How you should stock your pantry for a coronavirus quarantine, according to expert cooks
Edward Lee is not prepared for a coronavirus lockdown. His pantry is not stocked. He shops often, buying only what he needs and what will fit in his small kitchen. "I'm a chef, so I rarely cook at home from scratch," he said with a shrug. "My fridge is filled with leftovers from the restaurant. My whole life is eating leftovers."
In other words, he's like a lot of people.
For years, nutritionists and cookbook writers have advised Americans to keep a stocked pantry, and to cook and eat together. It's better for our health. It's better for our relationships. (There are even apps that will help you do a lot of the planning.) And yet, we've stubbornly refused. Research firm NPD reported in 2017 that cold cereal, toaster pastries, yogurt and tap water are among the most popular "meals" prepared at home. Food Genius, a food-data firm now owned by U.S. Foods, estimates that as many as 80% of Americans don't make plans for dinner until at least 4 p.m. the same day.
Now comes the threat of the coronavirus, which could mean that, at least temporarily, we stock up and limit trips to the grocery store, stop going to restaurants and spurn delivery drivers.
In other words, Americans might finally have to plan and cook.
No one knows where the virus might bloom - or how long restrictions might last. What is clear is that this will be different from the usual "stock up on bread and milk" emergencies: Snowstorms generally only trap people in the house for a few days, whereas lockdowns in China have lasted weeks, stressing even the most seasoned cooks. On the plus side, it's unlikely that homes will lose power as they might after a natural disaster.
How do you plan to potentially cook three meals a day for weeks at a time with limited access to the outside world? And given our high expectations about what we eat - sushi one night and pizza the next - is it possible to keep it interesting? We asked some of the country's best-known cooks for tips and inspiration.
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Padma Lakshmi
Author, host of Bravo's "Top Chef"
"The first thing I would do, right now, before there is a panic, is start cooking," Lakshmi said. "Pick a Saturday or Sunday and involve the whole family in making huge batches of different dishes: turkey chili or green chili with white beans, things that are stew-y and freeze well. Then pack them in quart containers so you can take out just what you need."
This plan has two benefits. It lessens anxiety - yes, you'll have food to eat! - but it also allows you to cook with what's fresh. You're not stocking up on fresh fruits and vegetables and hoping they don't rot.
And since fresh foods do go off, Lakshmi also recommends stocking up on frozen vegetables, which "have no less nutrition than fresh ones do," and plenty of root vegetables that also store well - even if you don't have a big freezer: "Turnips are delicious cooked in broth with a little bit of soy sauce, a dash of hoisin sauce and Chinese five spice."
Finally, bulk up your condiment supply with shelf-stable sauces and concentrates that can create variety. One of Lakshmi's go-to pantry meals is what she calls "paste pasta," noodles tossed in a mix of sun-dried tomato paste, anchovy paste and green-olive paste, olive oil and crushed red pepper. Another is kitchari, a traditional Indian rice and lentil porridge she makes for her family that can be filled with vegetables - or not.
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Hugo Ortega
Chef-owner of Backstreet Cafe and four other Houston restaurants
Ortega grew up in the mountains of Oaxaca, so among his go-tos are sopecitos, little corn cups that can be filled with stewed vegetables, meat, cheese, anything really. You start with masa harina (ground, nixtamalized corn flour) and mix it with water, then form it into little balls and stretch it in the palm of your hands. All that's left is to cook it lightly in a cast iron pan. "Masa is my equivalent of pasta," Ortega said. "You can put almost anything on it and it will give you plenty of energy for the day."
If you're really worried about the coronavirus, you can buy 10-pound (or larger) sacks of masa at club stores or Latin markets. Ortega likes blue-corn masa, which is often of higher quality. And as long as you're stocking up, Ortega recommends canned cherry tomatoes, "which have a lot more flavor" than the usual plum variety.
Though it may not help in the short term, Ortega also hopes the scare will encourage people to cultivate some fresh food themselves: "Put rosemary in a pot in the window or a tomato plant out the back door." After all, Americans have done it before. During World War II, there were 18 million so-called Victory Gardens.
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