I’m still in Santa Barbara where it’s absolutely beautiful. Other than that I’m afraid there isn’t much to list in this report. You’ll notice there continues to be no recipe at the bottom of this post. But I do have a cute little kitchen in the cottage where we’re staying and I have been tinkering about as well as I’m able.
I knew going into this month in Santa Barbara that the kitchen would be basic. I even anticipated and embraced the limitations of a small kitchen and brought along my Staub 6‑quart cast iron soup pot. It’s a seaside town so it can get chilly in the evening and I assumed I’d be making soup. You can make a great soup in a simple kitchen.
Still, it’s easy to take our home kitchens for granted. I brought along a cookbook (just in case) and I have to admit I got a good chuckle from the opening pages. They’re devoted to equipment. I look around the sunny little counter that I’m using to cook these days and I’m immediately struck by it’s lack of a flan ring. Judy Rodgers boasts of multiple uses for a flan ring in The Zuni Cafe Cookbook. The food processor is listed just below a chef’s knife in the necessary “sharp things” section of the book. The “dull things” she couldn’t be without include a mortar and pestle as well as a meat pounder. My cute Santa Barbara kitchen has none of these things.
Instead of a food processor I do have a couple of decent knives so it’s not like I’m complaining. There’s also a whisk. A whisk can do more things than a flan ring can any day.
There’s also a set of mixing bowls coupled with some sturdy wooden spoons. So I’m just fine. Let’s face it, most kitchen things are just frills. A lot of the world cooks over live fire with no gadgets at all.
Now, Judy Rodgers may believe that a “complete, heavy-gauge batterie de cuisine — a full range of pot sizes and shapes – will allow you maximum culinary flexibility” but she’s practical enough to realize that you can “get by with a few pots and matching lids.”
I’d hone her list down even more. If I were starting over in life I’d take a look at the jeans I’m wearing and remember most of us have many (many) pairs of jeans but we find ourselves reaching for the same pair time and time again. Still, jeans aren’t the only basics in our wardrobes. Our kitchens should be the same so I thought I’d share my list of the things every kitchen needs.
- Two good knives. On big and broad one small and pointy. They should be carbon steel. Stainless knives can cut butter but little else.
- If you have good knives you should also have a honing steel. Otherwise you won’t have good knives very long.
- A set of mixing bowls. Without them I wouldn’t even call it a kitchen.
- A colander
- Two wooden spoons. One to use for everything and the other to use for everything else.
- Two cast iron skillets preferably slope-sided. One big and one small. Eggs cook best in a small pan. Meat cooks best in a big pan.
- A sauce pan. Sure it’s useful for making sauce but it also big enough to boil a little pasta and small enough to heat up a can of soup.
- A roasting pan. You may doubt me on this one but even if you promise never to roast a turkey, you can’t promise never to roast a chicken. Besides it does double duty with lasagna or a triple batch of brownies.
- A soup pot because it’s always soup season somewhere.
- A lidded low-sided casserole. What Judy Rodgers would call a braiser. One that can handle both the stove top and the oven.
- As many rimmed baking sheets as you have room for.
- A long two-pronged fork, tongs and a spatula, duh…
- A cutting board for every flat surface in the kitchen. You can temporarily lean it up against the back splash if you want more space, but it will always be there when you need it. And you will need it.
- Measuring cups and spoons because even you can’t eyeball it every time.
- An apron will make you look like you know what you’re doing. It will also save you from unforeseen nuisances. No frills, flounces, ruffles, or jokey, smart-ass phrases, please.
You may disagree with me but I think this is a good list.
Still, it reminds me that when I get home I’m going to ask my food processor to marry me – so we’ll never be separated again. GREG
I have a far too complete batterie de cuisine! Would love to thin it out, but can’t bear to part with any of it, for one reason or another. Happy travels, Greg!
