Culture

Celebrity Chefs Share Their Must-Have Ingredients

Joanna Fantozzi|

Celebrity chefs don't spend their days cooking with truffle oil, gold leaf and other exotic ingredients, contrary to popular belief. We peeked inside the cupboards and pantries — or Twitter feeds — of Food Network, Iron Chef and kitchen stars Mario Batali, Alex Guarnaschelli and Geoffrey Zakarian to see what ingredients they're cooking with lately.

Mario Batali responded to a fan's inquiry about his favorite olive oil to cook with "Da Vero." The critically-acclaimed olive grove located in California, is definitely no Barilla. Last year, they were awarded the best Tuscan olive oil in a blind taste test, and the oils can be purchased online for $75 per one-liter jug, or at select stores.

A few days ago, Alex Guarnaschelli — Chopped, owner of Butter restaurant — tweeted a photo of black garlic, and contemplated how to use the ingredient, which she described to her followers as sweeter than regular garlic. If you're unsure of what to do with this unusual-looking ingredient, try out this recipe submitted by a Daily Meal contributor of crispy Brussels sprouts with black garlic aioli. Check out more info on where to get black garlic here.

Finally to top off your grocery list, Iron Chef Geoffrey Zakarian tweeted that every kitchen should have high-fat butter, vinegar, oil, and at least two different types of salt. Sure, you could stick with flavoring your dishes with plain table salt, but there's also sea salt and flavored varieties like merlot salt, The Daily Meal reported, to add a little oomph to your dishes. 

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