VALUE IS a relative concept. Just ask the folks at Lehman Brothers. But when it comes to ingredients and kitchen tools that beckon to the enthusiastic home cook, it's important to the bottom line -- in this case, a great meal -- to take a look at what's really worth your hard-earned cash -- and what isn't.
We scrutinized our kitchens and the merchandise. Our thumbs-up, thumbs-down verdicts on a couple of dozen popular or hyped cooking items follow. No apologies -- we're opinionated. Some gadgets and goodies are grossly overvalued, others just don't get their due. We considered cost, efficacy and practicality -- as well as the happiness factor. Because for a true chocoholic, a 3.5-ounce bar of Michel Cluizel Noir de Cacao 72% cacao really is worth $6.
Obviously, a lot of this is open for discussion, even heated debate. Is a 1-ounce tin of Spanish saffron really worth $199? How about a $60 Rachael Ray fondue pot?
With apologies to Socrates: The unexamined kitchen cabinet is not worth opening. And it's certainly not worth filling up with even more stuff. Page 4
Russ Parsons
Worth it
Mortar and pestle. When it comes to kitchen tools, I'm a big fan of the simpler the better. And you can't get much simpler than a mortar and pestle. Basically nothing more than two rocks that you use to grind food, it hasn't really been improved since the Stone Age. But when something is perfect, why mess with it? You can spend $100 on a French marble one from an antique store, or you can pick up one made of granite at a Thai grocery store for less than $25. While you're shopping, pick up a wooden pestle as well -- those granite ones get really heavy when you're stirring in oil a drop at a time for aioli.
Good corkscrew. Don't laugh. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to take a good bottle of wine to someone's house and find that the only corkscrew they've got is one of those $1.99 drugstore ones with solid screws that are good only for splitting corks. Come on, spend an extra couple of bucks and get one with a hollow auger (it will look like a corkscrew rather than a sheet metal screw). You can find them for around $10 and you won't believe the difference.
Instant-read thermometer. I have worked with chefs who have been cooking so long that they can tell within 5 degrees the temperature of a roast just by giving it a good squeeze. For the rest of us, there's no excuse not to have an instant-read thermometer. A perfectly good one costs less than $15 and you'll never serve bloody chicken again.
