10 Kitchen Items I Wished I Had Bought (or Been Gifted)

 

 (in case there are any secret admirers out there…)

1. Electric whisk. Have you ever tried whipping up egg whites until stiff with the manual kind? Bloody nightmare.

2. Stand mixer. The dream of all amateur chefs and lazy cooks. They’re beautiful, all the professionals have one, and it can be used for almost anything (given the available attachments). I’d have to sell my PhD for one though. Or my husband.

3. Anything Smeg. Honestly, just anything. Both modern yet retro and oh so sexy for it.

4. In that vein, anything, also, from the pastel Le Creuset range. Nigella Lawson sports an envious collection (or her kitchen filming studio does).

5. Proper milk steamer. My (already pricey, albeit second-hand) Nescafe Aeroccino 4 standalone steamer is great, but doesn’t quite achieve the thick layer of fine foam created by most coffee shops. Unfortunately, those only seem to come with an actual coffee machine and I neither drink coffee nor have the space. Nescafe, are you reading this

6. Food processor. For all the apathetic days, and required for every second recipe found in recent publications. Manual attempts just never work quite as well.

7. Palette knife. A genius invention for all bakers and pastry chefs, and can make an effective cake slice. Most importantly, you can’t pretend to be a serious cook without one.

8. Microplane grater. Bloody hell, they grate like a dream, especially if you want to achieve a snowfall of parmesan or pecorino and the like. It’s for the amateur cook who has everything and I want one.

9. Copper pans. Especially the really dinky ones. Every image of a showroom kitchen seems to have them fixed to the walls in a shabby farmhouse meets airy modern studio kind of way. Although the vintage kinds are said to be toxic, the new ones are consumption safe but carry a hefty price tag. One day, dear ones, we’ll be together.

10. Matcha bowl/cup. I’ve got the whisk, I’ve got the matcha, but no vessel. I have some lovely choice mugs that feign matcha-suitability but it’s not the same. First world problems but hey, this is my dream list.