101 Kitchen Gear

Ingredients

• Salt
• Black peppercorns (in grinder)
• Chili flakes
• Cumin seeds
• Oregano
• Vegetable oil
• Butter
• Cheddar cheese
• Tomato purée
• Garlic, onions
• Tinned tomatoes
• Plain flour
• Stock cubes
• Porridge oats
• Rice

Equipment

• 2 plates
• 2 bowls
• 2 mugs
• 2 tumblers
• 2 wine glasses
• 2 knife/fork/spoon
• 6-8” cooks knife
• paring knife
• silicon spatula
• milk pan
• large saucepan
• small casserole
• small frying pan
• plastic chopping board

Equipment

You want to eat, and you hope to entertain. So make sure that you have some place settings. This means at least 2 plates, ideally white with decent raised edges; plus bowls - ideally ones that could suit dessert, cereal, pasta and other uses. Then 2 sets of knife, fork and spoon, and 2 tumblers and 2 (large) wine glasses. You also need 2-4 mugs for coffee/tea - half pint to half litre in size.

Next is cooking. One extremely sharp, good quality knife: a general purpose cooks knife, 6-8” is ideal. A small (4”) paring knife is useful, but less important: you can peel potatoes, if you ever need to, with a potato peeler or a good pocket knife. Scissors do a very good job of chopping herbs, some small vegetables, and cutting meat, if you need. A plastic chopping board will help keep things clean. You can mix uses between raw meat and other items, if you wash it well between uses; this won’t keep Health & Safety at bay, but then you’re not a professional. Add a silicon spatula (or a wooden spatula). Then you need a small saucepan, the type called a milk pan, and a small frying pan (again, 6-8”). When you can, a large saucepan with a lid is good: for cooking pasta, vegetables and other items. A casserole is also important: about 1 litre. Cast iron frying pans are best, but you may have to put up with cheap non-stick and change when they expire. Casserole again is best in cast iron, but Pyrex is good (just don’t put on direct heat).

Can opener; and grater. Tupperware: various sized plastic containers.

Store Cupboard

You need salt and pepper. Go for pure salt (rather than table salt) if you can; and black peppercorns, which you can buy in a small grinder easily.

Basic herbs and seasonings: chili flakes; cumin seeds; oregano. Seeds and flakes last longer than powder; and oregano is the only herb that has much flavour when dried.

Try to keep butter and cheese, which have many uses; ideally some medium cheddar, and possibly some Gran Padano (cheaper than parmesan). A decent vegetable oil is useful.

Tomato purée (in a tube). Garlic, onions, oats, stock cubes. Tinned tomatoes. Store the garlic in the dark, so it takes longer to sprout. A small (1 lb) bag of plain flour, which you should store in a plastic container (same goes for the oats). Rice, also in a plastic container.