Garlic

Using fresh garlic is amazing, especially compared to those minced-garlic-in-a-bottle. It doesn’t instantly become brown and cooked after you put it in hot oil. Same thing holds for ginger versus the ground ginger you find in the spice aisle.
I’ve somehow found the art of frying chicken with minimal oil. It tasted decent, but it was still literally fried.
Basting oil is amazing. Adds so much aroma to roasting brussel sprouts.