Gourmet Kitchen Essentials: Kitchenware, Pantry, and Gifts
Whether you are looking for kitchen tools, gourmet ingredients, or gifts for hosts and hostesses, our French Heritage Cuisine selection will help you stand out. We've chosen these items to assist you in preparing and enjoying gourmet meals at home and to offer delightful savory gifts to your family and friends. Enjoy l'art de vivre—the art of living—enjoy life with a meal, family, and friends.
To achieve an excellent meal with a stunning presentation, it's crucial to have a well-stocked kitchen with the right gourmet kitchenware and equipment.
Gourmet Kitchenware
Westmark is my top pick for the best spatula. The German-made spatula has excellent form-airing comfort and superior function, which gives you very good control while cooking.
A very well-shaped spatula gives you excellent control. The red strip area of the handle has a softer feel, aiding your grip and comfort. The angled leading edge aids in fast movements, such as flipping and turning items in your frying pan. The leading edge-angled tip is beneficial when making a French omelet to stir the eggs, firming small curds. The comfort of the spatula also helps with the quick continuous motion needed in making the French-style omelette.
The Westmark spatula, rated 210 degrees Celsius / 410 degrees Fahrenheit, withstands typical kitchen use. I use it with ceramic-coated pans with excellent
A spiral hook is necessary for working with high-hydration pizza and focaccia dough. Always check your model number for the appropriate fit kitchen aid mixer hook.
If you're in need of a tart mold, the ones made by Matfer Bourgeat are an excellent choice. This trusted brand, based in France, has over 200 years of experience in manufacturing kitchen tools and is well-known for its quality. The Matfer Bourgeat 9-1/2" diameter tart mold would be a great addition to any home gourmet kitchen for your bakery and pastry mold needs.If you're looking for a tart mold, those made by Matfer Bourgeat are an excellent choice. They are a trusted source based in France with more than 200 years of kitchen tool manufacturing experience. Bakery and pastry mold needs. The Matfer Bourgeat 9-1/2" diameter tart mold will be a helpful addition to the home gourmet kitchen.
The best toaster for 2024 has a long-standing reputation as one of the best toasters available. Dualit Toasters are often compared to Rolls-Royce for their quality and craftsmanship. Each Dualit toaster is hand-built in the UK. I personally own a Dualit Combi 2+1, which has two toast slots and a third slot with a sandwich cage. The toaster provides excellent evenness of toasting. One of the great advantages of investing in a Dualit toaster is that they are repairable. You can easily replace heating elements and other parts, making it possible to keep the toaster running indefinitely. They have a classic yet timeless design, and are incredibly robust. Dualit toasters are available in US 120 Volt versions and 230 Volt versions for those living in Europe.
In the early 1970s, the food processor made its debut in the American market and significantly transformed home cooking. Since then, it has revolutionized the home kitchen, enhancing the cook's abilities and efficiency. Whether it's creating a vegetable purée, a cheese spread, or a tart crust, a food processor is an essential tool in the kitchen. Cuisinart boasts an unparalleled history and reputation for crafting the finest food processors. The ultimate choice for outfitting your gourmet home kitchen is the top-rated Cuisinart Custom 14-Cup Food Processor. It is an investment that guarantees satisfaction, whether for personal use or as a gift.
Did you know you don’t need a tart pan with a removable bottom? You can prepare and serve your tart from an elegant, colorful ceramic dish. Ceramic art dishes are also excellent for preparing and serving quiches. Emile Henry bakeware, with its long-standing reputation for quality, is made in the Burgundy region of France. For more than 150 years, Emile Henry has been producing high-quality products, giving you the confidence that you're using the best in your kitchen.
No gourmet kitchen is complete without a good stand mixer. I rank the Kitchen Aid Tilt Head Stand Mixer as the best. Be it pizza dough, bread, or baked goods, a sound mixer is necessary. Being the owner of a Kitchen Aid stand mixer for 25 years, they do what they are supposed to do reliably. With a range of attachments from paddles, dough hooks, and pasta-making attachments, it is easy to tackle any gourmet kitchen mixing needs. The kitchen aid mixer bowl is well-shaped and suitable for most home kitchen needs. You can take many creative directions, such as adding a stand mixer pasta press, which is a fantastic way to expand into homemade pasta.
Gourmet Pantry Staples
Pantry staples are essential items to always have on hand when preparing dishes for entertaining.
Apricot jam is a must-have pantry staple. Many dessert recipes use apricot jam, and having a few jars on hand can make for delightful desserts. If you’re looking for breakfast toast ideas, apricot jam makes an enjoyable breakfast toast spread. One of the best is the Bonne Maman apricot preserves; it is sure to please.
Precooked polenta in tubular sleeves is a must-have. The dish may be prepared as a side dish for dinner or breakfast when you make fried polenta. Polenta cakes are an easy dinner side. Polenta cakes for dinner are made from flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs dredged. For breakfast, polenta cakes are dusted in flour and fried in butter. You serve breakfast fried polenta with maple syrup and a dusting of powdered sugar. I typically get eight sliced discs from a tube of polenta. You serve three to four polenta cakes for breakfast, while a dinner side may be just one topped with pesto or other garnishings.
A vital pantry essential is good coarse white sea salt. My favorite brand is La Baleine sea salt. This coarse salt can be used in a salt mill as table salt or as a salt rub for cooking meats. It's excellent for salt-crusted baked potatoes and is superb for general-purpose culinary uses.
When it comes to an olive oil to stock your pantry, always go with a known high-quality brand. Partanna Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) is an excellent choice. Whether sauteing chicken or making a vinaigrette salad dressing, Partanna adds a pleasing flavor complexity. It is also an excellent choice for making focaccia breads. Partanna is an authentic Italian olive oil from southwest Sicily.
Gourmet Food Gifts
A gourmet food gift can add an element of sophistication to a dinner party and is also excellent for birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. Gourmet food items make excellent host and hostess gifts as an expression of gratitude. These gifts should be something they can enjoy and appreciate another day.
Fruit preserves make an excellent host and hostess gift. Bring a box of French-made fruit jellies to the next dinner at a friend's house, and they will surely be impressed. Fruit jellies are classical French and show sophistication. This Bonne Maman assortment will give them enjoyable options for their morning toast.
Consider a Dijon mustard assortment if you’re searching for a unique gift for someone who loves gourmet foods. Mustard is closely associated with French cuisine, and historically, France has produced large quantities of mustard from the Burgundy region, with Dijon as its capital city. Dijon is perhaps the most well-known name associated with mustard. Mustard, in its simplest form, is an excellent complement to beef. When seasoned with herbs or other added ingredients like honey, these specialty mustards pair well with chicken, fish, and vegetables. The Dijon region is renowned for producing these specialty mustards.
La Maison Maille, or simply Maille, has a heritage dating back to 1747 and produces the highest-quality gourmet mustards. A sample pack of Maille Dijon mustards would make an excellent gift.
One of my favorite sparkling mineral waters is Ferrarelle. It's excellent with a fine dinner meal, and the elegant bottle makes it a great gift. Sparkling mineral water also makes a superb alternative to a bottle of wine as a host or hostess gift. A case of Ferrarelle sparkling mineral water is suitable for gifting a bottle or serving at dinner when hosting family and friends.
It's never too early to start planning for Christmas 2024. This holiday season, consider the unique gift of a Bonne Maman Advent Calendar. With its assortment of delicious jam spreads for morning breakfast toast, it's a gift that's sure to bring joy to others. Stock up on a few before they become harder to find as the holidays approach.
