No matter how much or how little experience we have in the kitchen, many of us have at least a handful of culinary secrets. It might be as simple as remembering to season our food well. Or how adding just a bit of butter or garlic can make a huge difference to the flavor profile of a dish. The more we’re willing to experiment, the more we can learn. 

The friendly everyday cooks of the popular r/Cooking subreddit spilled the beans about the fancy ingredients that they’ve personally found to be extremely worth the expensive price tag. In their opinion, they’re completely worth the hype. Scroll down for some inspiration for the next time you want to make something new. Oh, and be warned, you might get incredibly hungry reading this!

#1

Real maple syrup

Image credits: jenipants21

#2

High quality Olive oil. I got some from a farm in California and it was amazing. So fresh, fragrant and flavorful.

Image credits: LowAd3406

#3

Good quality peppercorns for freshly cracked pepper.

Image credits: russianbanya

In our personal experience, what matters the most is the freshness of the ingredients, as well as the flavor profiles and combinations you create. The price isn’t necessarily all that important. If an ingredient is ‘in season’ or locally produced, you can get it at a relatively low price, even if it’s a delicious part of your dishes.

Meanwhile, if you’re willing to spend more of your time to save money, you can compare and contrast the prices at your local stores, mom-and-pop groceries, and outdoor markets. Even a bit of research—combined with some charismatic haggling—can help you get what you want and keep your wallet happy.

However, this probably won’t work all the time. Some ingredients like honey, olive oil, and maple syrup are very sought after. And the ‘real thing’ is genuinely expensive due to its high quality and massive demand. So unless you’ve got a network of trustworthy suppliers on speed dial, you’ll probably need to shell out the big bucks to get your hands on the top-shelf stuff.

#4

Real aged balsamic vinegar.

Image credits: DConstructed

#5

Vanilla bean paste

Image credits: AuntieHerensuge

#6

Fancy flaky salt like Maldon. Ridiculous price but makes a huge difference for anything that you would sprinkle with salt before serving, like salads or roasted veggies.

Image credits: Scoobydoomed

You can do some simple tests to check whether you’ve gotten your paws on real (aka ‘natural’ or ‘raw’) honey or the fake (aka mass-produced) kind. Real honey is what bees make: you’ll most often find it in a jar, and it is, through and through, honey and nothing else.

On the other hand, fake honey has various additives, from dyes and sugar to flavors. This sort of honey might be made from syrups or sugar solutions and might have nothing to do with bees at all. Fake honey tends to immediately dissolve in water, while real honey will sink. It also spreads if you place it on your finger, unlike natural honey, which tends to keep its form.

#7

Triple creme brie and callebaut chocolate.

Image credits: simplyelegant87

#8

Black garlic. Thank you Bob’s Burgers for that tasty treat.

Image credits: Few_Explanation1170

#9

I like slightly higher end butter. Kerrygold is always solid.

Image credits: PassionateLifeLiver

Forbes notes that there are reliable reports that around 80% of all the Italian olive oil that can be found on the global market is fraudulent. If you use lots of olive oil in your daily life (like we do), it’s quite possible that you don’t have ‘the real thing’ in your kitchen. It might be a low-quality knock-off that’s passed off as virgin or extra virgin olive oil. Or it might be a completely different oil that’s been modified to look like what it’s meant to copy. Even the ‘certification’ printed on the labels can be faked. To say that we feel betrayed is an understatement. 

Broadly speaking, when it comes to olive oil, you’re likely buying a fake if the price is low and you’re taking the bottle from a random shelf at your local grocery store. You’d think that the situation was better in Italy, but this isn’t the case. Around half of all the olive oil found on the country’s shelves is thought to be fake.

#10

Parmesan reggiano. Maldon salt. Berkshire pork.Good Scotch.

Image credits: sam_the_beagle

#11

Luxardo cherries for cocktails.

Seems insane to spend $20 on a jar that small of anything, let alone something that I go through in like a month or two. But it’s now just a non-negotiable part of my budget.

Image credits: anon

#12

Harder to find wild mushrooms like morels, chanterelles, and maitakes. I hate that they cost so damn much. I’m looking forward to moving to a place where I can forage.

