Hello all, I hate to reference Kitchen Confidential because it seems almost cliche to do so, but I thought this might make for interesting conversation. In one portion of the book Bourdain discusses some of his "secret weapons" in the kitchen, or rather, ingredients that can really take a dish to another level and make it something special. In his list he mentions butter, stock, roasted garlic, parsley chaffonade and shallots. So I pose this question to all of you - professional and amateur alike, what are some of your "secret weapons" and special ingredients that you simply could not do without?
For me personally, I have very few being new to purposeful and educated cooking. I have recently taken to using roasted and blanched garlic for the first time ever and it has opened a wide variety of new possibilities in my cooking. I have also developed an absolute love for fleur de sel - finishing dishes with this stuff is absolutely divine.
Lets open this for discussion. :)