Having a well stocked pantry and knowing how to cook from it it is like having a personal grocery store at home. It lets the chef save time and energy by not having to go to the supermarket so often. It allows one to arrive home late from work, yet easily prepare a healthy meal.

The pantry is also a useful food reserve that saves its owner money by allowing food items to be collected from sales when convenient. With a little bit of organization, it is easy to save hundreds of dollars every year. A well stocked pantry provides a buffer against the uncertainties of the future, which brings peace of mind.

Another fun thing about canned and dried foods is that they can be shipped long distances without refrigeration. This lets food producers in exotic parts of the world share their local delicacies in a way that is impossible to do with fresh foods. Some of the recipes in this book take advantage of this opportunity to explore exotic sea foods, regional staples, and appetizers that are only otherwise encountered in travels to foreign lands.

Perhaps you will be surprised that some of the recipe ingredients in this book come from the pantry. The later portion of the book describes how to keep items in the pantry that are so often unnecessarily refrigerated.