We’ve been lucky enough twice to have a fully stocked, perfect for cooking kitchens in rentals. Once was in Aspen along the Roaring Fork, but the other was in a Wisconsin lake house! Enjoy your time in SB 🙂
I love that adorable little stove! I used to have one much like it. It had four burners, but if you placed a large pot on one of them, it took up just enough space to make the other three were unusuable. I couldn’t get a standard cookie sheet into the oven without effectively dividing the oven in two. On the other hand, the oven came to temperature in seconds, maintained a perfect 350F, and the pilot lights kept the oven at the perfect temperature for proofing bread. There’s always an upside. I bet you’ll wind up doing some creative and soul-filling work there! (And that water … wow.)
This really reminds me of all our trips to Europe, or abroad in general. We were in houses with simple kitchens and it’s amazing how much we can cook with very few implements. Yes, I miss my food processor, but your list of necessities a spot on! Whenever we travel, I always think about the word “need.“ How much do we really need? Not as much as we think we do.
P.S. I’ve already married my food processor, but sometimes we vacation separately.
I find myself smiling as I read this. When we visit Hawaii we stay at the same resort but sometimes different condo units so my husband watches me with amusement when the first thing I do upon walking in the door is look at how well equipped (or not) the kitchen is. They always have less than I would have at home but as you’ve found are often outfitted enough to do the job. Probably our most consistent criticism is the knives are never sharp enough. A big yes to your list.
From time to time I’ll pull out my Zuni Cafe cookbook for inspiration–will have to look at the first pages next time.
Really enjoying these posts (and they’re encouraging, too). Whenever I’ve posted non-recipe posts I’ve wondered if people would bother to click. As far as yours go–happy to read them.
I like your list, although I can’t live without a couple of silicone spatulas, and your pictures say that you agree. (Cheap plastic or rubber spatulas will not do). I like a vegetable peeler rather than doing a bunch of veg with a knife, but I admit it’s not vital. I need a few hot pads and tea towels lying around too.
My cousin’s place in Spain has a no frills kitchen, I’ve added a few fills over the years (immersion blender, replaced some badly scatched teflon frying pans, some good wooden spoons because someone is always melting the plastic ones) but it’s a challenge to cook extensively. Simple makes you appreciate the small things. Glad you’re enjoying your stay.
I am so glad you are having a good time. I love a challenge like a small kitchen with little in it. We have to be creative. Have fun and enjoy.
Very funny! I wanna come to your wedding! I think staying in a place like this makes you more creative. I guess cause you have no choice. Cooking in my kids’ kitchens has always been challenging, especially for one, who lived in London and then in Manhattan. Yikes. I think whisks are really important. I get a kick out of my husband, who always puts my favorite whisk in the “less used utensils” drawer, even though I use it often. But I would have to add a cookie sheet — I don’t bake cookies, but one’s important for sliding a 5 pound baked brie onto a serving platter. Another comment — my mother gave me all of her very old, copper-bottom pots and pans after I bought her a beautiful new set. Many had dents in them — she had a somewhat violent nature, and many had probably been lodged at me as a kid. But when I catered, that’s what I used, and they work. I have some really nice pans — I’ve recently discovered Made In, and LOVE them. But when I see all of the copper core this and that, I really wonder how much better the pricy pots are than my mother’s old dented ones. I have a few sizes of flan rings — forget to use them. Today I will be using an offset spatula for the first time (making a cake for a girlfriend) and yes, I have too much stuff, but gosh it was nice finding that thing in my stash. Rambling… you should hear my phone messages. Continue to have a fabulous time in SB!!!
Do you have a link to that tea kettle? I’m in need of one and love the aesthetics of it.
The brand name is Chantal. Model Is Zenith I think from the markings. GREG
When I was a young, wet-behind-the-ears cook, I used to study the batterie de cuisine section at the beginning of most cookbooks. And moan about what I lacked. Hah! Now I’ve got way too much stuff. I’ve been looking at my batterie the last year or so, figuring out what I want to weed out. Which is most of it (I do have a lot of stuff, including a flan ring somewhere that I haven’t even seen in a few years). Your list of basics is pretty good. Fun read. Sounds like you’re having a great time.