Alastair Little, Richard Whittington

Opposite: The Basic Batterie de Cuisine

Appears in
The Daily Mail Modern British Cookbook
The Daily Mail Modern British Cookbook

By Alastair Little and Richard Whittington

Published 1998

  • About
You obviously don’t need to have a lavishly equipped kitchen to turn out good food, but below is our checklist of ideal kit, some of which is illustrated opposite:
  • small vegetable knife
  • all-purpose knife with a curved blade
  • boning knife
  • ham-slicing knife
  • carving knife
  • Chinese chopper
  • strong serrated knife
  • tomato knife
  • sharpening stones and steel
  • potato peeler
  • wheel pasta cutter
  • poultry shears
  • pin-boning tweezers
  • cherry and olive stoner
  • apple corer
  • pastry cutters
  • scissors
  • potato ricer
  • nutmeg grater
  • mandolin grater
  • box grater
  • sprung tongs
  • metal and bamboo skewers
  • measuringjug
  • kitchen spoons
  • measuring spoons
  • sugar thermometer
  • 2 whisks, large and small
  • metal skimming
  • spoon
  • fish slice
  • plastic spatula
  • wooden spatula
  • palette knife
  • heavy rolling pin
  • at least 3 chopping boards
  • assorted wooden spoons
  • cutlet bat
  • range of heavy steel saucepans with well-fitting lids, from very small to very large
  • blanching basket
  • colander
  • round and conical sieves
  • tea strainer
  • heavy roasting tin
  • casserole dishes in three sizes.
  • range of ovenproof dishes, rectangular, round and oval
  • frying pans: two large non-stick frying pans and a large, heavy cast-iron frying pan
  • ridged grill pan
  • iron omelette pan
  • iron pancake pan
  • 4 small blini pans
  • flat-based wok
  • steamer (or Chinese steaming baskets)
  • 2 terrine dishes, one with a lid
  • 4 non-stick Swiss roll tins
  • spring-form cake tin
  • 2 non-stick loaf tins
  • metal tart tins with detachable bases, 20-cm / 8-inch and 25-cm / 10-inch, 2 of each
  • 2-3 bun tins
  • large basin-shaped dish for pasta and tossing salads
  • mixing bowls of different sizes
  • many plastic boxes of different sizes
  • clingfilm
  • zip-lock bags
  • foil
  • hand-cranked pasta maker
  • food processor
  • electric mixer
  • coffee grinder for spices
  • several pudding basins of different sizes
  • assortment of pastry cutters
  • pastry brush
  • potato masher
  • bulb baster