We asked celebrity chefs what kitchen tool they couldn’t live without—and their choices say so much about them. Take Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, for example, and his choice of not one, not two, but three beautiful sushi knives: His flawless knife skills are, after all, nearly synonymous with his name. For the four-time James Beard Award-winning chef, Andrew Zimmern, he goes with the classic and dependable mortar and pestle. Meanwhile, executive chef/restaurateur Judy Joo and Chopped judge Marc Murphy chose the ever-versatile microplane. Former Man v. Food host and chef Adam Richman went straight for the immersion blender. Find out why they chose their respective tools below:
Andrew Zimmern: Mortar and Pestle
Chef Andrew Zimmern knew he could go with his one good knife, pan, or electric tool, but instead he chose one of the oldest kitchen tools around: the mortar and pestle. (Let us be specific: it’s over 37,000 years old 😱.)
“This changes my game in the kitchen,” Andrew said. His first trick with his mortar and pestle is turning whole cumin seeds into fresh ground cumin.
“Buying whole cumin seeds is better than buying cumin seeds that were ground up three years ago in a factory,” he continued. “Add a little heat to them in a pan, toast ’em, bring out those essential oils, and then grind them.”
The mortar and pestle allows you to bring out the flavor without adding heat to it, unlike a spice grinder. Andrew’s second trick includes making a quick paste that can go in a salad or eat on its own with a big hunk of bread. All you need for his favorite emulsion is cumin, salt, pepper, egg yolk, lemon, lime, anchovy, and olive oil.
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