How to Master Your Kitchen

zesters by mhenning on Polyvore

This is a new series I am starting on henning love. I will be sharing with you some of my favorite kitchen items, items that will make you a better chef because the proper tools are important and necessary. I primarily will share tools that are multi-purpose. I don't appreciate tools that serve only one purpose, they just take up space in your kitchen. 

Think of kitchen tools in terms of your job, you have certain things you need to do your job well so you can become a master at your job. You need a proper working computer without dial-up Internet, you need a keyboard, a mouse, etc. Without these important tools to help you master your job, you wouldn't be able to do your job very well. Same goes with kitchen tools, these kitchen items that I will be sharing in the next few weeks will help you to produce better meals or desserts. 

The first kitchen tool I am sharing today is a zester. That was one of the necessary items on my wedding registry I knew I had to have and I kid you not I use my zester ALL the time. A zester  is basically a smaller grater, you know that boz with four sides and four different types of holes, usually to grate cheese. A zester is not only for zesting citrus fruits, or getting the rind off of the citrus fruit that adds real depth and flavor. A zester can also be use to grate ginger, to grate fresh nutmeg. You know nutmeg is found as a small ball that is ground up, well you can grate a nutmeg to get the freshest of spices. You can zest a chocolate bar if you are a sprinkling of chocolate on top of any dessert. You can also zest a block of parmesan cheese on top of your spaghetti or any pasta dish. 

In the image above are the different type of zesters you might find in kitchen or home product stores. The zester I have is the upper left on with the black handle. It has a good grip feature, doesn't slip out of my hand and the length of the zester allows me not to scrap my fingers and get a lot of zesting out of the food item I am using. 

If you have any questions on using a zester, please don't hesitate to ask. By the way, I am definitely not a professionally-trained chef, the kitchen products I am sharing in this series are my personal favorites that I want to share with you all.