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I'm a big proponent of a minimal set of kitchen equipment. I truly believe that most people actually need very few things - a couple of good knives, a slice (It's NOT called a spatula!), some tongs, a couple of good saucepans, a good frying pan (and maybe a griddle pan), a casserole, a colander and a grater. Maybe a couple of other things but not much. I have however, over the years, aquired a few bits of occasional use items. A really nice pestle and mortar (I think Mum would probably ocunt this as essential actually), a nice saucier (which also makes realls great scrambled eggs and hot chocolate), a mandloin (handy for Pommes Dauphinois), a rice cooker (once you use one you'll not go back to the absorbtion method). Recently I've been pondering buying a potato ricer. In general I'm a big fan of crushed potatoes instead of mashed (usually crushed new potatoes) - not just because they're quicker and easier but also because of the texture. However occasionally I want a smooth, creamy mash that needs a more traditional approach. You can do this with a masher, I know some people who then whisk. You *could* do it with blender but I find that gives me very gluey mash. I was told that a lot of restaurants use a potato ricer which makes things really easy and tends to get a very smooth, non gluey mash. I've also been told that it removes the need to peel the potato first which will be really handy for my beloved newly found method of baking the potatoes instead of boiling them which is great but means you end up with burnt fingers trying to peel them whilst they're scorching hot. Thoughts? Comments? Simon
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