Image credits: danappropriate

If fake honey and low-quality olive oil weren’t enough of a headache, you might want to check if your maple syrup is real, too. Real maple syrup is made from maple tree sap, which is boiled down.

Fake maple syrup, on the other hand, is simply a cheaper, mass-produced pancake syrup that might have nothing to do with maple trees at all. They’re chock full of sweeteners and coloring.

What expensive ingredients, in your experience, have been totally worth the cost, dear Pandas? On the flip side, what are some cheap(er) ingredients that you feel everybody should consider buying? Tell us what you think in the comments! We always enjoy hearing from you.

#13

Good fresh farm eggs

Image credits: elchinguito

#14

Not fancy but something most people use. Whole nutmeg. Once I started using at rather than the pre gound stuff and I never looked back. Also good local honey from different pollinating sources. You can taste the difference between honey from bees that polinate say clover and the honey from bees that pollinate apple blossoms.

Image credits: Whokitty9

#15

Smoked paprika….

Image credits: Normal_Machine4548

#16

Not really fancy, but parmigiana reggiano is really *the* only parmesan. Sichaun peppercorns for Chinese stir frys, grass fed ground beef for grilled burgers, local honeys as opposed to most any store brands.

Image credits: Abused_not_Amused

#17

Gruyère cheese for macaroni and cheese.

Image credits: weasel999

#18

Fresh, good coffee beans.

Image credits: BoomerJ3T

#19

Cured meats like real Iberico ham. Oh my god, get the f**k out of my way and gimme.

#20

I’m Asian, so here’s something a bit different:

– Real baijiu for Chinese stirfries (vs ordinary shao xing wine)
– Real sake for Japanese dishes (vs ordinary ryoshiru)
– Ceremonial-grade matcha
– Legit fermented fish sauce (this is cheap in general, but the premium ones are really good – there are fake stuff made with just the extract plus artificial caramel coloring and salt ?)
– Fermented soy sauce (again, cheap in general but the higher grades from small artisans in Japan are just…?)
– Real local vinegar (i especially hate it when there’s additional citric acid in a bottled brand. I buy from small local producers)

Arborio rice, basmati rice (thought i could get away with using normal everyday rice because these two are expensive here but i’m a believer now)

#21

Bone marrow. It’s like beef butter it’s amazing.

#22

Chef here…REAL truffles and truffle oil….I swear it’s easier to get pure cocaine than real truffle oil.

#23

Nothing in particular…but I’m always skeptical when someone gets a cheeseboard that has a ridiculously expensive cheese…like there’s no way this is worth 50 dollars a pound or whatever…and every time I eat it and my words.

#24

Saffron is amazing

Image credits: walkstwomoons2

#25

Duck fat. It makes roasted veggies amazing.

Image credits: nursingninjaLB

#26

Ceylon cinnamon, instead of the cassia cinnamon that’s usually in grocery stores. Ceylon is true cinnamon, less toxic in large quantities, and the one that’s good for your blood sugar. I buy Frontier Ceylon from Vitacost.

Real, dark maple syrup

Block parmesan instead of the shake jar

#27

Ghee. The real kind. Everything tastes so much better.

#28

Not really fancy but I’m f*****g heavily with shallots right now

#29

A proper pesto made the right way in Genoa Italy. With warm bread for dipping.

#30

Freshly grated Wasabi (as opposed to green colored horseradish)

#31

Canned San Marzano tomatoes for pasta sauce. Changed everything.

#32

Traditional German egg noodles for homemade chicken noodle soup.

#33

High quality mustard

#34

Quality Amaretto and Brandy.

#35

Indigenous Australian ingredients, hard to come by because not readily available, pricey too. Finger limes especially are simply divine.

