Like any other hobby, cooking well is more fun with the right tools. Of course, you can produce delicious meals without fancy equipment, but most professional chefs have one or two kitchen aids that they would hate to be without. The same goes for amateurs who cook for the love of it: these items can help you to cook like a professional.
1. The chef’s knife
It’s the most commonplace of kitchen essentials, but a really good knife is an absolute must. Ceramic ones are particularly good, with incredibly sharp edges, and they aren’t cheap. But the sensation of slicing through stewing steak as though it were butter is a pleasure in itself. A good knife feels good to use and it also produces precise and attractive results.
There are other cutting tools that have their fans: some people swear by their ‘mandoline’, a neat device for slicing vegetables into perfectly even sticks for creating juliennes and coleslaws. But in the end it’s really the favorite knife that no true cook would willingly be parted from.
2. The food processor
Few serious cooks would be happy to live without some form of general food processor. We have gotten so used to the luxury of having a handy gadget for blending ingredients that recipe writers often assume their readers will have access to some version of a blender, and omit alternative mixing methods from their instructions.
The type of food processor we prefer is a matter of individual taste and budget. Some chefs favor a hand-operated ‘mouli’, and some prefer the most expensive and sophisticated liquidizer. Whichever one you go for, once you have acquired a food processor you are happy with, you will want to look after it. That shouldn’t be a problem: for example, it’s not hard to find replacement parts for a Cuisinart blender on the Internet, and the same applies to the other well-known brands.
3. The favorite cooking pot or frying pan
Most happy cooks and successful chefs own at least one favorite cooking pot or pan. It will likely be solid and rather heavy for its size, and probably has a somewhat battered appearance. It’s not an ornament but it will have the beauty of an object which is well designed and well made from good materials.
When some well-known media chefs were asked about their favorite kitchen aids, esoteric gadgets like a garlic skinner and a spice grater did get the odd mention. It’s often said that roasting spices whole, then grating them, produces an intensity of flavor that can’t be matched by packet products. But the tools that were recommended most often were the versatile kitchen essentials of really good knives, blenders and cooking pots.
The message is: don’t skimp on the tools of the trade. Get the best equipment you can afford, and keep it in good working order, replacing parts when necessary. You’ll be in the company of all the best chefs.
Andrew King is a home chef. He loves to share his ideas for cooking at home on family blogs.
