For all you anchovies in everything lovers, Megachef fish sauce is so good. I think they’ve added some stuff but it’s just a slightly more interesting, anchovy based, Thai fish sauce that I dash into almost everything savoury. I use Squid brand Thai fish sauce for things like dipping sauce and Thai curries, it’s sort of more clear and light.
Another one for Hungarian paprika, it’s got a sweetness and depth to it that is above and beyond whatever it is they sell in the herb bit of the supermarket - if anyone’s struggling to find it, you may find it in a Turkish shop as that’s where I got mine. Also finding Amazon weirdly good at sourcing international ingredients. I got a Turkish pepper paste in a tin that I’m obsessed with and can’t remember where I got it so will need to hunt that down again soon!
Aleppo chilies, Spanish smoked paprika, Thai smoked dry chili, big fat sweet whole dried chillies, chili oil with crunchy dried prawns, chili oil with peanuts, scotch bonnets fresh and in a sauce, Hungarian paprika. These are my faves and use probably one or another at least every day. It makes such a difference to use the right warmth for the dish, and although ‘pinch of chili’ is often just like a whatever/add on in some recipes, for me it’s a make or breaker of a dish. Also you can eat something so plain, but with the right chili oil or sauce it feels like being on holiday!
My son was watching Masterchef with me the other day and one of the contestants tasted what they were cooking and then sort of stared into the distance for a sec and started muttering something. My son said ‘you always do that, why is that a thing and how do you know what you need?’ and I was explaining to him that because I’ve cooked just about every ingredient and tried everything in different ways, I can make a sort of pattern in my mind of what’s missing and then add it. I know whether something would be better with tamarind paste or if something like a dollop of HP sauce or a dash of vinegar with palm sugar would work. The trying whilst cooking and also eating in places that experiment a bit really helps with that understanding. I love cooking so much, and can’t believe I left home not even knowing so much as how to cook an egg. It’s really such a pleasure in life to enjoy food and also be able to give yourself sometimes better than a restaurant experience at home. People take the piss out of the amount of steps and variations of ingredients in Ottolenghi’s cooking, but it’s how he ends up with such delicious food from humble ingredients. I know who I’d choose to cook for me if all I had was a tin of chickpeas, a cauliflower, and a store cupboard.