As more new condos come furnished with kitchens or at least stoves of some sort, we hope its inspiring more of you to try a spot of cooking. For an extra push, though, go one beyond the usual, boring pantry standards with these eight upgrades to get you excited.

1. Preserved Goods

Standard: Even the most amateur pantries should have the usual can of coconut milk, maybe a couple of cans of tuna and a tin of plum tomatoes.
Upgrade: You won’t even know what you’re missing until you stock some higher-end preserved goods like capers by Fragata (B89 from Tops), which make a nice addition to many pasta sauces, like a simple marinara you can make with that tin of plum tomatoes, and pickled gherkins by My Garden (B65 at Tops), which fancify that sandwich you’re making.

Seasoning sauces

Standard: In Thai cooking, a bottle of fish sauce and light soy sauce are irreplaceable for everything from eggs and stir-fries to soups and curries.
Upgrade: Ask any auntie, and she’ll rattle off a long list of sauces she uses to get her food tasting just so. So, along with nam pla and see yoo khao, invest in bottles of dark soy sauce (B40 from Tops), which lends a slightly sweet flavor (not to mention color), Golden Mountain seasoning sauce (B16 from Tops) and a jar of prik pao (B29.50 from Tops) for a more complete collection of seasoning options.

2. Pasta

Standard: Boxes of dried pasta make for a quick meal. Or perhaps you’re from the snobby fresh pasta camp and prefer multicolored fettucine or ravioli.
Upgrade: Even in Italy, there’s an occasion for dried pasta from a box and fresh pasta. It depends on the sauce. Factory-made pasta (B32-69 at Gourmet Market) is smoother—and doesn’t have the many microscopic holes it would if it was rolled on, say, a wooden table—and doesn’t soak up sauces as much as San Remo’s egg fettucine (B179 from Tops). It is, however, hardier and does well with chunky sauces and those that involve a lot of stirring.

3. Condiments

Standard: Convenient squirty bottles of condiments like ketchup and yellow mustard are standard for any kitchen, whether or not you cook and can sit in the fridge door for a year, even after they’ve been opened.
Upgrade: Your kitchen will feel way more competent and chic with condiments like Waitrose’s hot horseradish sauce (B109 from Tops), which has similar, nose-blasting flavors to wasabi, but with added creaminess, and a jar of Maille whole grain mustard (B169 from Tops), which has the crunch of little mustard seeds, making for a more textured eating experience.

4. Pepper mill

Standard: Sure the McCormack’s black pepper and sea salt mills are really handy and you feel savvy for using freshly ground seasoning. But other than the fact that they’re so damn ugly, there’s also no easy way to refill them—and it says so in fine print on the bottle. Whatever points you may have earned in the kitchen, you’ll lose with the environment.
Upgrade: Get a pair of simple salt and pepper mills (B425 each from Central). They’re refillable, and a heck of a lot more elegant.

5. Cereals

Standard: Cereals are a long-lasting, quick breakfast option. But the cheap ones are full of all of sugar and chemicals and the expensive ones are, well, expensive. And besides, cereals are too much a throwback to when you were a kid.
Upgrade: Grownups have oatmeal, and not that silly Quaker instant stuff either. Get yourself a bag of Longman’s rolled oats (B125 from Gourmet Market). They’ll still cook in the microwave, with water or milk, and best of all, you can spice them up with anything you like from slices of apples to raisins to nuts. Your options are unlimited.

6. Cooking oils

Standard: As a hip urbanite, perhaps you’ve come around to the idea that olive oil is better for your heart, and that extra virgin olive oil is best of all.
Upgrade: But that’s only half the story. Extra virgin olive oil (B229 from Tops) may be fancy, but it has a low smoke point, which means you can’t really do serious cooking with it. And the strong flavor and aroma will mess with your Thai cooking. For deep frying, stick to canola oil, or rice bran oil, which is better for you. A liter of King Rice Bran Oil is B119 at Tops.

7. Essentials

Central Silom 191 Silom Rd., 02-233-6900. BTS Sala Daeng
Tops Try the one at Marketplace, Thong Lor Soi 4, 02-381-3187
Gourmet Market Try the one at Siam Paragon, Rama 1 Rd., 02-610-9000