Liquors

Whether or not you drink them, some alcoholic beverages are essential in the kitchen (and, if it is of concern to you, the alcohol itself is usually driven off in the cooking). We recommend you have Armagnac, Madeira and Marsala, which all give good depth of flavour to appropriate sweet and savoury dishes. Grand Marnier often also comes in handy for flavouring desserts. You don’t have to buy whole bottles; half or quarter bottles or miniatures will do. Of course, you will almost certainly need a good dry white wine and, occasionally, a fruity red wine, but we don’t think of these as store cupboard items – and don’t treat them as such; an opened bottle of wine that has sat around for too long will be vinegary and harsh, and will certainly not enhance food to which it is added.