Monday, October 19, 2009

The Tin Goose

According to Father Capon (author of Supper of the Lamb, among others), a tin goose is an article of kitchen equipment that is manufactured primarily to be sold, not to be used. His number one candidate is the electric stove. Not a bad nominee, though I don't mind electric ovens. Just not the stovetops elements.

I've got my own list, and it's going to grow.

Glad Wrap and Saran Wrap. It looks so fine in the ads, and I know that somehow, somewhere people actually make it work. They must. When I go to the coffee shop, I see muffins and bread that's been wrapped in some kind of clear plastic. The problem is that the stuff I buy simply won't stick to anything once it's come off the roll. My best shot is to use masking tape.

Most kitchen choppers. Flimsy devices made to sell on late-night TV. They claim to allow you to cut up an onion, but they don't actually do anything at all.

Teflon pans. First they lose their non-stick quality, then they begin to flake into the food. Why wasn't cast iron good enough? In daily use, a Teflon pan works for about a month.

The average knife. No more needs to be said.

Most kitchen coffee grinders. A batch contains fine powder, good ground coffee, and whole beans that the machine can't be bothered with.

No comments:

Post a Comment