Coping without kitchenware

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Posted at 10:02AM, 02 July 2008 by Andrea McGinniss - Editor, bbcgoodfood.com

I've just moved into a new flat, all by myself. As one friend pointed out, now I can sit on the couch and eat a tin of corn kernels without anyone commenting. It's absolutely brilliant. The only problem is, I can't open the can. I don't have a tin opener. Or a plate. Or a fork to eat it with come to mention it. Needless to say, the first few days of trying to cook in my very own kitchen have been quite a challenge!

When you move into a share house it's all there waiting for you. Sure, the knives may be blunt, the crockery mismatching and the pots wobbly, but at least they're there. In my excitement over my new independence I forgot to check if the rent included kitchenware. It didn't. But like MacGyver who could disarm bombs, wriggle out of a straitjacket and pick up babes with just a blob of Blu-Tack, I've quickly learnt to become creative with minimal equipment.

In my excitement over my new independence I forgot to check if the rent included kitchenware. It didn't.

The irony is I've got everything you never need from birthdays and Christmas's past. Along with a wall of cookbooks I love to look at but rarely use, I have as follows: a Magimix , a potato ricer, a loose-bottomed tart tin and a fancy parmesan grater. Yes I can blitz up some pesto, bake a mash potato tart and sprinkle it with Parmagiano Reggiano but can I make a cup of tea? No.

With this in mind I tackled my first living-solo-Sunday-hangover with trepidation. Brain foggy, I picked up the greasy brekky staples from my new corner shop. I spread butter on the bread with a teaspoon, cut open the bacon packet with several jabs of the spoon handle, fried it in my lone pan, and served it atop a plastic bag plate.

I left the cheese on the counter until crumbly, and scooped spoonfuls onto bread for a toasted sandwich. I broke mum's rule and drank milk from the carton, ate a tin of tuna with pull ring lid, and (lack of resources makes me do the craziest things) ate some fruit. Still, at least there was no washing up.

Now I've had a few days to settle in, I've picked up a few basic bits of equipment, but everytime I go to cook something I realise just how much I seem to need! Next on the list: the tin opener. Then it's corn on the couch all the way.

What gadget could you not live without? What challenging circumstances have you had to cook under?

Comments

Chris Brack

2 July 2008, 12:08PM
Chris Brack

Firstly good luck with the new place. Well my most important kitchen gadgets are a good bread knife and a good chopping knife. I love bread and always buy the stuff that needs cutting and there is nothing worse than a crap knife that butchers my lovely bread. I also love my kitchen aid-but it is an expensive luxury.

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Tom_or_Astro_Tom

2 July 2008, 2:19PM
Tom_or_Astro_Tom

Y'know Andrea, I can assure you that no matter how much kitchenalia you acquire and no matter how good your intentions, when you live alone milk will always be drunk from the carton and you'll end up graduating from cans of corn to jars of jalapenos, or jam by the tablespoon-full. Still, liking the plastic bag/plate idea. I've got tons of plastic bags at home and I'm a pretty lax guy when it comes to washing up...I think you've just solved me two problems in one fell swoop!

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Holly

2 July 2008, 2:22PM
Holly

Ah mismatched plates and dishes, to me the mark of maturity if to have a matching set. I'm still waiting! I'm house sitting at the moment and the kettle's blown up so it's saucepan tea for me too. I had three griddle pans at one point but we lived for ages without a veg peeler in my old place until a new addition to our house went out to buy one. So cheap, so simple, and so much easier than the giant knife I had been using. I'm not 100% sure why I hadn't thought of buying one before?

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rose water

2 July 2008, 7:36PM
rose water

A magimix and potato ricer! Wow. Wouldn't want to live without out either of them. You will amass the basics some how but you may never have got round to the above. You will be glad of them one day. Not every one uses a potato ricer for mash but it's the only way to perfect shepherds pie etc.

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Chef Santiago

4 July 2008, 3:50AM
Chef Santiago

Also congradulations on the new place,now what you should do is get yourself hitched and put the entire kitchen section on your bridal registry. Oh also a list of high clientel guest would be appropriate but if your like the rest of us (or just me?) Try asking some very generous friends, or shop smart dont be afraid to shop on clearance there are very nice brand-name elite kitchen appliances that are much less than suggested retail. Shop smart Andrea shop smart.

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Andrea

4 July 2008, 1:20PM
Andrea

Not sure about the getting hitched thing but I shall be shopping smart this weekend, TK Maxx here I come!

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fluffster

4 July 2008, 3:51PM
fluffster

Hmmm.. thinking about the items I use the most and would miss if I didn't have them - probably my cooks knife, my very old and worm wooden spoon and my mini spring hand whisk, which whisks everything brilliantly and I use more than the full size balloon whisks.

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drusilla

11 July 2008, 12:19PM
drusilla

Could not and will not do without a decent chef's knife and chopping board (no warped Â£1 plastic things!). And garlic press. Measuring spoons, obviously, and kitchen scales. PS good luck with the new place - have you got a Matalan nearby? They do a home starter kit - pans, plates, basic gadgets (including a tin-opener!), the lot - I think around Â£40.

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akzincke

21 July 2008, 5:09PM
akzincke

When I was a child I used to save on the washing up by drinking a swig of ribena and then running the tap and putting my head under it to make squash in my mouth. Now I am an adult I have seen a certain unnamed friend with a passing resemblance to prince, make black russians in his mouth. Besides this I can recommend a pen knife or a spork.

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