You voted the wooden spoon an essential item of any modern kitchen and hence a place on the Timeless 50.
Today’s prize is no wooden spoon. Instead test your cooking skills in Paris at a Nos Desserts Préférés (Our Favourite Desserts) Pâtisserie Course for two adults, learning to make classic French desserts with expert tuition. Prize includes return travel and two nights hotel accommodation.
Visit the Timeless 50 to stir things up and win.
Pork without sage? Potatoes and no rosemary? Herbs are a cooks best friend when it comes to adding zest and flavour to dishes.
Now that herbs have been voted onto the culinary portion of the Timeless 50 we’re giving away a complete herb garden growing kit.
Visit the Timeless 50 site today to win.
Creme Brulee certainly proved to be the cream of the Timeless 50 and with today’s giveaway you can win a cook book and gift set that includes a mini blowtorch to help you create this classic dessert in your own kitchen.
Visit Timeless 50 to enter.
No, we’re not talking about the Eighties hip-hop act, or even grey-flecked hair, but the two traditional accompaniments to European food. And contrary to what you might think, they haven’t been an item all that long.
Of course, both have been with us for millennia. Homer called salt a divine substance, and Plato said it was dear to Greek gods. It’s even been so valuable that it’s served as currency, and was once so desirable that it inspired the earliest trade routes. This isn’t just because of its preservative properties. Salt was a popular flavouring in ancient Rome, and in Renaissance Italy, salted food was served together with sweet dishes.
But the marriage to spicy pepper was a French invention. The cooks at the court of the sun king, Louis XIV, saw most spices as irritants, getting in the way of the flavour of food. Apart from parsley, pepper was the only exception, becoming widely consumed alongside salt. Ever since, they’ve been inseparable.
The ice cream sundae could really only be American – first, an already-desirable dessert was embellished with syrup, cream, a cherry, and other toppings, and then the perfectly good spelling of a day of the week was compromised. But without doubt it’s established itself as an icon of “American genius for invention, passion for indulgence, and reputation for wackiness.” Indeed, such is the claim on its birthright that it has spawned a light-hearted (and publicity-generating) war in the quest for recognition of its origins, most notably between the towns of Ithaca, New York, and Two Rivers, Wisconsin.
Regardless of who wins this struggle, its history is older than one might think – it first hit the sweet-tooth scene in the late 1800s, and has since moved into the realm of pop art, challenging creative minds to outdo each other with whatever edible additions they can conjure up. Perhaps most indulgent of them all is New York City restaurant Serendipity’s $1,000 Golden Opulence Sundae, which includes caviar and edible gold, although California’s Three Twins Ice Cream have endeavored to push the envelope further with two even more expensive offerings.
Would ice cream sundaes be part of your Timeless 50? Visit and let us know. And join our Facebook fan page to hear how to win all of the Timeless 50.
In this modern age, what could possibly be more timeless than the chopping board? Pre-dating its kitchen appliance brethren by a Jurassic age or two, it’s remained true to its original function since hirsute hands first picked up a keen-edged shard of stone to chop organic matter into smaller pieces. Even its form hasn’t changed much, with wooden boards dominating kitchens across the globe, although these days science and experience have refined things somewhat, decreeing that end-grain is better than edge-grain (also known as flat-grain), cherry is better than oak, and bamboo might just be the most eco-friendly. Take care of it, and it’ll comfortably outlive you.
Wood’s contemporary competition – plastic, marble, granite, corian, glass, and steel – has spawned passionate debate about their comparative qualities, not least among them the question of which is healthiest. But there’s little argument about wood’s kindness to your knives, and its dislike of another ubiquitous kitchen corner dweller – the dishwasher.
These days chopping boards have become works of art as well as work horses, with technology offering the promise to make them even more efficient by building in another chore – weighing.
Weighing up the merits of the chopping board as part of the Timeless 50? Vote now.
It’s hard to imagine that Italy’s signature dessert hasn’t been around forever. But according to Anna Marie Volpi, tiramisù is a fairly recent culinary invention, having made its first appearance on the culinary scene less than 50 years ago in Treviso near Venice. Folklore asserts that it got its name as a “pick-me-up” – a literal translation from the Italian – for the young ladies who plied their trade “entertaining” men above the restaurant where it was first created.
One would have to acknowledge that few nations other than the Italians could concoct something that’s as light as it is while being intensely rich at the same time. Sugar, eggs, cream, liquor, ladyfingers, and espresso combine with its essential ingredient mascarpone – a triple cream dessert cheese – to melt in your mouth as if you were sampling a mouthful of edible feathers.
If you’re looking for the best around, New York’s celebrity chef Mario Batali recommends the restaurant where it was born, Le Beccherie.
“Spoons, if not as old as the world, are certainly as old as soup,” said 19th-century French archaeologist Emmanuel de Laborde. It’s no surprise then that the Egyptians were using spoons well before Christ, and such was their importance that they were individually owned, being willed from one generation to the next. It wasn’t until the 16-17th century that metal cutlery usurped the wooden spoon’s place at the table, freeing it up to become the king of mixing and stirring at the stove. A poor conductor of heat, and non-abrasive for pots and pans, the wooden spoon continues to trump all other materials in its special kitchen niche.
Their manufacture naturally lends itself to artistic carving, and the custom flourished during 17th century Europe as young men signaled their amorous intentions by gifting the targets of their affection with personally-carved lovespoons. Today ornately-carved spoons come from all over the world, adding uniquely ethnic touches to the contemporary kitchen.
Beyond its culinary uses, the wooden spoon has also found its way into competitive culture, being symbolically awarded to the team or person coming last in a contest, is a (relatively harmless) tool for pranksters, and serves as a wonderful base for making children’s puppets. Talk about versatility!
Balls, balloons, tornados, springs, twirls, pianos … It’s hard to imagine this cast of characters being in a kitchen together, let alone assisting in the preparation of a meal. But that’s just what you’ll need to beat an egg, mix a sauce, or blend dry ingredients. The whisk has become an indispensable item in kitchen efficiency, and has come a long way from the medieval days when a bunch of twigs were wound together to introduce air into their culinary mixture.
The first formal mention of the whisk in Europe dates back to 17th century England, but the Japanese were using bamboo versions in their tea ceremonies as far back as the fourteenth century – they’re still only produced in one place … in 120 different versions. Julia Child popularized it in America through her 1960s TV show The French Chef.
Today there are a dozen different types of whisk, each specializing in their own niche, be it emulsifying sauces, whipping up a foam, or mixing stiff doughs. Naturally, the contemporary world’s penchant for fashion has also conjured up a distinct new breed – the designer whisk.
Every kitchen should have a whisk but does it make the Timeless 50 for food?