The ckbk team's 2024 gift guide

For this year’s ckbk gift guide, we asked members of the ckbk team to each suggest both a favourite ingredient and a kitchen gadget that would make a great gift. Of course, it goes without saying that if you are looking for a gift for a food lover, the very first thing on your shopping list should be a ckbk gift subscription. So why not order a handful and cross several gifts off your list at once?

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Now that that’s taken care of, read on for the ckbk team’s ingredient and gadget recommendations…

Cat Black

Cat writes extensively for ckbk’s newsletter and features section. She is the co-author of chef/musician Graham Garrett’s memoir cookbook Sex, Drugs & Sausage Rolls, and her debut novel will be published in 2026.

Ingredient: Toasted sesame oil

Toasted/dark sesame oil is pressed from toasted sesame seeds and has a wonderful rich, nutty, and gently aromatic flavour. Light sesame oils are used for frying, but toasted sesame oil isn’t so much used for cooking, but to impart flavour as the finishing touch of a dish. It is a common ingredient in Chinese, Japanese and Asian cuisines, but I think it is a good thing to have in any kitchen. You can transform the simplest steamed or sautéd vegetables with a few drops and a sprinkle of salt, into a delectable side dish. It adds depth to any salad dressing. And is the magic ingredient in a stir-fry. I always have a bottle in my kitchen, and think it makes a great gift for foodie friends and family. Toasted sesame oil is relatively easy to find, available now in many supermarkets. Look for a dark, amber-coloured oil.

Gadget: Rotary whisk

A simple piece of kit that fits easily in with your wooden spoons, and much less expensive than electrical kit, the rotary hand whisk is probably THE kitchen gadget I wouldn’t be without. A rotary whisk makes a great gift for any cook, particularly a novice baker. It makes light work of whisking egg whites or whipping cream, tasks that can take significant time and elbow grease with a simple hand whisk. Its major advantage over an electric whisk, aside from the obvious differences in price, storage space etc, is that you can feel what you are doing. Doing things by hand is not only far more satisfying, but allows you that all important cook’s touch, where you learn how the mixture feels and can get it just right. You can buy a hand-held rotary whisk online, or from most kitchen stores.

Mecca Ibrahim

Mecca Ibrahim is ckbk’s social media guru and is also the co-founder of Women in the Food Industry.

Ingredient: Gochujang

Gochujang would be an awesome choice for a Secret Santa gift, especially if you're looking to surprise someone with something a little unique and fun! I love this amazing Korean chili paste that's packed with bold, sweet, and spicy flavors. The best part? It’s super versatile—your recipient could use it in soups, stews, marinades, or even just to add a kick to a regular meal. Check out ckbk’s Gochujan recipe collection for ideas. It’s not your typical gift and a total treat for anyone who loves experimenting with flavors in the kitchen.

Gochujang is one of those ingredients that can totally elevate everyday meals and, honestly, it feels a bit like a secret weapon. It’s also a great way to introduce someone to Korean cuisine without overwhelming them with weird ingredients they might never use. So whether your Secret Santa recipient is a foodie or just someone who likes a little spice in their life, gochujang is a gift that keeps on giving. It’s thoughtful, interesting, and guaranteed to spice up their holiday season!

Gadget: Spatula

A kitchen spatula might not sound like the most exciting gift at first, but trust me, it’s one of those things that can make a huge difference in everyday cooking. It’s versatile, easy to use, and helps you flip pancakes, stir sauces, and scrape every last bit of brownie batter out of the bowl without making a mess. Plus, a good spatula can be surprisingly durable, making it the kind of gift that will be appreciated every time someone cooks or bakes. It’s like your kitchen hero that makes all those little cooking tasks easier

A spatula might not get a ton of fanfare but definitely gets a lot of use. Plus, you can find them in fun colors or cool designs, meaning you can even add a little personal touch to the recipient's kitchen, all without breaking the bank. It’s the perfect blend of useful and thoughtful, and who wouldn’t appreciate that?

Ramona Andrews

Ramona is a Bristol-based food writer and a frequent contributor to the ckbk features section.

Ingredient: Vanilla bean paste

I love Nielsen Massey’s vanilla bean paste, which I buy from Bristol-based workers' cooperative Essential - it's one of my favourite kitchen staples.

There are loads of ideas in Shauna Sever’s book Pure Vanilla, including this marshmallow recipe which would also make good use of the digital temperature probe below!

I add vanilla bean paste to plain yoghurt, overnight oats, or energy balls with dried fruit, mix it with whipped cream and sugar for a cake filling, and use it instead of vanilla extract to get the lovely dots of vanilla seed without the faff and expense of a vanilla pod. It lasts for ages, too. You could try it with these vanilla bean madeleines, or this simple no-churn vanilla ice cream recipe.

Gadget: Digital temperature probe

I use mine all the time, e.g. for checking when sausages on the bbq are cooked, or when oil for deep frying has hit the perfect temperature. It’s pretty much essential if you want to deliver a perfectly pink Beef Wellington, for example. Another use, as noted above, is making home-made marshmallows — just be sure to get one with a long enough probe.

