Most restaurant walk-in refrigerators are stocked, half with fresh produce and raw meat and the other half with building blocks like sauces, dressings, condiments, pickles, chilli oils, sauce bases, concentrated stocks, and curry pastes. In addition, spice blends and other dry preparations are found on the pantry shelves. When you place your order, those meals are put together using the building blocks and adding only the final bits - searing the salmon filet or grilling the chicken breast bone at the last minute.

Culinary building blocks

Meat: Beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, pork and others.
Fish and seafood: Salmon, trout, haddock, shrimp, shellfish, etc. Choose wild-caught if you can.
Eggs: Choose free-range, pastured or

Cooking chickpeas in large batches and marinating them with olive oil, vinegar and garlic, then using them over the course of a week. <ul><li>Monday might be chickpeas with cooked farro, shredded raw and pickled carrots, parsley and hard-boiled eggs. </li><li>On Wednesday, combine them with cucumbers, red onions and fresh dill served with sliced lamb.</li><li>On Friday, scoop them over marinated kale, topped with olives, tomatoes and crumbled feta.</li></ul>

Example of using building blocks

Recipe building blocks vary by cuisine and chef, but they all have an extra-long shelf life and a concentrated flavour. The building blocks allow you to only add last-minute touches. The concept also allows for more efficient planning. Thinking about meals in terms of building blocks can free you from recipes. The space devoted to condiments and sauces helps you to pick up something at the supermarket or farmer's market and find a way to serve it.

Freed from recipes

To be a faster, more creative cook, take a cue from restaurant chefs, J. Kenji López-Alt suggests, and rely on culinary building blocks.

Example of using building blocks

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