Some ideas to give the gourmet in your life

Font Size:

| Wednesday, December 13, 2006 1:16 AM CST | () comments

Times Wire Services

A great gift can require some reconnaissance. Before choosing gifts for a cook, take a look around their kitchen. Be bold. Open a drawer. Open every drawer.

If the cupboard is bare, your job is relatively easy. The novice needs good-quality cooking essentials that can last for decades.

It’s also simple to shop for the early adopters: cooks who always have the latest gadget, even if they don’t use it. Look for the newest of the new; nothing is too trendy.

The most difficult cooks to shop for are the have-it-alls: the veterans who say they don’t need or want any more kitchen stuff. But even they can’t resist a well-considered upgrade. Nobody’s collection of equipment is perfect; the trick is in detecting what’s worn and needs replacing.

With this crowd, though, it might be safest to break down and ask — or at least save the receipt.

Here are some ideas:

Stocking stuffers

Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons by Oxo ($9.99)

When it comes to measuring spoons, measuring cups, mixing bowls and wooden spoons, a home cook never can have enough. Having multiple sets of measuring spoons in the gadget drawer spares you from having to wash and dry repeatedly as you cook.

This heavy-duty set by Oxo pairs the company’s signature comfort grip with thick stainless steel for a satisfying heft.

Butter Cutter by Linens & Things ($7.99)

The perfect gadget for impatient bakers. When a recipe calls for adding butter cut into small pieces, they are not likely to have the patience to slice it up. Which might explain some poor results.

This device, which resembles a bottomless butter dish with piano strings stretched across it, does the work for you. Press the cutter down over a stick of butter and you get perfect pats. Also good for slicing logs of goat cheese.

Avocado Slicer by Chef’n ($5.99)

There’s no such thing as a perfect technique or tool for peeling and slicing avocados. But this device gets it close.

The slicer looks like a small plastic hoop with teeth. Scoop the hoop through an avocado half and it skins and slices the flesh in one motion. The only flaw is that it can mangle particularly soft avocados (not an issue if they are destined for guacamole).

Around $20

“834 Kitchen Quick Tips” by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated magazine ($16.95)

A huge helper in a small package. This book gathers and alphabetizes the many tricks and tips printed in Cook’s Illustrated over the years. It’s a handy reference that is well-organized and thoroughly illustrated.

Among the many lessons: learn how to use old wine corks to store sharp utensils, five ways to pit a cherry and how to clean a cheese grater.

“A Wine Miscellany” by Graham Harding (Clarkson Potter, $16.95)

A random and fascinating collection of wine trivia. Has gems such as the story of George Plantagenet, a man who supposedly chose to die by drowning in wine in the Tower of London, and the per-acre value of vineyard land. (If you’re shopping in this price range, you can’t afford it.)

Around $40

Balsamic vinegar. A really good balsamic vinegar.

It’s possible to spend thousands of dollars for top stuff, but an excellent aged vinegar can be had for between $40 and $60. This is not the stuff of salad dressing. This is rich, luxurious and should be doled out sparingly.

These vinegars are excellent drizzled over Parmesan cheese and vanilla ice cream, or even consumed — in small doses — as an after-dinner drink.

O2 Series kitchen hand tools by Art and Cook ($18 to $40)

These tools — there are 49 of them, from a meat tenderizer to an egg whisk — have serious sex appeal. They are heavy, forged from zinc, finished with titanium and fitted with soft ergonomic handles made with pockets of pressurized air.

A reporter who tested a bunch loved the tenderizer ($40), which was well-balanced. The potato masher ($40) had similar heft and appeal. The citrus reamer ($40) worked beautifully and is so strange-looking that it doubles as a conversation starter.

Around $60

“The Oxford Companion to Food,” second edition, (Oxford University Press, $65)

No serious foodie should be without a serious food reference book. How else to know your kecap (pronounced KETCH-ap) from your ketchup? (Both are condiments, one made from tomatoes, the other from soybeans.)

Unlike the similar “Larouse Gastronomique,” the Oxford text is approachable and lacks the sometimes-overwhelming French bias of the former. This is a great resource for deciphering the increasingly international American palate.

Budget buster

Recessed spice cabinet ($200 to $800)

Want more storage in the kitchen but lack the space to mount another cabinet on the wall? Try mounting one in it.

That’s the gist of these slap-your-forehead-they’re-so-good cabinets. Just 4 inches deep (perfect for spices or canned goods), the cabinets are installed inside the wall cavity between two studs.

In Wall Cabinets, based in Santa Ana, Calif., offers a variety of ready-to-install models, finished and unfinished. Small cabinets (22 inches) with doors start at $200. They are online at inwallcabinets.com.

Custom recessed cabinets are easily designed and installed by a carpenter, but they can be pricey. One can pay $800 for an 8-foot custom cabinet designed to match existing cabinetry, but it comes with toddler-friendly door panels treated with chalkboard paint.