Three kitchen essentials
How moving country revealed what I don't want to be without when I cook
This is the tale of small things.
My life took a dramatic turn during COVID. It’s now hard to remember quite how the world turned upside down isn’t it. We go about our daily routines without masks, without scrupulously washing our hands while singing happy birthday, free from being confined to four walls, without a sense of menacing fear, and now able to connect with loved ones. Like a distant dream instead of a few years.
I was lucky not to lose anyone close to me, become sick or plunged into job on the frontline. But for me, the impact of the global pandemic was like a tap on a row of dominos. The exact cause is too long and complicated to share here right now, but I left the house I’d lived in for 22 years in a rush, changed continent - from Dubai to Devon - and moved in with my Mother-in-law.
I had a few weeks to downsize my possessions. I hauled things out of cupboards, sorted them madly, sold some ( a challenge during lockdown), gave masses away and packed up some to ship to the UK. My head was spinning with all those decisions. Yes they are just material things but it was like pulling my life apart. Dismantling a house echoing with the voices of my children growing up, a stream of visitors from overseas, friends sitting round the table for supper over two decades. The main things that I piled into brown cardboard boxes to sail across the oceans were pictures, books and kitchen things.
Facing a very different new chapter of my life was challenging but settling into a new kitchen was not so hard. I had cooked there often, knew what was in the cupboards pretty well. But as I made supper night after night there were things that I reached for that weren’t there. Things a missed a lot.
Eventually my precious brown boxes arrived (after another lengthy saga) and were stacked into storage. I liberated a few at a time and found to my dismay that the description of what was in each one was scant or utterly wrong. A complete surprise as I opened every box. This was often frustrating, but sometimes a bit like Christmas especially when I discovered a longed for kitchen implement. I had the basics - chopping boards, knives, pans etc. but I would never have predicted the less essential items that brought joy when I found them buried somewhere.
So what did I miss? Here are three things:
Potato ricer
When my daughters were little they ate mashed potatoes at a friend’s house and declared, in a rather tactless way, that it wasn’t as good as their Mum’s. I’m not a fan of single-use gadgets but I think I owe my ownership of this to Nigella. I’ve just leafed through her books to check this but her description of perfect mashed potatoes that was the catalyst seems to be a figment of my imagination. Can someone help me out here? What I do know is that I bought my ricer from a beautiful shop in Cheltenham called Kitchener, an Aladdin’s cave of kitchenware that’s now closed as so many have (Kitchens of Bath is another I miss).
A ricer is like a giant garlic press for potatoes. A bonus is that you don’t need to peel your potatoes beforehand.
Perfect mash
Cut your potatoes into large chunks and put into a pan of salted, cold water. Bring to the boil and cook at a medium heat until tender - you don’t want them falling apart. Drain the potatoes in a colander* and let the moisture steam away. Put chunks of unsalted butter into the warm pan, be generous. Spoon the potatoes, one or two at a time, into the ricer and press down to let the little worms of mash fall onto the butter - it’s very satisfying. Once all are ‘riced’, season with sea salt and black pepper and beat lightly with a wooden spoon. Taste add more butter and seasoning if needed. A bit of cream (or ‘top of the milk’ if you can get it) makes it more silky if beaten in at this stage. Don’t add if you’re using the mash for Shepherd’s Pie or something that needs to hold its shape.
*There was an enormous smile on my face when I unpacked my hefty stainless steel colander (also bought from Kitchener) to replace the plastic one I had to use.
Pestle and mortar
Spices took up half an aisle in my local supermarket when I lived in Dubai. I could choose from several different brands of each one, both ground and whole. Most were in bags of varying sizes - all generous in quantity. There were things I’d never heard of but learned to use - like dried black limes, fenugreek and asafoetida. As I opened a new bag I was hit with a warm aroma. Today I buy mine from Dot-Tea’s in Tavistock as her stock is fresh and miles better than the small jars in the supermarket, but it’s not the same.
Through the friends I made via food blogging I also learned that crushing whole spices was key to their flavour (as was toasting them). I reach for my solid black pestle and mortar that weighed a ton, every time I make something with spice - and then remember it’s in storage. I did buy a small marble one (from the lovely family-run Pots’n’Pans shop in Barnstaple) but the whole seeds jump out of the top as you bash them due to its size. I still haven’t found mine but I’ll let you know when I do. You might hear a loud cheer coming from Dartmoor.
Graters
It’s only when I had a sub-standard grater that I realised how much I use one. I hankered after my classic rectangular stainless steel one (instead of the fiddly pyramid shape I was lumbered with). I missed my micro-grater for Parmesan, citrus zest and nutmeg. When catering in quantity I regretted giving my 27 year old food processor away, along with its grating discs - taking comfort that it’s found a good home in a kitchen in the Philippines.
Since finding the first two I’m grateful every time I make macaroni or cauliflower cheese, carrot cake, types of kimchi, apple for my overnight oats, lemon drizzle cake, any pasta dish… the list goes on. I was given a Ninja Food Processor which is pretty good and sits neatly on the kitchen side unlike my faithful old workhorse. I think you can sense my nostalgia.
Are you surprised by these three things? I was! More predictably, other kitchen stalwarts I missed included decent pans. Eventually my prized family of solid stainless steel and cast iron ones replaced the scratched old non-stick (potentially dangerous) saucepans. Hallelujah.
A silicone spatula essential for if you’re frugal like me and can’t bear a scrap of sauce or cake mixture to be left wasted. My knives are still hidden at the bottom of some box. “Where are you knives?” One really decent knife is better than an array of flimsy cheap ones. I’ll be dancing around the kitchen (carefully!) when mine appear.
Cookbooks? Well that’s a story for another day.
So here’s the end of a tale of small things. However, in the face of large scale change and challenges it has been the small things that helped bring me joy and contentment.
Your comments please
Knives, boards, pans are essential - but what other things can you not do without your kitchen?
Loved reading this piece and I really hope you find your knives soon! I have often said that I do my best cooking with fewer gadgets and more space. I love the creativity of cooking on self catering holidays in rickety little kitchens that don’t have a huge amount of equipment or gadgetry and with unfamiliar ingredients . But a solid knife and pan I can’t do without, and a decent grater is also very nice to have!
I feel your pain. Much of my kitchen stuff is still not with me and I make do. But I did bring my knives (wrapped in a fairly professional looking knife roll) in the hold baggage. Completely agree about a proper pestle and mortar and the graters.