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Nevada Table: Gift Giving for the Chef in Your Life |
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Written by Lara Ritche
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Thursday, 12 November 2009 |
It’s the question that stalks you, follows you, and bellows from the bottom of your belly…what to get for the cook in your life. Oh sure, it seems simple. But once you boil it down, there are some niche cooks that need to be catered to. Your journey should begin by defining just what kind of cook you are shopping for. So, I came up with a quiz to help distill the categories:
❉ Does your cook know where the light switch is located in the kitchen?
❉ Does your cook’s garbage can hold a variety of prepared dinners and take away containers?
If you answered yes to these 2 questions, your chef is the
“No-Cook Cook.”
❉ Every time you go to your cook’s kitchen is there a show and tell period where new and nifty gadgets are paraded?
❉ Are the drawers in your cook’s kitchen routinely hard to open because of the bedlam of instruments packed into them?
If you answered yes to the above 2 questions, your chef is the
“Gadget Cook.”
❉ When you picture your cook, do yummy, enchanting aromas come to nose/mind?
❉ Is the dinner table of your cook overflowing with friends and family?
If you answered yes to the above 2 questions, your chef is the
“Comfort Food Chef.”
❉ Is your cook very good at math due to cutting the recipe sizes?
❉ Does your cook run away from Costco and Sam’s Club style stores when it is time to shop for dinner?
If you answered yes to the above 2 questions, your chef is the
“Single Cook.”
❉ Do you jump up and down, and maybe even beat a couple pans when your cook invites you over for dinner?
❉ Is this cook’s food thought out, planned, and then prepared with intention and grace?
Lastly, your chef is “Le Gourmand Chef.”
1) Playful pepper mills 2) Gourmet vinegars and olive oil 3) Flavored sugars and gourmet salts & peppers 4) Artichoke-spinach dip 5) This amazing knife makes cheese slice like butter 6) Colorful serviceware helps the “No-Cook” chef look like a pro 7) Silicone brushes won’t melt and are easy to clean 8) Microplane graters are a useful tool for cheese, zest, chocolate, and spices 9) Le Crueset cookware are a must for the “Comfort Food” chef 10) A mandoline slicer—no “Gadget Chef” should be without it 11) The grill pan is a must for the “Single Chef” 12) Chantal “bake and take” dish 13) A good knife is at the heart of the “Le Gourmand” kitchen
The “No-Cook Chef” is that person who has great entertaining ideas and loves to have people over and loves to be invited over. The hitch, however, is that he/she does not cook. This cook relies on the use of already-made products. This is not a bad thing, as luckily there are some tasty treats out there to stock a No-Cook Chef’s pantry. I think of Pesto Artichoke Spread, Fig and Balsamic Dipping Sauce, chutneys, salsas, sweet treats…I am sure you are drooling by now. This cook could truly use some tools to go with the goods. A cheese knife that actually makes it look like you know what you are doing. A microplane to zest and grate ingredients to finish a dish (that was prepared)—the finishing touch can offer up that meal’s memory. Of course, it goes without saying that gorgeous serviceware, plates, trays, a one-of-a-kind hand-painted platter—these offer a focal point and make all food look great.
Oh, the “Gadget Cook.” Do I dare confess to harboring a bit of this tendency? To be honest, I cannot imagine my kitchen without a Mandoline Slicer—this tool almost sounds like a commercial when you talk about it. It dices, it slices, it ruffles, it…does it do the dishes, I wonder? I know that my kin have found relief with the microplane grater. A useful tool for cheese, zest, chocolate, and spices and it actually gets the ingredient to taste just like it should. Pure genius. So, when silicone jumped out of doctors’ offices and into kitchen gadgets, I was gleeful. Tongs that have great grip now due to silicone, brushes that clean with ease and can be put in the dishwasher, spatulas that don’t melt, not to mention the whole bakeware side to silicone. A kitchen without a silicone mat is like a soup without bread.
A collective sigh is heard the world over when the “Comfort Food Chef” is in the kitchen. Heart-warming smells and dishes will waft through your memories and fill the tables with people and food. Oh, this is a cook to hold dear. What brings tears to my eyes is all this sumptuous food being served up in old, scratched Pyrex® dishes and Corningware® stuff. Let’s accessorize this food. Chantal® makes these great bake and take dishes that seal for transporting and storing, and look great and current. Plus they are not all feed-the-neighborhood sized pans, but rather a normal family-sized pan. I would be remiss if I did not point to the Le Crueset® pan. One look at this pan and you know you are eating well! It does not get much better than a pan that can go from your stovetop to oven and then to the table—all beautifully and full of flavor.
The “Single Cook” is actually one of the fastest-rising categories in cooking. There truly can be fun cooking for one without all the hassle and reminder that you are solo. A grill pan leaps to mind here. Who wants to fire up the grill for one? Ah, but to be able to grill anything in the comfort of your kitchen—well, now you are talking. It makes cooking a luxury activity with minimal effort. This is indulgence. One area of cooking the single cook often leaves behind is saucemaking. There are a myriad of gourmet sauces out there that could dress up that grilled chicken to make you feel like you are eating out. That’s a treat.
Our last chef is “Le Gourmand.” Le Gourmand isn’t afraid to try an exotic ingredient—to sprinkle a little fennel pollen, to add a dash of truffle oil—to create the extraordinary out of the ordinary. The kitchen of this cook, well, it’s just cool. The latest and greatest is sure to be found here. I think of truffle balsamic vinegar, shaved Himalayan salt, pollens, and even flavored sugars. Though, at the heart of this kitchen is the cook’s knife. This is where it all hinges. A good knife can accomplish all kinds of delicious meals. Find something unique, a specific kind of knife, or one that even inspires discussion, or dare I say, lust. Can I say that a great knife is the way to get to the heart of Le Gourmand?
So let’s buy that gift. The guesswork is now gone having pin-pointed what kind of chef your chef is. With confidence, you can shop and rest assured that this is more than likely the gift that gives back. And while you’re at it, why not pick up something for the chef in you? Bon appetite!
Lara Ritchie is the culinary director and a teacher at Nothing To It! Culinary Center.
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