Even the most primitive cuisines have foundation ingredients—basic food elements that

build many of the dishes.

I explore three fundamental ingredients in this section, three quintessential ingredients we

cannot be without for most savory dishes—the onion-garlic family, tomatoes and peppers. I threw in

mushrooms, too, since they are so unique and complex, and have so much impact on flavor, too.

And following mushrooms, why not consider vegetables in general? Specifically, how we can make

the best of them in the kitchen.

The fact that, in North America, every reasonably stocked food market and greengrocer

carry these fundamental vegetables and mushroom reflects their importance. Obviously, they are in

demand.

I’m putting these four building block vegetables in a category of their own, even though the

mushroom is technically a fungus, tomatoes and peppers are both (botanically speaking) fruits, and

we use members of the onion family (the only true vegetable) mostly as flavoring. Whatever you

want to classify them, we would be hard put to do without them in the kitchen.

Serious Kitchen Play