These are the 10 things you’ll most want when you’re just starting to cook
You might make me happy with a cypress-wood haniiri (a special bowl with a copper band around it in which you can cover sushi rice with rice vinegar the proper way), but your nephew who has just moved into student accommodation and has only just graduated from microwave bao buns has very different kitchen needs. You’ll make him—or any beginning home cook—very happy with something from the following list!
Because this is a list of ten essentials that will always hit the mark if you want a solid foundation for (learning to) cook. Simple and effective! How many can you tick off?
Cookbook: modern classic
You can go completely niche with cookbooks and choose something super-specific. We absolutely love that too, as we regularly make clear on FavorFlav. But what can really feed and encourage the joy of cooking for beginners is a fantastic all-round cookbook that explains basics, a little science, recipes and techniques. The ultimate example? Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat.
A plastic cutting board
A wooden cutting board and the maintenance that comes with it may be something for the next step. To start with, it’s really useful to own a spacious plastic cutting board, preferably one that can also go in the dishwasher if you’d rather not have your apple absorb the smell of raw onions by the next morning. A silicone non-slip corner is nice, but not essential: wet a sheet of kitchen paper, wring it out, unfold it and place it underneath the board to stop it sliding.
A decent (in other words, insanely sharp) knife
When it comes to knives, you can of course find something in every price range. (You can even scour the thrift store and take a hidden gem to a good sharpener yourself.) But a very nice knife to start with is the Thai knives from the Kiwi Brand, available at better Asian grocery stores. When giving it, tell them what you absolutely shouldn’t do with a good knife, and then cross your fingers for their fingers. Just kidding—a sharp knife is often safer!
A family of mixing bowls
Mixing bowls may not be the most obvious gift. But it’s genuinely handy to have a set that fits inside one another, so they take up little space while still giving you several sizes. Pancake batter, easy vinaigrette, whisking eggs for the perfect omelet: the mixing bowl is where it all happens, folks. With lids? Ooh, totally nice…
THE grater
We can keep this very short. The Microplane grater is THE grater that a beginner (and every) cook needs. Grating garlic, ginger, citrus zest, Parmesan… this thing is indispensable.
A little salt cellar
This may sound purely decorative, or twee and rustic, but no: tell your nephew that a whole world of nuances in salt opens up when he stops automatically reaching for the big plastic Jozo container every time. Instead, make a beautiful steak, or some nicely grilled aubergine, and make even that perfect omelet more delicious by ‘pinch-sprinkling’ some Maldon or Camargue or another lovely flaky salt over it with your fingers.
A couple of baking sheets
If there’s an oven in the house, it needs baking sheets. A large one is useful (of course, check which dimensions will fit): use it to roast the most delicious roasted vegetables. But two ‘half-size’ ones are also ideal to have if you want to make things with different cooking times, or don’t want, for example, the juices from the salmon to make your crispy roasting new potatoes soggy.
A good non-stick frying pan
Again: a substantial, heavy cast-iron frying pan is wonderful to have, but perhaps something for a later stage. Such a cast-iron pan needs to be seasoned and maintained, and washing it requires care. For a beginning (and, incidentally, any advanced) home cook, a non-stick pan is absolutely great: you’ll make the best scrambled eggs in it, as well as pan-fried fish with the crispiest skin. Ideal.
A ‘starter’ Dutch oven
There is some cast iron involved here, but an enameled cast-iron pan is easier to maintain and food is less likely to stick to it. It’s great for making stews and also thick soups for which you first need to gently sauté onions and garlic. Le Creuset is of course a gorgeous brand, but also extremely expensive. If you look a little further, you can find very nice examples from other brands for as little as forty euros.
Measure twice, cook perfectly
And for that final boost of confidence, and perfectly cooked food on the table every time: a kitchen thermometer. I genuinely see my culinary (cooking) life divided into two parts: life before and life with a kitchen thermometer. Never again will there be profound disappointment at Christmas dinner, or in the garden after heated attempts to barbecue properly; just stick one of those little probes in and at least you’ll know for sure!
Read also:
- 5 kitchen appliances we couldn’t live without
- Essential: these kitchen gadgets from top chefs
- One, two, get rid of it—kitchen gadgets for the thrift store
