As someone who has always worked in kitchens, people frequently ask me – “are you not bored of cooking when you get home?”, and how do I find the motivation to cook meals, bake and find inspiration for myself. I think that the opposite is true – being surrounded by food at the Academy and throughout my career, and surrounded by people as passionate about food, teaching and sharing it with people as I am, means I get as much joy from cooking and baking at home as I always have.
I always aim to make my cooking life at home as easy and stress free as possible. Whether that’s forward planning, batch cooking and freezing, keeping a rolling shopping list on my phone, flicking through my cookery books most evenings and a big one for me – keeping my cupboards and fridge stocked with all the essentials. If you start a new recipe, your dinner or your packed lunch for work from scratch every time, it can become a huge effort. By keeping certain ingredients stocked, I always feel like I have the basis of a great meal ready to go. Below are some of my essential ingredients that I always have available.
Good quality vinegar – be it apple cider, white and red wine, balsamic or rice wine, vinegar has so many applications. Make a simple salad dressing or add depth and acidity to your savoury cooking.
Capers – along the same lines as vinegar, adding chopped capers to recipes (pasta, a butter sauce, a fresh tomato salad) enhances flavours by bringing sharpness. They’re also packed full of antioxidants!
Tomato paste – tomato paste has done all the hard work for you of creating flavour in your dishes. It has an intense, concentrated flavour and packs a huge umami punch when added to stews, ragus and sauces.
Chickpeas – versatile and packed full of plant- based protein and fibre, tins of chickpeas are always available in my cupboard. They stand up well to big, bold flavours and are so easy to work with. Add to soups and stews, air fry or oven bake for a crispy snack or salad topper or blend into creamy hummus. (Keep the chickpea water if you fancy going to extra mile and using it as a vegan egg white replacement!).
Oats – porridge isn’t everyone’s favourite, but oats have so many great, healthy applications. Blend into smoothies for added fibre and protein, roast with your favourite seeds and dried fruit to make granola or use them in baking to make quick breads, cookies, flapjacks and pancakes. (I personally love an Anzac cookie).
Dried herbs and spices – this one seem like a no-brainer but having a wide selection of dried herbs and spices makes adding flavour to your cooking so much easier (and saves throwing out half used bags of fresh herbs!). The ones I always reach for are ground cumin and coriander to bring a warm, nutty flavour. Fennel seeds for adding that distinct aniseed hit to dishes and paprika for adding smokiness and depth. I always have mixed spice for both sweet and savoury applications but also ground cardamon (hard to find sometimes but worth if you’re baking a lot!).
Good quality chocolate – This won’t be an ingredient in everyone’s cupboard but as a pastry chef, I felt like I couldn’t leave it out. Baking with chocolate is for special occasions but I feel if you’re going to do it, you must use chocolate that is of a certain quality. Unfortunately, most of the chocolate available in supermarkets right now contains very little cocoa solids and is in fact made up of emulsifiers, milk powder and sugar. For me, I like to always have a bar of 55-70% cocoa solids in my cupboard and work from there.
Sophie has worked in professional kitchens in one way or another since the age of 16. She graduated from university in Dublin with a degree in Baking and Pastry Arts in 2015 before beginning her career in luxury hotels, first in Dubai and later in Ireland. She was part of the team that re-opened Adare Manor in Limerick where she stayed for 5 years, working her way up to sous chef. Sophie has gained lots of experience over the last 10 years, from running large events, launching a commercial chocolate line, developing restaurant concepts, and everything in between. In 2022, she moved to Scotland and became Sous Chef at Gleneagles, overseeing a team of 24 pastry chefs.
In September 2025, Sophie made the move into teaching when she joined the team at Edinburgh Food & Drink Academy and has since been promoted to Senior Teacher. She is excited and eager to be part of the amazing team and share her pastry passion and experience with the students.
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