain wrote in his memoir Kitchen Confidential that they’re one of the ingredients that differentiate home cooking from restaurant cooking.
Soy sauce has long been used professionally as an ingredient in marinades, soups and stir-fries but chefs also use it to balance salad dressings and vinaigrettes. It’s generally agreed that less is more with this intensely salty sauce.
Where once chefs relied on the chilli heat of Tabasco to add a lively kick to food these days Sriracha is increasingly the go-to hot sauce. While it’s become ubiquitous as a dipping sauce and condiment, chefs add it to recipes because of its depth of flavour. You can also use it to spike ingredients such as mayonnaise, perfect with deep-fried snacks like these bean pod fritters.
All good chefs make their own stock, roasting bones or shells and then simmering in water, vegetables and leftovers for hours to achieve a reduced, concentrated broth. Without this decent base you can forget your risotto, soup, stew or bouillabaisse tasting restaurant quality.
To inject a tangy sweetness into a dish ketchup is often the answer over sugar. It is squirted into stir-fries and meat sauces, used as a glaze for vegetables, and is an ingredient in both BBQ sauce and marie rose sauce. These southern-style chicken wings wouldn't taste the same without it.
This French chocolate brand is among the most highly regarded. Single origin cocoa beans are batch-roasted separately, which gives Valrhona its unique taste, and the chocolate is shaped into oval discs that melt evenly. It’s expensive but powerfully flavoured so can be used sparingly. Dark chocolate is used in sauces and glazes for game and duck, and in Mexican mole; white chocolate and cocoa nibs appear in savoury dishes; and burning cocoa shells can be used to smoke fish or meat.
Vinegar incorporates acidity into dishes, giving them a sharp lift. It’s an essential chef’s ingredient though which type depends on the dish and the chef. For example, Pedro Ximénez sherry vinegar is sweeter, richer and not so astringent, while apple cider vinegar is so neutral it can be used in desserts or even drunk with water as a tonic.
This spicy seafood sauce from Hong Kong contains dried seafood and ham in oil, chilli, onions and garlic. Pungent, super savoury and another example of chefs’ obsession with the ‘fifth taste’, or umami, a little goes a long way. It’s added to marinades to liven up fish, meat or vegetables, stirred into rice and noodles, or used as a condiment.
Another umami-rich ingredient, yeast extract spreads such as Marmite or Vegemite are most commonly put on toast. But chefs recognize their potent yeasty saltiness as a perfect ingredient to equalize the sweetness in cakes or add a layer of richness to ragus and casseroles. Marmite can even be used in sashimi marinades. Go bold at home and try this chicken breast with a Marmite korma sauce.
The citrus fruit yuzu and yuzu kosho – a Japanese paste made from yuzu, salt and chillies – are being increasingly used outside Japanese cooking as chefs realize the versatility and benefits of the fruit’s floral tanginess. The paste, meanwhile, can be smeared on steaks, fish or vegetables. For something different for dessert, try these yuzu and tofu cheesecakes.