Cooking On Vacation: Don't Forget The Chef's Knife!
My mother-in-law tells a story about a good friend and avid cook who lugged pie weights in his suitcase down to a rented Caribbean house for a vacation.
(He also instituted a no talking til 11 a.m. rule — a man after my own heart — but that's a topic for another post.)
Now that we're in the thick of the summer travel season, I'm wondering how far food loving cooks will go to make sure they don't go without in the kitchen on vacation.
The house we rented at the beach last month (and for many years before that) comes with a spacious but horridly equipped kitchen. The mouth of the plastic blender is so warped it looks like singing lips. The serrated bread knife barely cuts butter, and the hard plastic cutting board sounds like glass when a blade whacks down. One coil burner on the stove resembles a popped jack-in-the-box spring.
To ease the pain of cooking in a poorly stocked kitchen, my dad typically packs knives (since we drive), one good frying pan, a microplane, a few potted herbs like basil and mint, and an arsenal of spices and sauces, including Sriracha and Mae Ploy. My parents usually stop at one of Durham's great bakeries to stock up on good bread, which we'll freeze and enjoy over the next two weeks.
I might squeeze in a blender and decent cutting board next year.
Some kitchen voids you can't be prepared for. Joe Yonan, Washington Post food editor, recently found himself in a rented Paris apartment, cooking sans oven. No getting around that no matter how big your suitcase is.
What are your "don't-leave-home-without-it" kitchen items? What's the craziest thing you've crammed into a suitcase in the name of good cooking?
Comments
Todd - You're right about most vacation homes being set up for shake n bake. Apparently, some people's idea of vacation does NOT involve cooking ... =) I've had people say to me, 'You cook on vacation?'
I have ripped cutlery drawers apart to reorganize (hiding the useless stuff until I leave,) reorganizing the pan cupboards, ditto on plates and cups. Tossed stale spices and bought new as needed. I even once bought a tall kitchen stool. I have blogged things I've cooked on vacations: an orange roasted chicken. Lobster rolls.
I rarely eat out at restaurants when I travel. I try to stay where there is a kitchen(ette) and I find going to the local markets/greengrocers/street markets is a wonderful way to become incorporated into the neighborhood.
/Although the knife at the house we just rented was actually decent, because no one has ever used it! ;)
Tony - That's too funny. Good idea to bail for the oven. I grilled 8 pizzas one night at the beach. Luckily, my family rented three houses on the same street (lots of people) and one had a good charcoal grill so we'd do all the grilling under that house to avoid the other scary grills.
My 6 quart braiser usually comes along too! I can do just about anything if I have that thing.
Gosh, you know you're a foodie when you look forward to cooking on vacation..
Pensacola ad - Because we love the beach there and the view from the house is stunning. Small sacrifice.