I just revealed my vintage, didn't I?
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Today’s post is about what you need, so here’s Michael Hutchence to tell you all about it!
Okay, maybe not.
It might take you a little time to accumulate all this stuff, or you may already have most of it. If you can get to a thrift store or charity shop, this can be your golden ticket to stocking up on good cookware for cheap.
I’m a notorious cheapskate. I will never tell you that you need an item unless you really, absolutely have to have it to prepare basic foodstuffs. However, the fact of the matter is that you can’t boil water for pasta in a paper cup, so let’s discuss the things that you need in your kitchen in order to prepare the meals we’ll be discussing in later posts.
First off, let’s talk pots. And also pans.
Despite the fact that I cook most nights of the week and have even been known to get gourmet on occasion, I really only use three cooking vessels when it comes to stove-top preparation. Everything else is extraneous and just translates in my head to, “More shit to wash later.” My husband, when he cooks, somehow manages to use every single pot, pan and dish in the entire kitchen, but I assure you that this is not generally necessary.
Behold! My filthy stove! And my three favorite pots.
For the meals I’ll be discussing on this blog, you will need to have the following items:
- A large pot (and by large I mean big enough to put your head in with plenty of room on all sides to spare).
- A smaller pot (smaller than the large one, but not miniscule)
- A large frying pan (for multi-purpose use, the higher the sides on it, the better; and I cannot recommend cast iron highly enough).
Cast-iron may seem like a really fussy, foodie thing to recommend, but it is actually the ideal low-maintenance cookware. I mean, you’re not even allowed to use soap on it! That’s practically an engraved invitation not to wash it. If you have a grandparent handy, hit them up for an old cast-iron pan. Here’s some info about the care and upkeep of cast-iron.
Of course you may continue to use whatever frying pan you already have or can easily lay your hands on.
When shopping for pots and pans, weight matters. A lightweight pot or pan means it’s cheaply made, won’t conduct heat evenly and will probably burn the shit out of your food through no fault of your own. When you pick up your prospective new cookware, it should feel like a bit of a challenge to lift. It should not feel like someone just folded over a few layers of tinfoil and stuck a handle on it. If you are buying used, it should not be noticeably dented or bent out of shape (this is a sign that it is too light to be useful).
LET ME SHOW YOU MY KNIVES OKAY
That’s not creepy and threatening at all, is it?
Going with our rule of threes again, there are three basic types of knife that, if you have them, you’re pretty much covered.
Oddly enough, none of these were purchased at the same time or at the same place. Cutlery just isn't really an area with a lot of design innovation.
Left-to-right we’ve got:
- Big, heavy and non-serrated. This is the sort of knife you think of when you think “there is possibly a serial killer waiting for me in the kitchen.”
- Smaller and non-serrated. Paring knives are very small, probably a bit too small to be useful for multiple tasks, but there’s a nice happy medium between giant cleavers and tiny paring knives. Get one of those.
- Medium-sized and serrated. A serrated knife is the kind that has a bumpy-looking edge. This is useful for slicing things that are squishy, like bread or tomatoes. With a serrated knife, you saw at the food rather than chopping.
Like pots and pans, weight also matters with knives. Serious gourmets will pay three-figures and up for a knife that is perfectly balanced, and professional chefs will tell you that all is lost if you don’t have the correct set of perfect knives. This is, of course, untrue. If you want to prepare restaurant-quality food (and not get carpal tunnel while doing it for 12 hours a day) then yes, by all means get the fancy knives. For the rest of us, though, going to the thrift store and picking up the knife that someone’s grandma who just died used to make her special Bolognese sauce for the past 50 years will do just fine. But, as I say, lightweight = cheap, heavy = quality. Generally speaking.
Implements of Destruction Measurement and Other Miscellaneous Items
A selection of my fine cookware, and an example of what a poor photographer I am.
You will also need:
- A set of measuring cups in whatever your country measures in.
- A set of measuring spoons for same.
- A good-sized cutting board. You can get by just fine with one if it’s a big one. (I’m resisting making a “that’s what she said” joke here. Whoops, looks like I just did!)
- A wooden spoon
- A spatula
- A colander (that bowl thing with holes in it that you drain pasta in).
- A big mixing bowl or two.
- A vegetable peeler.
- A whisk (yes, really).
Dollar/Pound/Unit-of-Currency Store is fine for all of these things. A wooden spoon is a wooden spoon is a wooden spoon. All of my Cooking Things have come from various bargain bins and such over the years. Many’s the year when I didn’t even have a ladle and just spooned soup out of the pot with a mug. It’s not like the soup cares.
So, there’s your shopping list. We’ve got some time before we get to the first actual recipe, so no need to rush.
The next post will be all about measurement: when it’s important, when it’s not, and what all these units are. My homework is going out to locate a set of metric measuring cups and spoons so that I don’t alienate most of the world’s population with my recipes.
