Grocery

ABC kecap manis, 600ml. Thick Indonesian sweet soy, dark and syrupy, sweetened with palm sugar. Nasi goreng and satay are built on this bottle, and...

Bottled lemon juice, 946ml. American Garden packs it so a bar and a kitchen get the same acidity every time, without squeezing a case of lemons and...

Mayonnaise, 1 gallon, about 3.78 litres, in plastic. US-style, creamy and tangy. A burger line and a sandwich bar squeeze from this bottle. Colesla...

Cayenne powder, 1kg. Ann's. Ground cayenne, bright red, with a clean heat that builds. A kitchen pouch for a station that seasons all day, not a sm...

Cajun seasoning, 2kg. Paprika, cayenne, garlic, onion, black pepper, white pepper, oregano and thyme. Red in the tin, heat that builds, savoury rat...

Baleine rock salt, a 1kg pack. Coarse sea salt crystals for a mill, a brine or a salt crust. Kitchens use the kilo when fine table salt is the wron...

Dried basil, 500g. Bayara. Whole dried leaves, warm, sweet, and a little peppery. The herb for Italian and Mediterranean cooking when fresh basil i...

Dried thyme, 500g. Bayara. Warm, a little minty and lemony. The herb in a bouquet garni, in zaatar, and in herbes de Provence. A restaurant bag. A ...

Orange food colour, 100g. The same idea as the yellow: icing, buttercream, fondant, batter and drinks, built up in small amounts until the orange i...

Yellow food colour, 100g. A drop at a time, into icing, buttercream, fondant, custard, batter or a drink, until the shade is right. A little goes a...

Arborio rice, 1kg. Campagna. Short grain, the rice for risotto. The starch makes the pot creamy while the centre of the grain can still stay firm. ...

Lasagna sheets, 500g, the no-boil kind. Layer them straight into the pan. They take moisture from the sauce while the dish bakes, so you skip the p...

Seedless tamarind, a 400g block. Sour, sweet and fruity. Soften it in warm water and it goes into the pot. You skip the soak-and-strain you do with...

English mustard paste, 100g. Colman's. Sharp, hot, the one for roast beef and sausages. A small tube for the kitchen and the table. Retail size. Mu...