Basics

Kitchen Equipment

You don’t need loads of expensive equipment to cook well, but the following will make life easier. Second-hand sources such as car boot and jumble sales; charity shops, Trade-It and E-bay often have fantastic bargains. As well as the usual saucepans, chopping boards and suchlike we suggest these handy tools

Knife – it may sound obvious, but get the best quality one you can afford, plus a sharpener. Buy a straight-      edged not serrated if possible. Just one decent medium-sized knife, a knife sharpener and a big chopping board or two will revolutionise your cooking.
Vegetable peeler – get the French variety (not long skinny one) for when scrubbing potatoes or carrots just
doesn’t do it! They save hours… cheap in good hardware shops.
Measuring cups and spoons – you can buy these in hardware/kitchen shops/John Lewis and elsewhere.
They’re cheap and really useful – lots of US originated recipes use them.
Measuring jug(s)
Scales – metric or imperial
Stick blender and attachments – you can buy the set for under £30 in a big supermarket or electrical store.
They are the best thing ever and the VVF team swears by theirs. They don’t take up space on the worktop
and there are no dodgy goblets with icky corners to clean! Simply use the stick part to blend food – eg soup, smoothies or sauces – in the pan, bowl or jug, and then rinse under the tap. Very easy and saves on
washing up. The little grinder bit is great for chopping nuts, garlic cloves, herbs etc, while the balloon whisk is good for cakes or getting lumps out of sauces. Stick blenders can also be bought more cheaply without the
above attachments.