What's in the cupboard

1:1 gluten-free flour blend · Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour

The blue bag. Contains xanthan gum already, so do not add more. This is the blend every "gluten-free 1:1 flour" line on this site assumes.

Almond flour · Blue Diamond or Costco Kirkland blanched almond flour

Blanched and finely ground, not almond meal — meal has the skins in and bakes heavy and speckled. Costco is by far the cheapest per pound if you bake often.

Buckwheat flour · Bob's Red Mill Organic Buckwheat Flour

Not wheat, despite the name. Dark and earthy; the base of the seeded loaf.

Chickpea flour · Bob's Red Mill Garbanzo Bean Flour

The binder for socca and fritters. Tastes raw and bitter uncooked, which is why nothing here uses it without heat.

Tapioca starch · Anthony's Organic Tapioca Flour

Adds the chew and stretch that almond flour alone cannot. Sold as both tapioca flour and tapioca starch — same thing.

Gluten-free rolled oats · Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats

Oats are naturally gluten free but almost always milled alongside wheat. The certified bag is not marketing.

Baking powder · Rumford Aluminum-Free Baking Powder

Corn-starch based and certified gluten free. Some baking powders use wheat starch as the filler.

Everyday olive oil · Costco Kirkland Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For roasting, where a bottle disappears fast. Honest oil at a price that lets you be generous with it.

Finishing olive oil · Brightland, Graza Drizzle, or any single-estate bottle with a harvest date

For the olive oil cake and anything raw. If the bottle will not tell you when the olives were picked, it is old.

Coconut oil · Nutiva Organic Virgin Coconut Oil

Virgin for baking, where you want the coconut flavour. Refined if you do not.

Red wine vinegar · Pompeian or De Nigris

The default acid for lentils and salsa verde.

Apple cider vinegar · Bragg Organic Raw Unfiltered

With the mother. Softer than red wine vinegar in dressings.

Tahini · Soom or Seed + Mill

Ethiopian Humera sesame, pourable straight from the jar, no bitterness. This is the single biggest upgrade on the list — cheap supermarket tahini is chalky and bitter and will ruin every tahini recipe here.

Rose harissa · Belazu Rose Harissa

The Ottolenghi-adjacent standard. Milder and more floral than plain harissa, so start with a tablespoon and taste.

Za'atar · Burlap & Barrel or New York Shuk

Should smell green and sharp, not dusty. If yours smells of nothing it is old — it has a shelf life like any herb.

Preserved lemons · Les Moulins Mahjoub

Or make your own with lemons and salt, which takes four weeks and no skill.

Pomegranate molasses · Al Wadi

Check the label — it should be pomegranate juice and little else, not glucose syrup with colouring.

Dijon mustard · Maille

Certified gluten free. Some cheaper mustards use wheat as a thickener, so this is worth checking on any brand you switch to.

Chickpeas · Bold Bean Co or Jovial

Jarred beans are firmer and better-textured than canned and cost several times more. For frying and salads it shows; in the dal it does not.

Coconut milk · Aroy-D or Chaokoh

Full fat, in the carton or can, with no gums or emulsifiers in the ingredient list. Light coconut milk is mostly water you are paying for.

Tinned tomatoes · Mutti or Cirio

Italian, whole rather than chopped. Chopped tomatoes are often the ones not good enough to sell whole.

Wild blueberries · Wyman's Wild Blueberries (frozen)

Small, dark, and a genuinely different fruit from cultivated blueberries. The freezer aisle is the only realistic way to get them.

Cashews and almonds · Costco Kirkland raw nuts

Raw, not roasted or salted — you control the toasting. Keep them in the freezer or they go rancid within months.

Stock · Kettle & Fire or Better Than Bouillon Seasoned Vegetable Base

Check the label on any bouillon — wheat is a common filler in stock cubes.

Maple syrup · Costco Kirkland Organic Maple Syrup

Grade A dark, robust taste. The pale, expensive stuff is wasted once it is baked into something.

Honey · Any local raw honey

Worth buying from a person rather than a supermarket. Supermarket honey is frequently blended and heat-treated.

Coconut sugar · Nutiva or Big Tree Farms

Substitutes 1:1 for caster sugar. Darkens the crumb and adds a faint caramel note, which is usually welcome.

Dark chocolate · Green & Black's 70% or Guittard wafers

Check for "may contain wheat" on the label — cross-contamination is common in chocolate with inclusions.

Heavy sheet pans · Nordic Ware Naturals Half Sheet

Two of them. Thin trays warp in a hot oven and vegetables steam instead of charring, which is the failure behind most disappointing roasted veg.

Cast iron pan · Lodge 12-inch

For socca, charring broccolini, and anything that needs real heat.

Blender · Vitamix, or a NutriBullet if space is tight

The soups and cashew cream want power. A weak blender is why cashew cream comes out grainy.

Food processor · Cuisinart 8-cup

Only genuinely needed for zhoug and cauliflower rice. Everything else can be done by hand.

Microplane · Microplane Premium Zester

Used in more recipes here than anything else on this list — garlic, ginger, citrus zest, all without a chopping board.