Top Three: Kitchen Toys

  

14" S/S chopsticks. If you know how to use chopsticks, then you should try cooking with them instead of just using them to eat. Indispensable for the use of a finger like extension, (that is easily cleaned) for plating food, mixing, stirring and tasting.  Imagine them as old school tongs ... like 5,000 year old school.   Sushi masters use bamboo handled versions that are forged and sharpened to needle points (made by families that have been making Samurai swords before Columbus was standing on the bridge of the Santa Maria) for carefully arranging Sashimi - and they cost more than most kitchen knives.

 

Mandolin.  Like the slicer and the deep fryer, this is one of the most feared tools in a kitchen and for good reason, it is not very forgiving if you accidentally try to julienne a knuckle.  Once mastered though, it can take a mountain of produce and reduce it to strips, chips and waffles in no time.  Braun is the standard, but Matfer makes the best one. Use the guard.  Make stock or compost out of the scraps.  Did I mention to use the guard?  Your humble food therapist demo'd Mandolins for 4 years, never got cut, until years later when I was home - and using it without the guard as I had told people not to do about 98,347 times - Use the guard.

 

Microplane Zester.  Originally used by construction guys to shape sheet rock, this tool shaves all sorts of things into sparks of flavor.  Ginger and hard cheeses are great examples.  It is easy to stop at citrus zest before getting to the bitter pith since this little guy is so sharp and precise.  They have evolved into multiple textures of availability.  If something is hard and dry, use smaller holes, if something is goeey or more vegtal, use bigger holes.  And clean this too right after use, if not you can mangle the thing trying to clean out something that has turned to concrete.