black steel is what we chiefly need, be it French, Mexican, Chinese, or American

 high-carbon (black) steel is the best material for sauteing  and stir-frying. If heavy guage, it rivals cast iron for frying, and if lighter guage it allows all kinds of high-heat performance cooking (searing, braising, sauteeing) with a naturally non-stick seasoned finish.

Rowans lamb sausage and Dominiques red chard. Quick one-dish entrees are easily pulled together in an adequately sized saute pan. Always use the larger pan, so you can keep the heat to one side if you need to. Staging the addition of ingredients allows all components to arrive at "doneness" together, while flavors marry.

local rockfish and chinese vegetables in a light miso/black bean sauce.













grab a-hold of French black steel and you'll find it hard to let go. Crepe pans and saute pans. some Chinese woks, some Mexican comals. As at home on the campfire as they are on the range. The "two hot pans" technique for Spanish tortillas and Asian seafood pancakes, and braising kale or chard requires relatively light weight long handled steel pans. This is high performance cooking at its best!!

The pastry must be cut before the pie can be formed

   a good (and quick) pastry crust requires the "cutting in" of a fat in a chilled semi-solid state (usually butter, a butter/oil blend, lard, chicken fat, or coconut oil) into lightly salted flour (preferably chilled). Once the fat has been "cut" into pea-size flour coated granules, a little ice water can be added to encourage the dough to be manageable with minimal kneading.
   for this act of "cutting" chilled fat into flour, you will find forks very difficult, and knives next to useless. These pastry blenders, one antique American, and one contemporary German, make quick work of  preparing crust for a big batch of pies, tarts, or pasties.
 

blackberry-rhubarb tarts













pork and vegetable filled pasties

ceramic (one piece) and steel (removable bottom) tart pans

these three ceramic tart pans vary a little in size and cost, and are made in China (white porcelain), France (blue edged stoneware), and Germany (creme colored stoneware). They work equally well, and perform in the oven much like a 9" glass pie pan (US made). The ceramic results in an evenly browned bottom crust with vertical flutes around the perimeter. They clean easily, and the glazed surface stays bright as long as the pan remains unbroken.

metal (thin steel, not aluminum) tart pans, made in the US, are relatively inexpensive but bake "faster" than their ceramic counterparts. The removable bottoms of these three pans make it easy to lift the finished (and cooled a little) tart from the pan, before slicing and serving. Other shapes are available (square, heart, oval), and the variety of sizes allows you to make smaller, or individual tarts as well.
 
quiche is a savory "tart", and is often made in these pans. Below is an apple tart with raisins in a porcelain pan.

Flying saucers and flying fish makers

Waffles or taiyaki, sweet or savory, with crust or shell and filling, or fillings integrated in the batter. However you make them, these are FUN foods.

But you need an iron of some sort, and preferably one that allows a "pocket" space for filling. The very western "Toast-Tite" was designed to make pockets of sliced bread (cutting off the crusts when closed), but makes a super seafood cornbread "flying fritter" saucer. The very Japanese taiyaki pan makes two at a time, and is nonstick for easy release.

Either "iron" works best over a gas flame, but can be used over charcoal on the grill. The longer handles on the saucer make campfire cooking realistic. Electric burners are not so easy, but a small coil on high may serve, with the possibility of less even toasting.

Although skill is involved, these are fun cooking tools for kids to learn about batter cakes and "baking" over direct heat. Teach safety (burn prevention and first aid) at the same time, and your young cooks will be safe cooks.


These taiyaki are traditional, with sweet red bean paste as a filling. Many other fillings are possible, and the batter itself can be adjusted from sweet to savory, and can be filled with fruits, vegetables, meats (precooked is safest), or seafood (precooking not necessary if in small pieces). The batter can be egg-rich, or even egg-free, and can be made of a variety of flours besides wheat. My favorite batter is brown rice flour, w.w.  pastry flour, and med. grind cornmeal in roughly equal parts, with a little salt, soda, and an egg. I also add some oil and prefer to use sour milk or yoghurt to thin the batter, although water works fine.

Kuchenprofi ravioli wheel (cutter/sealer)

   How have I ever made ravioli without my Kuchenprofi ravioli wheel? After mastering the pasta machine and learning to produce fresh pasta for two in 30 minutes, I began to practice making ravioli. Now ravioli is essentially a noodle "pillow", filled with something tasty, sealed at the edges, and dropped into boiling salted water for a few minutes.
   I've used a "stamper" type cutter/sealer, and used the rather tricky but very cool wooden ravioli rolling pin, which makes little bite size ravioli. I've even used a knife (to cut) and a fork (to seal the edges) of the goodie-filled pasta pillows.
   Kuchenprofi  tools are made of German stainless steel in Solingen, the town where Wusthof knives are made. Kuchenprofi makes a wide variety of well designed, high quality stainless kitchen tools (at prices well below Rosle), as well as beautiful burr-type coffee mills. This tool is 7 1/8" long with a 2 1/4" dia. wheel. The handle is sealed and has a large hanger loop on the end. Although you're probably not going to use this tool for more than a few minutes at a time, it is comfortable to hold and easy to use.

 The tool is dishwasher safe, and rinsing it under a hot tap is usally all that's needed after use, it does come apart if necessary. The three separate wheels (center cutter and side crimpers) and the axle pin may be removed by lifting a locking pin clip in one side of the wheel. It is not so easy to take it apart and put it back together, so disassembly for cleaning is not recommended unless you end up with pasta dough clogging the inside . Pillows, rolls, pouches, pockets, enpanadas, calzoni, and pies can all be made with edges sealed by this tool as well, with any type of dough that can be rolled out and wrapped or folded around fillings.

   Thankyou for joining me at knifeandfire.blogspot.com, where I will  present/review well-designed cooks tools for tu-tu-tu kitchenware cottage, where you can find them.  -- Mar Lehrman

Michoacan bakery

Authenticity is elusive, although often attainable by paring or peeling away the extraneous and adopting, if not embracing, a minimalist approach to preparation and cooking of any established food tradition. This minimalism is sometimes a result of economic realities or environment, and is rarely chosen by the privileged except as a path of personal growth. Extended travel, especially remote, budget travel - can bring authenticity on in a hurry. Access to a blade, a flame,  a vessel and little else save seasonal local ingredients will offer you an opportunity for authenticity.

As a purveyor of kitchenware, I appreciate good design and specialized tool performance. Heritage tools can have almost magical properties. Always use the tool that works best for you, whether old or new, inexpensive or dear. Handcrafted artisan made tools also can bring you closer to the authentic, especially if the tools are made and sold in the same region which produces the local foods they are designed for.

   This Michoacan bakery is made from rough wood with a dirt floor, Just outside, the baker (Papa) tends his clay oven. Big flat half-moon shaped empanadas were baking like pizzas inside. And inside the empanadas was chicken in a spicy sauce, or fresh pineapple cooked down to a tart jammy consistency. Rowan, Jody and I shared them hot as we drove north on Mex 200.