Spending Money On The Kitchen

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31323, 20 March 1967, Page 2

Spending Money On The Kitchen

(By

STELLA BRUCE)

If you can rustle up some money to spend on Improving your kitchen this year, it will be a great temptation to lash out on new paint and shiny scratch-proof surfaces. This way you can at least see where the money’s gone—and so can your friends. But is it wise? It is rather like painting the outside of a factory filled with machinery dating from the Industrial Revolution. After all, it is the machinery that does the work —and this applies to the kitchen, too. What is the point of having a cut-proof surface if you haven’t a knife in the place that will cut properly? Or nothing worth hanging on those smart new kitchen hooks? What do you really need for efficient cooking? A proper range of knives is essential. And that means, for Instance, two carving knives, one with a straight edge, the other serrated. The blades of both should be at least eight inches long. Then you need two French cook’s knives, one large, one small, with which to dice, chop and slice raw vegetables and fruit. A small paring knife is essential for efficiently dealing with potatoes and other things which need to be peeled. This should have a

pointed tip and a blade about three inches long. A cleaver can be useful for chopping heavy pieces of meat The flat side can, be used as a tenderiser, too. Kitehen shears are ideal for a thousand jobs, from cutting string to paring bacon rinds. Here are a few other things not always found in kitchens, but which make life in there considerable more bearable: a slotted cooking spoon, useful for smoothing sauces and gravies; a set of measuring spoons; mixing bowls; a range of sieves; accurate kitehen scales; and a selection of spatulas. If you spend money this way, your kitchen may not look quite as decorative. But it will not need to—you will be spending less time in it