Like the pros they admire, amateur cooks tend to play favorites. There's always a particular ingredient or tool they will go out of their way to use, and they always keep it handy. Favorite spices and implements take pride of place in their kitchens, and some cooks won't leave home without them.

The best part of keeping your favorites close at hand is being able to introduce them to friends and family. That, and being able to share tips and techniques with fellow cooks.

What's in your pantry or your toolkit that you just couldn't live without?

I learned to cook as a kid, helping mom and dad cook our family meals almost every night. My dad had a lot to say about kitchen tools.

"You always need a good, seasoned pan." Dad taught me you can cook just about anything in a good skillet. I love pulling out my well-seasoned Lodge cast iron skillet, especially for bacon and eggs.

"A sharp knife makes all the difference." This is a must. I keep a great set of Chicago Cutlery stainless knives along with my razor-sharp Henkel's chef knife. They'll also serve me well in case of zombie apocalypse.

"I want one of those. You can do so much with a good stand mixer." Though dad never got to have one, he swore he'd use a Cuisinart stand mixer for nearly everything. He was right. They're magical.

Garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, paprika, fresh parsley and a good chef knife. I feel I can earn a live as chef in any country in the world with that.

Smoked paprika, a very well-seasoned cast iron pan, extra virgin olive oil, masa harina and a cheap tortilla press, onions and garlic, pastured eggs, pickled jalapenos (La Morena brand). A dijon mustard and a grainy mustard. Lemons. Sea salt and/or kosher salt.

A great Chef's knive (I love my MAC), fresh herbs (I grow them year-long in my house) and my Silpat silicon mat.

These are some great items! Whose got something they'd travel with for fear of not having it when they arrived at their destination?

A Cuisinart 14 cups food processor. Saves a LOT of time!

For me it is all about tools. Real tools. Not over-designed kitchenware - but the real pro tools (that I often find is less expensive than the designer-stuff). Things like a good bench knife for cutting and turning dough. A dutch oven for baking and braising. A good knife - I still have my fathers old chefs knife. Good tools last.

As for ingredients I would say that no meal is really complete without bread. Good homemade bread.

I have been known to travel with cocktail mixing gear, though not often.

For general cooking, apart from the obvious—a good knife, skillet, etc—I also have this three-quart nonstick saucepan that I seem to use all the time for small to medium quantities of food. I also have a couple of pairs of Japanese cooking chopsticks, which I learned about from a college roommate, and which I can't do without. Also tongs.

Why has no one mentioned how critical wine and spirits are to a kitchen's mise en place? After a knife, a bottle wine is critical to any evening. Joining on the travel thread: TSA has rendered traveling with kitchen tools (or shoes!) nearly impossible, sharp knives much? Yet stashing multiple 3ounces bottles in one's cosmetic carry-on proves delightful after take off. 3oz rittenhouse, 1.5oz carpano, mini dasher bottle of ango, and ask for true glassware from first class. Yes, it's a rather large Manhattan, but it's a full 6hours from SFO to JFK.
esquire.com

in my mise en place: chocolate, dulce de leche and some novelty pan for bake some cakes!
my favorite travel kit (related to food & drinks): horneandoalgo.blogspot.com.ar

In addition to many of the things stated above (nice pans, knives, olive oil, etc) I like to always keep onions, garlic, and shallots on hand.

Like my own variation of mirepoix, I like to use this combination in many dishes, even when not really called for.

I'm with Ryan: Onions. I start off just about any savory dish with deep brown caramelized onions. Sizzling them down -- hearing the sizzle change from soft and watery to hard-trebly then goopysweet -- love to see and smell the changes. Simple but transformative ingredient.

Not negotiable: A knife! Better, three. Not only always convenient, but necessary for safety (slippery onion + dull knife + clumsy me = unsanitary conditions). A nonstick skillet and saucepan. Spatula, whisk, and wooden spoons. A baking dish (square cakes taste just as good as round!), one cookie sheet. Fresh garlic and garlic powder, olive oil, good salt (Pink himalayan, at the moment), pepper, flour, sugar (white, brown and powdered), baking powder and soda, onions, potatoes, oregano, thyme. Good canned tomatoes. Lots of beans. Dry pasta and grains.

Things I bought thinking I'd use always and instead use never: Le Creuset loaf pan, butter dish and spoon rest. Bread/steak knives. Serving platters. Every garlic press/mincer. Bundt pan.

I'm with you there on the serving platters. I also end up chronically not using are the dorky single-tasker things that seem like a good idea at the time - the cherry pitter, the strawberry huller, the shrimp deveiner (that would be before I learned how to use a paring knife), all of that stuff.

Oh, I'm with @karalearota on good salt being a must-have. I take rock salt and grind it together with various other spices myself in the spice grinder of my aforementioned Cuisinart to make my own blends. Right now, I've got a Baharat/Himalayan salt blend with which I'm a little obsessed, and making fresh garlic salt makes a huge difference for Italian dishes.

I also agree with @karalearota and @mko on the salt. It's essential, no doubt.

As simple of a list that this may be, I never go without my staples:

*8" Wusthof Chef's knife
*All-Clad nonstick saute pan
*fresh garlic
*Cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
*Sea or Himalayan salt
*fresh ground cayenne pepper
*good bottle of bourbon (for sautee or marinade +drinking)
*Select cheeses, based on the course
*Appliance-wise: Gas Range. NO Electric stoves!!

@FrancisO had a good point about bringing a Silpat. You don't see those often outside of a professional kitchen.

I always take my cheap plastic vegi peeler with me because people always have the nice expensive ones that don't work well. Even worse, the peeler may have a handle shaped like a potato.

I also pack my paring knife, a great corkscrew, several tasting spoons, and any herbs or spice mixes that I have grown or mixed up. I also have to tote my thin wire handle spatula for fish.

If I had to chose only one, it would be the spatula.

- always in my fridge: cured meats, olives, cheeses, horseradish, clamato, simple syrup.

- always in my produce bowl: garlic, onions, lemons, limes, habaneros, ginger

- always in my pantry: good olive oil, crackers, a variety of salts, a variety of peppers, a variety of vinegars

- always in my bar: bourbon, vodka, gin, vermouth, bitters and lately campari

- always in my tool kit: sharp knife, microplane, cutting board/serving platter, cast iron skillet

- always on my mind: eating and drinking

For me, I need the following:

Extra virgin olive oil
Henckels chefs knife
Pimenton smoked paprika
Garlic
Maldon Salt
Lemons

That's always a good start for me!

Ingredients: kosher salt, rice, Old Bay, Worcestershire, vanilla beans, nutmeg, butter, bonito, booze.

Tools: wooden spoon, tin foil, and a battered All-Clad pan I stole from my old kitchen and love beyond all reason. Too many knives, since I only use one, but I seem to accumulate them at holiday time.

Oh, and dorky as it sounds, my slow-cooker is actually a useful geegaw, considering the space it takes up.

@skampy "always on my mind: eating and drinking" ...best line of this branch.