Kitchen
The Sunday Age
Sunday December 5, 2004
Hub of the home, new tool shed for the metrosexual; whatever your take on the modern kitchen, it's a source of almost unlimited inspiration when it comes to gifts for someone who loves food and cooking.
Here are some ideas to thrill the foodie in your life.THE CHIARUGI MODERNA PEPPER GRINDER It's got a precision stainless-steel mechanism and a lifetime guarantee. It looks superb, probably because it's designed and built in Italy. For the pepper lover, Chiarugi's sexy timber grinders are an incredibly tasty confluence of form and function.PANHANDLER 28CM SAUTE PAN AND LID A sexy, semi-commercially polished 18/10 stainless pan at a great price. Pick one up and you'll notice the weight. It has a onecentimetre aluminium filling sandwiched into its thick steel base. Predictable and energy efficient. And it makes you look like a real chef, too.MASTRAD ORCA PRO OVEN MITT And you thought silicone was for chips and boobs. Mastrad uses it in the fabrication of this extraordinary black, full-length oven mitt.It helps this bit of practical rubberwear withstand temperatures up to 300 degrees. Could make for a sensational puppet show after a long dinner party. $52.90 from Minimax, 1800 260 022.EXQUISIT VEGETABLE PEELER It's the old story about simplicity. And devices are rarely simpler than the appropriately named Exquisit, a stainless steel Y-frame with a pivoting two-edge blade. But when it comes to peeling veg, this is what chefs use, and there's a reason. They work, and they're cheap to replace when they inevitably follow the peelings into the compost bin. Price: $4.85, from The Essential Ingredient.IMPERIA SP 150 TIPO LUSSO PASTA MACHINE Our food prediction for the new year: fresh pasta will never be out of fashion. And making pasta is easy if you follow a good recipe (try Stephanie Alexander's in The Cook's Companion) and use a decent roller/cutter.This Imperia is a great first domestic machine - well built - and accepts lots of accessories. Comes with a linguine/tagliatelle cutter.TRAVEL MASTER GAS BLOW TORCH AND BUTANE REFILL Toasting the spices; brulee-ing the creme; lighting the table candles in style. There are certain things only a blow torch can do properly (just ask anyone who tried to make creme brulee without one). A kitchen toy every foodie should own. Price: $32.70 and $2.95 respectively. Stockists 9529 3311.CUISIPRO GRATER FOR NUTMEG AND CINNAMON Petite, well-formed and tough, just like a clove of nutmeg. With its hinged plastic cover and superb-quality stainless-steel grating surface, this compact device will bring out the spice girl (or boy) in all of us. Price $29.25. Stockists Supply and Demand, 9428 6912.
© 2004 The Sunday Age