We often come back from vacation itching to recreate the meals we've just enjoyed in our own kitchens. Besides spices, salts, and unusual local ingredients, something else we can pick up to inspire our cooking back home is unique cookware! Have you acquired any special pots or pans on your travels?
Cookware can be just as essential a component for making an authentic regional dish as the ingredients themselves. Kitchen equipment like Mexican comals and the special rice steamers used in much of Southeast Asian cooking are tailor-made for their specific cuisines. This cookware can be hard to find or expensive to buy back in the United States.
We also think that it's nice to have a souvenir that will stay in our kitchen and get used to cook delicious meals for years to come. They look beautiful displayed on a shelf and become interesting conversation starters for visitors to your kitchen!
Do you look for regional cookware when traveling?
Related: Inexpensive Cooking School Vacations
(Image: Flickr member The Wandering Angel licensed under Creative Commons)
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Comments (5)
We bought a great set of terracotta cazuelas and our FAVORITE wine glasses in Spain. I know, I know... wine glasses do not = cookware, but they're great and are used in every single tapas bar. We must have purchased 4 dozen just in case a few broke during shipping!
I'm hoping to travel to Mexico to pick up some clay cookware. I've heared that you have to be wary, however, of certain glazes and finishes as they may contain lead.
As for the comal. I purchased mine at a local store for $19. I'm very happy with it! http://gabrielaskitchen.wordpress.com/supplies/utensils/comal/
yeah. I'd be very wary about picking up clay pots - not only can the glazes have lead, but the clay itself might be contaminated. I have some clay pots i brought back from Oaxaca a couple of years ago - for decoration only.
Every single time I tarvel I come back with some kind of food/kitchen item. I carried back from India a clay pot for making fish curry, as well as many pots and a small mortar & pestle. I carried back from Thailand a papaya grater. I carried back from the UK a scale. etc etc etc. Yes, there's always something I bring back.
The pots in the picture above aren't glazed, and this style is common in many regions of the world. There may be something untoward in the clay, I suppose, but with no glaze, you avoid the lead-in-the-glaze problem.
The pots in the photo look a lot like the traditional cookware of the mountain region immediately north of Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, for example. These pots are made with local clay, and are polished with stones as the craftswoman (or occasionally craftsman) makes them. You have to oil them to make them waterproof, as you would a cast iron pan.
I think it's good to talk with the person you're buying cookware from, to see if they have any special advice on how to care for it, and how to use it. Plus, it gets you using the local language (if it's not one you're fluent in this can be a challenge and a treat!), and you may make a new friend or at least have an engaging conversation with a fellow cook.