My list would be very long, as we have eclectic tastes and like a lot of food from different cultures. I do have a lot of mixes, but also a lot of individual herbs and spices. And DD likes lots of different condiments (ketchup, various types of chilli sauces, plain and flavoured mayonnaises, salad dressings etc).
But as a general idea:
Pulses and carbs:
Pasta (spaghetti, lasanga sheets, usually at least 2 different shapes like penne, fusilli, conchigli (sp? shells), macaroni etc
Rice - easi cook, basmati, risotto, thai, sushi, pudding
Noodles (various thicknesses of egg noodles and some rice noodles for Asian meals)
Couscous
Bulgar wheat
Mexican breads (different sizes of flour tortillas, corn tortillas, taco shells etc)
Also some ordinary long life flour wraps and part baked bread rolls
Tins:
Veg - sweetcorn, tomatoes (whole plum, cherry, pasatta, chopped with herbs, puree), mushy peas, beans (baked, 4 bean mix, canellini, kidney), chick peas, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts
Fish - tuna (in oil, in brine, various flavoured ones), sardines (in oil, in tomato sauce), clams, seasoned mussels, pink salmon
Meat - ham, corned beef (both are more emergency items)
Coconut milk
Jars of various mixed Indian curry sauces, Italian tomato sauces, Thai curry, Moroccan tagine, Sweet'n'sour etc.
Also sachets of sauces or spice mixes for similar styles of food, especially Chinese and other Asian types, Indian curries, Mexican, etc.
Oil - Olive, sunflower, rapeseed with garlic, coconut
Vinegar - malt, wine, balsamic, Japanese rice wine, cider,
Stock cubes, dry mixes and concentrates - beef, lamb, chicken, veg, fish, shellfish
Bisto gravy powder, corn flour
Mustard (wholegrain, English readymade, English powder, Dijon)
Salt and pepper
Herbs and spices - lots of individual and mixes
Fish sauce, Oyster sauce, Soy sauce, Hoi Sin sauce, Mild salsa, Ballymaloe relish, Mango chutney, Thai red curry paste, Tikka Masala paste, Pesto (basil, sundried tomato, tomato with chilli)
Coconut cream sachets
Puppodums (1 pack ready to eat for mad days, but mostly a variety of uncooked ones to fry), and chinese prawn crackers to fry
Various types of dried mushrooms
To answer your question in terms of what to get starting out, firstly think about what you like to eat, and how good you are at cooking (or how adventurous you want to be in that).
If you like a lot of variety, you might be best to get individual herbs and spices that go into a number of things rather than mixes - but if you have a particular type of food that you prefer, then mixes would work well.
I like to use thyme, rosemary, oregano and basil a lot - I have a jar of Italian seasoning with them all for tossing in to a fast tomato sauce with pasta, but I use them in other things as well where I don't need all 4 so I also have them individually.
I also have cumin, coriander, ginger, chilli and paprika that I use a lot.
DD is a fan of more pre-mixed jars like Jamaican Jerk, Spice Bag, Chinese 5 spice, Thai 7 spice, Shawarma etc to just toss into things.
I like to make sauces from scratch, hence lots of tins of tomatoes of various types, but when life gets hectic, I also have a few jars of good tomato sauce ready to grab. And the same for other world foods.
For other "storecupboard staples", I also like to always have onions and garlic, and some potatoes in the cuopboard. Fresh ginger and chillis, bacon lardons, chorizo sausage (and salamis), cheese (parmesan and cheddar especially), carrots, peppers, mushrooms in the fridge (ok peppers and mushrooms not terribly long life). Frozen peas, chicken breast, minced beef and raw prawns. Eggs.
I have a bunch of different meals I can make with these that need no or very little other fresh items, or that are great to use up lots of odds and ends of leftovers.
Particularly good storecupboard meals are:
Nasi goreng
(If using tuna in oil, use the oil from tin for extra flavour and less waste).
Fry a sliced onion and add crushed garlic. Add in any other bits and pieces of veg you have (brocolli, mushrooms, peppers, french beans in chunks, sliced carrots, shredded cabbage, I slice the inner core of brocolli stalk like bamboo shoots etc) or from tins/frozen (frozen peas, tinned bamboo shoots, tinned beansprouts etc).
Definitely need sweetcorn (I usually use a half a small tin).
Add a tin of tuna. Add some prawns if you have them. Also add some cooked chicken if you have leftovers from a roast etc.
Add all the above in small amounts, as a stirfry, longer cooking items first, and stir frequently so they all cook evenly.
Add 3 tablespoons of mild curry and a pinch of salt, mix well.
Add cooked rice on top (pack of microwave rice is good, I tend to use leftover rice from day before which has been thoroughly cooled and stored in the fridge), mix through and allow to cook until rice is hot. Serve (can put a fried egg on top for extra authenticity).
Risotto -
Needs an onion, risotto rice, small glass wine and stock suited to ingredients, parmesan.
Ingredients could be some fresh peas/broad beans in early spring (white wine, veg stock), leftover chicken from a Sunday roast (white wine, chick stock), mixed dried (and fresh if you have) mushrooms (cream sherry or red wine, veg stock), mixed seafood (prawns, mussels, clams, scallops, squid rings etc) from tins, fresh or frozen as you have them (white wine, shellfish or fish stock, include the "liquor" if you cook fresh shellfish, or pour a spoonful of stock into the pan before adding to rice pot if you have fried any fish to get all that goodness), or even just plain cheese risotto with lots of parmesan (white wine, veg or chicken stock).
Chilli uses a few tins - tomatoes, tomato puree, kidney beans, often some sweetcorn etc. So only needs minced beef, onion, garlic and some extra veg along with seasoning (cumin, chilli, coriander - or a packet of chilli seasoning).
There are also a fair few pasta dishes that can easily be made with storecupboard ingredients.
Chorizo potatoes is a useful standby - sliced chorizo in an ovenproof dish, baby potatoes on top (chop any larger ones so all are similar size), (I add bacon lardons also), pour over a jar of tomato and chilli sauce, stir together well so chorizo and potatoes are well covered, bake for an hour.