What Luxury Items and Ingredients Are Totally Worth It?
Hello and welcome back toWhat’s Cooking? , an open thread where you can share your brilliant thoughts, tips, recipes and opinions on all food related matters. This week I want to talk about luxury, dear ones, and what fancy products and equipment are worth such a high price tag.
I have always been much more likely to spend money on food and drink than on clothes or some kind of plan for my future. But while I’m more likely to spend $ 20 on cold cuts rather than a back shirt, there are still some premium and related foods that are too rich for my blood. Just because something is expensive doesn’t mean it’s good – example: that thing – but there is a certain “you get what you pay for” fraction when it comes to edibles. I want to hear everything about culinary delights that you find “worthwhile.” As usual, I have prepared a few questions.
- What equipment is the most expensive in your kitchen? Did it make your life better? My KitchenAid mixer, which I have owned for ten years, is probably the most expensive thing in my kitchen, and it does make certain things – like baking bread, for example – much easier. I’m not sure if I would have spent on another if something happened to this, but the point is, it should last forever.
- Are you buying trendy salt? I always have two kinds of salt in my kitchen: a large box of kosher salt for cooking and a small box of Maldon for finishing, which my boyfriend calls my “snack salt” because sometimes I eat soft crunchy cereals right now. out of the box. (It’s okay, my blood pressure is low.)
- Are San Marzano Tomatoes Really Worth It? I mean, yes, they are good, but I tend to think that the flavor nuances of canned tomatoes get lost in the sauce, especially if you add Italian sausage, garlic, and a bunch of herbs (like me).
- Are Le Crueset Dutch ovens much better than cheaper brands like Lodge? I’m not going to lie to you – I really want one someday, but I really have no complaints about the giant copy I got at Costco, or the tiny, unnamed one I picked up at Goodwill a few months ago. I also just ordered this beauty for $ 40 and am very excited about her arrival.
- What’s your sumptuous edible treat? Prosciutto di Parma, forever and ever. The first real fight I got into with my ex-husband was over this healed miracle, which he called “strange ham.”
- What kind of snob are you? I can be surprisingly snobbish about restaurants, especially if they are billed as something special. (It’s all about expectations. If you’re going to charge a hundred bucks for a tasting menu, it’ll be better than really tasty.) I used to be a big beer snob, but now it makes me sneeze. I guess you could say I’m a diet soda snob; Diet Coke or gtfo.
- That you do not relate to snobs at all, even a little? Although I live in a city that sells latte art and has roasting competitions, I just don’t give a damn about craft coffee. I also love McDonald’s.
- What “premium” food or drink you just won’t get? I try so hard to love oysters guys. The small ones are quite tasty, but I still don’t feel like I will completely finish. I also think that caviar is normal.
- What’s the best dining experience you’ve had? Was that all you thought of? Would you do it again? Nodoguro in Portland is an amazing culinary experience that I highly recommend to everyone and I try to visit it once a year. Then, across the country, we have Bern’s Steakhouse , the platonic ethos of a classic, old-school steak-centric establishment with an absolutely insane collection of wines and spirits. When you’re done eating one of the best steaks of your life, you are led through the kitchen for a guided tour (check the cheese cave) before heading upstairs to the dedicated dessert room. Bern’s is arguably my all-time favorite restaurant, and it’s one of three things I miss living in Tampa for.
- How to buy wine? My wine preferences are still evolving, so I stick to the $ 10 to $ 15 range and buy whatever the “know” has to offer. I am, however, a big fan of orange wine, which has an unusual flavor similar to the aroma of spontaneously fermented beer.
- What foods are you buying organic and why? I buy organic milk because I swear I can feel the difference, and I try to buy organic meat when I can.
- Do you have a favorite trendy bottled water? I love the tap water here in Portland, but I get more opinionated when it comes to soda. I’m a big fan of La Croix, but the best sparkling mineral water is Gerolsteiner , which has an aggressive gaseous flavor and invigorating minerality (great for a hangover).
- Is there a basic premium pantry that you should always have in stock? Duck fat, obviously.
- What’s your favorite expensive cheese? Dubliner is my favorite expensive all-purpose cheese and I am very obsessed with everything from Cowgirl Creamery .
As always, feel free to answer or ignore any of the above and talk about what you think is even remotely related to our topic. I just want to hear about luxury and decadence .