Fats & Oils

Fats & Oils

The absolute foundation of cooking and the ultimate carrier of flavour. The Fats & Oils pantry is where every great dish begins, dictating how ingredients brown, crisp, and meld together in the pan. From the high-heat resilience of neutral vegetable oils and the golden, buttery richness of clarified ghee to the peppery, grassy finish of a premium extra virgin olive oil, these essential liquids and solids are the silent conductors of the kitchen. Whether emulsified into a silky vinaigrette, used to perfectly sear a steak, or folded into delicate pastry, mastering your fats and oils is the first step to mastering the art of cooking.

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Exploring the Fats & Oils Pantry

Fat is flavour, but it is also a vital cooking medium. Understanding the distinct properties of different fats—specifically their heat tolerance and flavour profiles—allows you to build dishes with perfect texture and depth without burning or overpowering your ingredients.

  • The High-Heat Workhorses: Neutral oils like groundnut, sunflower, and rapeseed are indispensable for high-temperature cooking. Because they have a high smoke point and a very mild flavour, they are the chef’s first choice for aggressive pan-frying, deep-frying, and achieving the perfect sear on meats without imparting unwanted tastes.
  • The Flavour Makers: Extra virgin olive oil, toasted sesame oil, and pumpkin seed oil are delicate, aromatic, and rich. These are finishing oils, best used raw or gently warmed to preserve their complex, volatile compounds. Drizzle them over finished pastas, fold them into dressings, or use them to instantly elevate a simple bowl of soup.
  • The Rich Solid Fats: Unsalted butter, beef dripping, duck fat, and ghee provide unmatched savoury depth and mouthfeel. They are the secrets behind the ultimate crisp roast potatoes, deeply golden pie crusts, and perfectly basted meats. Their dairy or animal origins bring a complex, comforting richness that plant oils simply cannot replicate.

A Chef's Guide to Storage & Prep

Fats and oils can degrade rapidly if mishandled. Protecting their integrity ensures your cooking always tastes fresh and vibrant:

  • Mind the Smoke Point: Never heat an oil past the point where it begins to heavily smoke. At this stage, the fat is breaking down, releasing acrid, bitter flavours and harmful free radicals into your food. Always match the fat to the cooking technique.
  • The Enemies of Oil: Heat, light, and oxygen are the natural enemies of liquid oils. Keep your expensive extra virgin olive oils and nut oils in dark glass bottles stored in a cool, dark cupboard, well away from the ambient heat of the stove or oven, to prevent them from turning rancid.
  • Butter Discipline: While keeping butter in a dish on the counter ensures it is perfectly soft for spreading and baking, only leave out what you will use within a few days. The bulk of your butter should be kept wrapped in the fridge, well away from pungent ingredients like onions or garlic, as its high fat content eagerly absorbs strong surrounding odours.

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A-Z Index

A +
Allspice Berries Almonds (Flakes) Apples
B +
Baking Powder Bay Leaves Beef Chuck Beef Mince Beef Short Rib Beef Tenderloin Beef Topside Beetroots Black Pepper Black Peppercorns Blackcurrant Jam Bramley Apples Brown Onion
C +
Candied Orange Peel Caraway Seeds Carrots Caster Sugar Celeriac Chanterelle Mushrooms Chicken Breasts Chicken Thighs Chopped Tomatoes (Tin) Cinnamon (Ground) Cinnamon Stick Clarified Butter Cloves Cocoa Powder Conchiglie Pasta Cornflour Crayfish Tails (cooked and peeled) Cucumber Curd Cheese (Twaróg) Curry Powder
D +
Dark Chocolate (70%) Dark Rye Flour Dijon Mustard Double Cream Dried Forest Mushrooms Dried Marjoram Dried White Beans Duck (whole)
E +
Eggs Emmental Cheese
F +
Fine Breadcrumbs Fine Egg Noodles Flat-leaf Parsley Floury Potatoes Fresh Basil Fresh Chives Fresh Dill Fresh Dill Crowns Fresh Lovage Fresh Sorrel Fresh Yeast Fusilli Pasta
G +
Garlic Bulb Garlic cloves Ginger (Ground) Grated horseradish
H +
Honey Horseradish Root
I +
Ice Cold Water Icing Sugar
J +
Juniper Berries
K +
Kajmak (Dulce de Leche) Kaszanka (Polish black pudding) Kefir
L +
Lard Leek Lemon Lemon Juice Ligol Apples Łazanki (Quadretti) pasta
M +
Marinated Forest Mushrooms Mayonnaise Milk Mustard Seeds
N +
New Potatoes
O +
Oak, Cherry, or Grape Leaves Ogórek Kiszony (Sour Brined Cucumber) Olive Oil Orange Zest Oranges
P +
Parsley Root Pearl Barley Pears Peas (Tin) Plain Flour Polish Smoked Sausage Poppy Seeds Pork Belly Pork Loin (boneless) Pork Mince Pork Neck Pork Ribs Pork Ribs (Smoked) Pork Shoulder Potato Starch Prunes (Pitted) Pumpkin
R +
Radishes Raisins Rapeseed Oil Red Bell Peppers Red Kidney Beans (Tin) Red Wine (Dry) Ridge / Ground Cucumbers Rustic Bread Rye Bread
S +
Salt Sauerkraut (Kapusta Kiszona) Savoy Cabbage Sea Salt Shallots Smoked Bacon Smoked Paprika Sour Cream Sparkling Water Spring Onions Stale White Bread Strawberries Strong Wheat Flour (Bread Flour) Sweet Paprika (Noble Sweet) Sweetcorn (Tin) Szara Reneta (Grey Reinette)
T +
Tomato Passata Tomato Puree Tomatoes (Vine-Ripened) Turkey Neck
U +
Unsalted Butter
V +
Vanilla Extract Vanilla Pods Veal Loin Vegetable Oil Vodka
W +
Walnuts (halves) Water Waxy Potatoes White Cabbage White Pepper White Rice (short-grain) White Sausage (Raw) White Wine (Dry) White Wine Vinegar Whole Chicken Wild Blueberries
Y +
Young White Cabbage Young beets with greens (untrimmed)
Z +
Zakwas Pszenny (Sour Wheat Starter) Zakwas z Buraków (Fermented Beetroot Juice / Beet Kvass) Zakwas Żytni (Rye Starter) Zander Fillets