Ask any great chef what it takes to get to the top, and the chances are high that they’ll name one thing — passion. Passion provides the spark of creativity you need to put together truly inspired recipes. Passion keeps you going when the heat of the kitchen is weighing you down. Passion gives you the drive and determination to endure punishing hours and turn out plate after plate of great food.
And if you need any further evidence of the passion that top chefs possess, just take a look at their well-loved home kitchens. Despite spending 12 to 16 hours a day cooking, professional chefs think nothing of returning home and whipping up a delicious meal for their family! If you find work pressure sapping your enthusiasm for food, it’s time to rediscover the joys of home cooking, and in turn reignite your passion for the culinary arts. It all starts with a great home kitchen.
Home kitchen for the pros
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a huge kitchen to conjure up a delicious home-cooked meal. Most professional chefs just need the basics — a stovetop, an oven and good old pots and pans! Although sous-vide machines, vacuum cookers and other culinary gadgets are undoubtedly convenient and accurate, there’s something undeniably satisfying about the simple pleasures of pan-roasting and frying and watching the ingredients transform before your eyes (and at your hands) into a sumptuous meal. Here are five home kitchen tips from professional chefs.
1. Open kitchens — In our opinion, the perfect dinner party is one where guests can congregate not just around, but in the kitchen where the magic is happening, enjoy some canapés and drink some of the vino de la casa. An open kitchen lets guests do just that. If you’ve got the space in your living area for an island kitchen, it can double up as a table for displaying party snacks and canapés when you’ve got guests over. And for simple family meals, it’s great to have a space where mum can do the chopping and slicing, while you work the stove!
2. Store the most-used utensils together — You may not have tables full of impatient customers waiting for you when you’re cooking at home, but speed and efficiency are important in home kitchens too. The faster you get your preparation done, the faster you can kick up your feet, watch some TV and enjoy some precious downtime! This is easily achieved by selecting your six or seven most-used utensils and placing them in one container closest to the stovetop. Chef’s knife, garlic mincer, whisks and spatulas are popular choices.
3. Home appliances for home kitchens — While you might be used to working with industrial-strength cookware in the kitchen, huge ovens, long planchas and salamanders aren’t necessarily the best choice for a home kitchen. In fact, in a more confined space, industrial-strength cookware can be more hazardous because they emit more heat. As an experienced chef, you know what features to look for and which brands to trust. There are great choices among equipment designed for the home as well.
4. More knives don’t mean better cooking — Of course, a set of beautifully finished, razor-sharp, and precisely-weighted knives is a joy to behold for any chef. However, professional chefs generally agree that they only ever reach for one or two knives at home. Invest in a world-class chef’s knife, with a broad blade that’s 8 to 10 inches long, and that should be enough for 99% of your home cooking needs.
5. Counters you can count on — With appliances like stoves, ovens and refrigerators, you expect to replace them at least every four to five years. Perhaps a little longer, if you’re gentle. But the one item you should aim to invest in for life is your kitchen counter. Avoid granite tops, which scratch easily, as well as marble, which has relatively poor heat resistance and high maintenance costs. Instead, opt for soapstone or recycled quartz, which have great heat resistance and develop a charmingly rustic character after they (as countertops inevitably do) pick up a couple of nicks and scratches.
What the pros cook at home
If you need a little bit of home cooking inspiration, you might be interested to find out what some of the world’s most decorated chefs cook at home. You’ll notice that most of their favourite recipes are really simple. There are two reasons for that. First, you are unlikely to want to put together 20-component masterpieces when cooking for friends and family. Second, feeding people at home is more about big flavours, maximum satisfaction and food delivered with joy and enthusiasm, and less about technical sophistication.
● Vegetables — Fresh vegetables, simply prepared, are a big favourite with top chefs. Andoni Luis Aduriz expresses a preference for seasonal vegetables, Mauro Colagreco harvests the best produce from his garden and prepares them with a little extra-virgin olive oil, and Alain Passard, of course, with his book The Art of Cooking with Vegetables, remains firmly convinced the best vegetables are just as exciting and delicious as the best meat and fish.
● Pasta — Clare Smyth and Daniel Humm, both three Michelin-starred chefs, enjoy cooking simple pasta dishes like spaghetti Bolognese and spaghetti carbonara respectively. And why not? Rolling your own pasta is incredibly therapeutic, and there’s something so pure in the simplicity of these Italian classics!
● Roasted chicken — Perhaps the most underrated of all ingredients, the humble chicken finds its way into the home cooking repertoire of many a world-renowned chef, including Clare Smyth, Pierre Gagnaire and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Simple, yes. Satisfying — certainly!
We all have wonderful memories of sumptuous home-cooked meals, surrounded by family, friends and good cheer. To keep your fiery passion for cooking burning brightly, keep your home kitchen in good order and ready to turn out simple but delicious homemade classics at a moment’s notice. When the food’s in the oven, call a few close friends and relatives and open a few bottles of wine. That’s what food is all about!