Andy Ricker, What’s On Your Cooking Wish List?
The holidays are here, which means the stores are flooded with a dizzying array of cooking tools, appliances and gadgets meant to tempt home cooks. What’s the discerning shopper to do? We decided to talk to some of our favorite professional chefs — the people who spend serious time with their kitchen tools — to find out what can’t-live-without-it cooking gadgets are on their holiday wish lists this year.
Today Andy Ricker, award-winning chef and owner of Pok Pok and Pok Pok Ny, shares his own wish list and his pick for the no-fail gift any cook would appreciate.
What are a few of the cooking-relating items on your holiday wish list this year?
A simple, old-school carbon steel vegetable peeler. They cost almost nothing and work better for me than the fancier ones.
A good kitchen apron. I am tall and most I find are too short, drag on the neck or are generally poorly designed. Any ideas?
A good home espresso maker like this one. I am moving to a neighborhood in Brooklyn that lacks a great coffee shop and I come from the land of great coffee, Portland, OR, so I need my morning Americano or cappuccino. I’ll need a grinder and some Stumptown coffe to go with it!
What is a no-fail gift that every cook would appreciate receiving?
A mortar and pestle.
