Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen_ An Indesp - Tyler Florence [2]
I hope you have as much fun tearing through this cookbook as my team and I did creating it. It was a labor of love, and I enjoyed every minute of it.
All the best,
_a
_cook’s
_kitchen
From choosing the right equipment to my suggestions for the contents of a perfectly stocked pantry, this chapter covers everything the home cook needs to build confidence, wow dinner guests, and generally feel like a pro in the kitchen.
Creating the perfect kitchen doesn’t necessarily mean a $50,000 remodeling job with expensive cabinets and marble countertops. Many of those Tuscan-inspired brick-and-tile enclaves that you see on television or in the magazines are built for people who will never even scramble an egg in their “dream kitchen.” A beautiful kitchen may improve the resale value of your house, but it doesn’t make you a better cook; the only thing that can make you a better cook is cooking. This chapter is intended to get you inspired and well versed in the basics of cooking from a chef’s perspective—not an architect’s. All you really need are a few quality kitchen tools, a well-stocked pantry, a little counter space, and a few good cookbooks.
The most important things to a chef are his tools, so any chapter on building a cook’s kitchen has to start with a few notes on choosing solid equipment. For most people, walking around a kitchen store is like going to a video store and hunting down a movie. You’re not sure what to choose, or if the movie is going to be any good. So let me make it easy for you: A good set of knives, two or three heavy-bottomed pots and skillets, a thick cutting board, plus a few other quality tools (see the list) should really cover it. I’m not a big fan of gadgets, especially those cheap knives that never need to be sharpened. More often than not, they are a waste of money. (Although I do have a vintage Ginsu knife, circa 1977, in its original wrapper. Maybe one day when I’m old and crazy I’ll try to cut a car in half with it.)
One thing: Just because the list isn’t long, don’t think this won’t be an investment—especially if you decide to buy everything at once. The old saying that a $300 pair of shoes lasts three times as long as a $100 pair is also true for kitchen equipment: A few good pieces will last a lifetime, and sometimes longer. Most higher-end kitchen equipment (like that made by All-Clad, Wüsthof, Le Creuset, or Global) comes with a lifetime replacement warranty. (That’s more than you can say for a pair of expensive shoes.) In the long run, it’s more economical to buy a piece that’s backed by a good warranty than one you’ll have to replace again and again. If you think of cookware as an investment that will last a lifetime, you will get a lifetime of pleasure out of cooking. The following is a list of kitchen equipment in different price ranges that you should not be without.
Cutlery
Early in my career, when every kitchen position was “a learning experience” (i.e., paid very little), I would often spend the lion’s share of my paycheck on a single knife. A great knife was the symbol of a cook who took his calling seriously. Wüsthof knives have been part of my chef’s kit for ten years. They are made of the best high-carbon steel in the world. The factory-honed edge is razor-sharp and the weight of the knife is perfectly balanced. It’s a serious cook’s knife, and the best thing is that the company will replace it if it breaks. For a one-time investment of about $80 (for an 8-inch chef’s knife), you will probably never have to buy another knife. Global and LamsonSharp are two other brands that I recommend. Global knives are made in Japan and are relatively new on the American market. Each knife is sculpted from a single piece of steel. With their contemporary design, these knives look like razor blades,