Cooking With An A-Z Of Ingredients I'd Not Cooked With Before
28th December 2022 - New Experience Number 31.
My 2021 New Year’s Resolution was to cook a dish from every country in the world. I loved trying new combinations and pushing myself out of my culinary comfort zone. So I decided to continue the foodie theme in 2022 when my new years resolution was to cook with an A-Z of ingredients I’d never cooked with before.
The Other Half was in favour, (or should that be flavour?) of this resolution. He’s usually happy when food is involved, and he is a very good critique of the new things I cook.
A Challenge Before It Began
Finding ingredients for this resolution was more of a challenge than I had first anticipated. Some letters had more options than others. It turned out that I had cooked with quite a lot of ingredients the previous year too.
I did a bit of research at the start of the year into ingredients for the different letters. I’d expected X and Z to be the biggest hurdles, but ‘I’ turned out to be the trickiest. If you think about it, I bet you can’t come up with many ‘I’ ingredients.
Trying New Tastes By Cooking With An A-Z Of Ingredients
I’m not a big fish eater. When I do have fish, it’s usually pretty basic and white, with the exception of salmon and tuna. Fish ended up being the ingredient for several of the letters, and I was pleasantly surprised each time!
A Feast Of Fantastic Flavours
I discovered ingredients I’d never heard of before. We tried dishes I’d never made before, and treated our tastebuds to a whole plethora of flavours.
There were some ingredients I’ve used multiple times since I used them for the challenge, and some dishes which were definitely a one off. It was another good way to boost my confidence in the kitchen, and has given me ideas for creating my own recipes. Watch this space!
There’s a full write up coming soon, and below are the finished 26 dishes that I cooked throughout the year to whet your appetite!
The Dishes For The A-Z Of Ingredients Challenge
Artichoke
Barberry
Celeriac
Dragonfruit
Elderflower
Freekeh
Galangal
Hibiscus
Ice Cream
Jalapeno
Kalamansi
Lychee
Miso
Nori
Okra
Phsalis
Quark
Rhubarb
Sardines
Trout
Udon Noodles
Venison
Whiting
Xylitol
Yuzu
Za'atar
Want To Try It Yourself?
This is a challenge which will be unique to you, as the ingredients you’ve not cooked with before will be different to the ones I used.
If you don’t fancy doing an A-Z of ingredients, you could always try 12 new ingredients throughout the year, or pick a number that works for you.
Cost Of Experience
I can’t even begin to give a ball park figure for this as it will really depend what ingredients you need, and where you shop.
I can say though, that it doesn’t have to be expensive. The venison was the most highly priced new ingredient I used, and I was able to buy everything in the local shops and markets.
Recommendations
Do some research. I made a spreadsheet of ingredients for each letter of the alphabet and then whittled it down to the ones I hadn’t cooked with before. I then looked on line for recipes with those items.
I always do a meal planner for the week, so factored the new dishes in rather than doing them especially.
Take pictures of your culinary creations! It will be great to see what you cook up!