On kitchen tools

Doesn’t everyone have a favorite kitchen tool? It isn’t as if we invented the little thing but we can still feel a sense of pride in possessing it and putting it to its intended purpose with some skill and smoothness of operation. You probably have a short list as do I. I’ll bet there are special implements in your kitchen that you would feel bereft of if you were unable to reach for them at just the right moment. That moment is special. It combines a feeling of satisfaction in finding the tool exactly where it is handy and in the anticipation of working it the way it was intended. Happily this includes those tools of our own adaptation which we use, which were never intended to serve the purpose we find for them. There is a secret and satisfying celebration in this quasi-inventive success as it vibrates sympathetically with the tool-using regions of the human brain.

In general, these tools are complex to some degree and manufactured en masse. I am not talking about spoons, knives and forks though there are many subtle variations on those themes, including the specialized and au courant use of long-handled ice-tea spoons for swirling coulis. Nor am I speaking of adapted medical and dental instruments for who knows what purposes, although it must be said that medical pincers do allow for more subtle placement of garnishes and that hypodermic syringes efficiently deliver edible infusions of all sorts. These are heady times for industrial inventiveness among chefs who prowl the hardware stores, equipment catalogues and flea markets for implements that will serve their extravagant visions.

Dare I suggest the carrot peeler as one of the most perfect tools, which now has an ergonomic and comfortable handle? There is a considerable amount of design and ingenuity in this little piece as anyone knows who has purchased a cheaply crafted version that doesn’t quite operate as well as it should in spite of its similarity to the superior and more serviceable model. If the blade angle is not right or the arc of swing of the blade is not appropriate then you find yourself going over and over the same segment of the vegetable, carrot or potato. These micro efforts have an insidiously cumulative and negative effect in any kitchen where efficiency and ease of effort are the underpinnings of finely prepared meals. Every effort, no matter how small, contributes to the ultimate success of the dish or meal. Wasted time and energy cannot be anything but a drag on the quality of the total experience of preparation and a genuine impairment of the enjoyment of serving the final product.

This exultation in the heft of a good implement can be marred by disappointment when tools are misplaced by others or go un-replaced immediately when lost or worn out. Let this serve as a caution to those who enter the temple of the kitchen and who casually avail themselves of its utilitarian resources without fully understanding their exalted importance to the celebratory communion to follow. You know what I am talking about!

Kisses as Ever,

Celeste