Garlic

Firm bulbs with fat cloves and skin that comes away cleanly. Garlic is one of the few things where size genuinely helps — a big clove is less work for the same result.

There is barely a savoury dish in this region that does not start with it: crushed into a masala, pounded into toum, sliced thin into a stir-fry, or roasted whole until it turns sweet and spreadable. Crush it and leave it a minute before it hits the pan; the flavour develops in that pause.

Squeeze the bulb. It should be hard, with no give and no hollow feel. A green shoot through the centre of a clove is not spoilage, but it is bitter — cut it out.

Dry, dark, and airy. Never the fridge and never a sealed container: cold and damp make garlic sprout and go rubbery.

A whole bulb keeps a month or more. Once you break it open, the loose cloves go over in a couple of weeks.