Room by room: The pantry

Room by Room: The pantry

Poet Emily Dickinson would write poetry whilst sitting in her pantry. Her cousin Louise Norcorss wrote:

  "I know (she) wrote most emphatic things in the pantry, so cool, so quiet, whilst she skimmed the milk"

The pantry in my childhood home was big enough for my mother to iron in it! It was the coolest room in the house on a hot summers day. It was also the room that the carcass of the cow would be hung before my dad cut it up for freezing and it was where the milk was separated.

Lots of things can happen in pantries!

This is a fabulous pantry, I would love one like this!! Its not mine, my pantry is not a room, just a series of cupboard and baskets.

We all have different places to store food, some small, some large and some in many different locations. 

I don't own a pantry as such, my food is stored in a variety of places. Whilst a pantry or larder would be wonderful to have, my home just doesn't have the room to fit one and so I have come up with alternatives and made do with what I have. It works for me!

The important factor about having a place to store food is that we don't have to spend half our lives at the grocery store buying food. A pantry is an ideal place to keep the excess canned, bottled and dry goods that we need for our home cooking.

Mrs Elizabeth Ellet wrote in 1857
 "Let there be a place for every article, and when not in use let every article be inits place"

Pantries have been around for a very long time, whilst a little different to modern day pantries, they still served the same purpose, a place to storing food. However with the growth of processed foods and easy access to the supermarket, by the 1950's pantries were on their way out. Women no longer needed to store as much food as they use too, as they could just pop down to the local supermarket and buy what they needed.  When my house was built 40 years ago, pantries were not common in homes, however today most new homes have a walk-in pantry of some description. In fact many modern homes have very large pantries that not only store food, but large appliances etc..

So what should you keep in the pantry?

This is likely to vary from household to household, my pantry includes:

• Grains and legumes (flours, rolled oats, lentils, bulgur, pearl barley, pastas and rice, couscous etc..)
• Sugar (white, brown, caster, coconut)
• Oils (olive, sunflower, veg, coconut)
• Vinegars
• Dried beans
• Spreads (vegemite, peanut butter etc), honey, homemade jams, maple syrup
• Cans (beans, tomatoes, sweetcorn, coconut milk, baked beans, tuna etc)
• Nuts
• Sauces (soya, oyster, tomato, Worcestershire,  etc...)
• Spices and herbs (lots!)
• Seeds, such as sunflower and pumpkin
• Chocolate (various sorts)
• Condiments (pickles, mint sauce, mayonnaise, mustard etc)
• Curry pastes
• Onions, potatoes, lemons, limes etc.
• Long life milk/cream
• Stock

Etc....

The purpose of my pantry is to avoid the supermarket during the week - so when I run out of something I always buy two or three packets (i.e. pasta) so I have plenty of spare!

If you don't have a pantry - an old fashion dresser is a great option (which is what I use) or this cupboard is a clever idea. Picking one up second hand makes it an inexpensive addition to the kitchen. Places like Ikea sell every possible option for storage from baskets to shelving to containers. Places like Pinterest are full of pantry ideas for small to large kitchens. Find what works for you and start to stock.  If you don't have much of a pantry, start by adding one or two items each time you do the shopping, e.g. buy several packets of rice or beans. Look out for what is on sale as this will help with the cost.

And don't forget to clean out your pantry at regular intervals, it is amazing what is hiding at the back trying hard not to be found!

1. Room to room: kitchen

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