#36

Good cold pressed olive oil. DOP balsamic. Quality parmigiano. Heritage breed livestock meat. Black truffles (white truffles taste like foot sweat to me). Great bourbon. Even greater wine. Spend the $100 on that vintage Napa cab, Italian Amarone, or French Chateauneuf du Pape. Your life will be better for it. Fois Gras. Beef Tallow. Duck fat. Irish butter. Fleur de Sel salt *chefs kiss* maldon is great but I’d eat that s**t by the spoon. Duck eggs. Aged shoyu. Aged fish sauce. Cheese. Filthy funky musty stinky f*****g cheese. NON CELEBRITY TEQUILA. Old expensive scotch. I’m talking scotch old enough to order it’s own scotch. Macallan 30 will literally change your life. Mozzarella de Bufala

(Accidentally replied to someone else’s specific comment so I thought I’d repost under the main thread)

#37

Le Puy lentils. Like many great foods, there are lots of pretenders that are labeled French green lentils, but are not Le Puy lentils. The real deal are so ridiculously good compared to all other lentils, it’s silly.

#38

I dunno if this counts, but homemade chicken stock. Some people are equating fancy with expensive or rare, which is valid. The first time I tasted an aged balsamic I was blown away, spent 20 minutes trying to convince myself not to spend $50 on a tiny bottle of vinegar, failed and bought it, and I have not regretted it. It’s so good. But when I’m feelin real fancy, I make stock. I made my last stock with 5lb of chicken drumsticks on sale for $4, a cleaver, a carrot, a shallot, a celery, a bay leaf, a vinegar, peppercorns, water, and an electric pressure cooker. That might not sound fancy, but the product is so far beyond those boxed stocks. Just, unbelievably beyond you don’t understand till you’ve done it. The effort and quality is what makes homemade stock fancy for me, not the price or rarity.

#39

I’m such an apple snob, but life is too short to eat Gala apples, much less Red Delicious.

Honeycrisp is my low-end, but I prefer Washington State-grown Envy Apples, British Columbia Salish Apples, Lucy GLO or Lucy Rose Apples, Cosmic Crisp, SugarBee, or a few other varietals.

I will eat a Fuji Apple in a pinch, and I use Granny Smith for charcuterie or salads sometimes. Ambrosia Apples are alright too. But those are all apples I’ll only eat in the off-season, and lately, I’ve been able to get New Zealand Envy Apples during the off-season.

My daily mid-morning snack is a high quality apple and Dark Roast Peanut Butter.

#40

Cardamom.

It is just ridiculously tasty in baked goods.

#41

I haven’t tried this but watching the Salt Fat Acid Heat documentary made me want real soy sauce. If anyone has seen the documentary the salt episode was probably my favorite segment of the series.

#42

Bottled yuzu juice. It does a fair job of replicating the aroma and favor of the fresh fruit, which is hard to find outside of Japan.

#43

Yuzu marmalade. It’s heaven in a jar.

#44

Roquefort cheese and smoked aged garlic. Ruinously expensive, but takes pasta sauce from “that was lovely, cheers” to *silent weeping at the beauty of the world.*

#45

Good deli meat like salami, mortadella, and sopressata.

Truffles. I know it’s divisive to say but as someone who went in with low expectations when trying it for the first time, I can see why it’s beloved by so many around the world.

I even had a pandan custard pie with shaved white truffles that completely blew me away. It was one of the tastiest desserts I’ve ever had and a lot of that credit goes to the truffles.

#46

Specific “fancy” foods that are worth the hype:

* Plugra butter
* Berkshire pork
* Luxardo cherries
* Point Reyes **Bay** blue cheese – the flavor balance is amazing

Categories of food in which it pays to do your research and opt for a well-reviewed premium, sometimes much-more-expensive, version.. or versions depending on your specific application:

* EVOO
* Balsamic vinegar
* Koshihikari short-grain (“sushi”) rice* (you will also need the right premium cooker)

#47

Wagyu beef, caviar, foie gras, lobster, uni, and many more. I honestly think the list of expensive ingredients that aren’t worth it is shorter. There’s usually a good reason unless it’s just marked up for a brand name.

#48

Argentine shrimp.

#49

Capers

#50

Dutch processed cocoa, baby!

#51

Bonito flakes

#52

Fois Gras. It’s the richest thing you can put in your face.

#53

Preserved lemons. They’re delicious in African lamb stew, in pasta, on pizza… still experimenting with the possibilities. Really easy to make at home too.

#54

Hatch Chilies

#55

Proper Hungarian paprika

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