Two Important Kitchen Utensils

The 21st century kitchen has become overloaded with celebrity endorsed gadgets, from built-in food blenders to electric knives but such a modernised set-up can grate at the traditional chef in us all. Just four key utensils can provide the four corners needed to muster up any family meal.

These two are, arguably, the most important items in your kitchen and not one of them requires an instruction manual or self- assembly. The customary cooking instruments are customary for a reason and sometimes - too many chef utensils can spoil the broth.

The Carving Knife

The carving knife is the big one, the one that pops up in various slash-horror movies. It is made of high-carbon steel and is used for accurately cutting thin slices from any type of meat. It can double-up as a chopping knife for preparing vegetables or can even be used to peel carrots etc obviously requiring some skill.

The carving knifes dimensions can vary and this is due to how many layers of steel have been used to manufacture it. The more layers the sturdier the knife is, therefore it can cut through tougher meat.

The knife isnt restricted to just tough foodstuffs - you can use it to easily cut birthday cakes, pizzas, omelettes etc. Using it side on to crush garlic or flatten some cooking dough is a smart technique adopted by professional cooks too. It just makes everything faster and less cluttered.

Most meals contain meat and veg, the carving knife can prepare both its a must-have multi-purpose cooking weapon (dont use it as a weapon).

The Wok/Deep Frying Pan

Whereas there are a range of pans to choose from, bear in mind that the Chinese only have one kind of pan in their kitchen the wok. This unique utensil is essentially a deep frying pan and both can do more than just deep fry:
Boiling water, rice or soups can be done with the wok. Braising and stewing is also achievable with this all-in-one pan. Steaming, smoking and, of course, frying are three more methods of cooking when using this pan, opening up a huge array of dishes to choose from.

Theyre big enough for hearty portions and the non-stick models are amazing when it comes to cleaning up. These non-stick pans require less oil when cooking, as the oil which is used can loosely move around the whole pan.

Boiling potatoes may be a struggle with this pan but chop those potatoes up with the carving knife and deep fry some chips or wedges as an alternative.