You can use the probe when bread baking — check the internal temperature of bread has reached 90°C/190°F to ensure the loaf is not still doughy. It also comes in handy when making caramel, toffee, and even yoghurt and cheese! Outside of cooking I've used it to check the temperature of a baby’s milk bottle or the water in a baby’s bath. Such a useful bit of kit….

Jason Cooper

Jason is ckbk’s Chief Operating Officer, with decades of experience in book publishing. He is also a keen cook, frequently posting reviews of his favourite Nisha Katona recipes.

Ingredient: Mojama

Mojama de atún(dried, salted tuna) is an enduring favourite Christmas treat from Spain. It is produced along the coast south of Seville, where ancient sea salt pans or salinas can be found at Isla Cristina (Huelva) and Barbate (Cádiz). To make mojama, wild Atlantic bluefin tuna loins are salted for two days, rinsed, and left to air-dry for up to three weeks in the warm coastal winds and sunlight. The result is a firm, meaty, yet tender delicacy with a balanced salinity and an intense, umami-rich marine flavor. Mojama requires no further preparation — just a knife. Slightly thicker slices, with a little chew to them, are best.

Gadget: Fermentation crock

The simplicity and utility of a fermentation crock make it hard to beat as an essential in any adventurous kitchen. You can make sauerkraut, Kimchi, pickled vegetables, and fermented chili sauces very easily. All will enliven other recipes with a bit of zing. Fermented foods are supposed to be healthy and can cut down on food waste. Find one with weights to keep your vegetables submerged and with a rim for water to seal the lid. Several attractive and hand-made versions are available that look great in most kitchens.

Nadia Arumugam

Nadia Arumugam is ckbk’s NYC-based co-founder. Nadia is a cookbook author and former food magazine editor, and a busy mother with two young children.

Ingredient: Malaysian Indian curry powder

I was born in Malaysia to parents of South Indian ethnicity, so I have very strong ideas about what constitutes the right curry powder. Of course nothing beat’s my mother’s homemade recipe. She would lovingly produce it in large batches from hand picked, sun-dried and roasted whole spices ground in an artisanal mill in Kuala Lumpur twice a year. Now that she is no longer with us, and her last batch is being preserved in my freezer, I turn to Baba’s curry powder. An earthy terracotta color, and fragrant with fenugreek, cumin, coriander, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, dried chilies and fennel, it most closely resembles the concoction that I grew up on yielding a rich, deeply flavored and aromatic gravy that are the hallmarks of a South Indian curry. It is great in Kari Ayam chicken curry or Kambing korma with lamb or mutton.

Gadget: Double-pronged skewers for yakitori

Every summer, I find myself getting mildly obsessed with a particular food. Two summers ago, it was Asian chicken noodle salads punctuated with toasted sesame and large handfuls of cilantro and thinly shredded red peppers, carrots and scallions—I was making these at every available opportunity. This past summer, I leaned deeply into yakotori. Cubed chicken thighs, marinaded for 6 to 8 hours in a homemade teriyaki-style marinade—I include ginger and garlic paste, dark brown sugar, soy, mirin and gochugang—skewered then grilled outdoors and simply served over basmati rice was a go-to for us. I discovered these two-pronged metal skewers with sliders that allow you to easily push the meat off the prongs, after some intense online research born out of annoyance. My conventional single prong skewers were causing me much aggravation when the meat kept swiveling around every time I tried to turn the skewers. This two-pronged version stopped this from happening and the meat stays securely in place. Buy these now, and look forward to grilling weather! 

Matthew Cockerill

Matthew Cockerill is ckbk’s London-based co-founder, who loves to cook Japanese food but also has quite a sweet tooth, as his festive gift selections demonstrate.

Ingredient: Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Chasing the platonic ideal of the perfect chocolate chip cookie is a very satisfying, if endless, quest. You need an excellent recipe, and you need to be an expert at judging exactly the right time to take them out of the oven to get a balance of crispiness and chewiness. But perhaps most of all, you need good quality chocolate. Guittard chocolate is used by many professional chocolatiers and although it is produced in America it is also easy to obtain in the UK (e.g. via Ocado). One benefit of buying chocolate as chips (aside from the labour-saving) is that it is marginally less likely to be ‘accidentally’ eaten by hungry family-members before you get chance to cook with it.

For chocolate recipes, the Guittard Chocolate Cookbook, written by fifth-generation family member Amy Guittard, is a great starting point — I like the sound of Amy’s Noho Kai chocolate banana bread. When you are ready to go further, ckbk has an entire chocolate bookshelf to explore.

Gadget: Panettone hangers, cases, and sugar strands

Admittedly this is very specific and seasonal, but these are satisfyingly designed to do one job to perfection. When you make panettone, you get a dramatic rise from the rich, sweet and fruited yeast dough. But in order to retain all that lovely volume without it slumping like a sad soufflé, the trick is to hang it upside down. How? Well, you can improvise with regular metal skewers, but really what you need is a panettone hanger. Best to order along with some panettone cases, and probably some panettone sugar strands/sprinkles too.

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Get even more gift ideas from our partner Eat Your Books

For even more great gift ideas, check out the 2024 gift guide from our friends at Eat Your Books. The ckbk / Eat Your Books linkup means that a subscription to Eat Your Books is the perfect add-on to help you get more from your print cookbooks and your ckbk subscription.

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