Equipment
The first thing you need in the kitchen is air. Ventilation is really, really important. (Hoods that "filter" the air and blow it back into the kitchen don't count.) Without ventilation, you can either limit your diet to white rice and tea, or turn your home into a stinking, grease-covered firetrap. You choose.
There are a many ways to obtain the necessary ventilation. Just a fan blowing out a kitchen window helps a lot. If all else fails, consider cooking outside. Camping supply stores sell single-burner propane ranges for outdoor use, and they are far superior to most domestic ranges. If you perform only the greasy, smoky work outdoors, you will only need to go outside briefly. Even if it is raining, it will be worth the trouble.
(I don't mean to be a hardass about this, because I know a lot of you are stuck in apartments that don't have good kitchen ventilation, and there's no easy way to install it. This is the biggest limitation in a lot of home kitchens. You can still cook a good number of things, but a lot of what I suggest here will be intolerable in practice due to the amount of smoke and airborne grease that it will generate.)
Next, you need fire. Your fire may be wood, gas, or a fire brought to you from a distant location through the miracle of electricity. Perhaps you are fortunate enough to live near an active volcano, and have been delighted to discover that by setting up a rotisserie next to the still-steaming wall of magma in your backyard, you can roast a very tasty leg of lamb. Lucky you! The sources of heat vary enormously, but you will most often need a lot of heat all at once, or just a little bit over a long period of time. Therefore, you will cook mostly on the very highest and the very lowest settings of whatever sort of fire you are using. We will examine fire more closely in the next chapter, which is titled "Water".
The next thing you need is a medium-sized cast iron frying pan, and a spatula with a comfortable handle. Cast iron pans are always a good choice; the second-best is a heavy, solid aluminum frying pan of the type found at restaurant supply shops. While there are many steel and other sorts of frying pans available, none of them are nearly as useful as cast iron. Thin, lightweight pans made out of sheet metal are of no use whatsoever.
Following that, you need a good chef's knife and a heavy, solid wood cutting board. Don't get anything that looks space-age or weird; get something that looks solidly built and feels good in your hand. If you don't know what brand of knife to buy, buy a Henckels. This is going to cost somewhere between fifty and a hundred dollars. If you can't afford a stainless knife, find an old iron knife at an antique store. It will need more maintenance, but it will provide a superior cutting edge. To keep it sharp, you will need a good knife sharpener. The "Chefs Choice" sharpener works well and is easy to use. Sharpen your knife whenever it feels the slightest bit dull. It is always easier to sharpen a knife than to try to use it when it is dull.
A pot with a tight-fitting lid is also helpful. A spoon to stir its contents is useful, although the spatula may be used for this purpose. A heavy, thick-walled pot is superior to a thin-walled one, and a tall pot is better than a short, wide one. It should be large enough to hold all the food you plan to cook when it is half-full.
A coarse steel-wool pad (not the kind impregnated with cleaners and detergent) will clean the frying pan. If you don't like eating with your hands, you can find yourself a fork or a pair of chopsticks. Should civilized behavior or numerous guests indicate the need for a plate, or even several, by all means purchase a durable, solid specimen, and forsake the horror and indignity of disposable dinnerware.
That's nearly all you will need. It's not much, but it's all that is required. There is a principle to be found here: a good kitchen is defined mostly by what it is not. It is not a repository for little knicknacks. It is not a showcase for Ronco Turnip Twaddlers. In particular, it is not a place where you keep things but do not use them. Put useless objects somewhere else, or get rid of them, and you will have a good kitchen. Leave them where they are, and they will constantly interfere with your work.
There are a many ways to obtain the necessary ventilation. Just a fan blowing out a kitchen window helps a lot. If all else fails, consider cooking outside. Camping supply stores sell single-burner propane ranges for outdoor use, and they are far superior to most domestic ranges. If you perform only the greasy, smoky work outdoors, you will only need to go outside briefly. Even if it is raining, it will be worth the trouble.
(I don't mean to be a hardass about this, because I know a lot of you are stuck in apartments that don't have good kitchen ventilation, and there's no easy way to install it. This is the biggest limitation in a lot of home kitchens. You can still cook a good number of things, but a lot of what I suggest here will be intolerable in practice due to the amount of smoke and airborne grease that it will generate.)
Next, you need fire. Your fire may be wood, gas, or a fire brought to you from a distant location through the miracle of electricity. Perhaps you are fortunate enough to live near an active volcano, and have been delighted to discover that by setting up a rotisserie next to the still-steaming wall of magma in your backyard, you can roast a very tasty leg of lamb. Lucky you! The sources of heat vary enormously, but you will most often need a lot of heat all at once, or just a little bit over a long period of time. Therefore, you will cook mostly on the very highest and the very lowest settings of whatever sort of fire you are using. We will examine fire more closely in the next chapter, which is titled "Water".
The next thing you need is a medium-sized cast iron frying pan, and a spatula with a comfortable handle. Cast iron pans are always a good choice; the second-best is a heavy, solid aluminum frying pan of the type found at restaurant supply shops. While there are many steel and other sorts of frying pans available, none of them are nearly as useful as cast iron. Thin, lightweight pans made out of sheet metal are of no use whatsoever.
Following that, you need a good chef's knife and a heavy, solid wood cutting board. Don't get anything that looks space-age or weird; get something that looks solidly built and feels good in your hand. If you don't know what brand of knife to buy, buy a Henckels. This is going to cost somewhere between fifty and a hundred dollars. If you can't afford a stainless knife, find an old iron knife at an antique store. It will need more maintenance, but it will provide a superior cutting edge. To keep it sharp, you will need a good knife sharpener. The "Chefs Choice" sharpener works well and is easy to use. Sharpen your knife whenever it feels the slightest bit dull. It is always easier to sharpen a knife than to try to use it when it is dull.
A pot with a tight-fitting lid is also helpful. A spoon to stir its contents is useful, although the spatula may be used for this purpose. A heavy, thick-walled pot is superior to a thin-walled one, and a tall pot is better than a short, wide one. It should be large enough to hold all the food you plan to cook when it is half-full.
A coarse steel-wool pad (not the kind impregnated with cleaners and detergent) will clean the frying pan. If you don't like eating with your hands, you can find yourself a fork or a pair of chopsticks. Should civilized behavior or numerous guests indicate the need for a plate, or even several, by all means purchase a durable, solid specimen, and forsake the horror and indignity of disposable dinnerware.
That's nearly all you will need. It's not much, but it's all that is required. There is a principle to be found here: a good kitchen is defined mostly by what it is not. It is not a repository for little knicknacks. It is not a showcase for Ronco Turnip Twaddlers. In particular, it is not a place where you keep things but do not use them. Put useless objects somewhere else, or get rid of them, and you will have a good kitchen. Leave them where they are, and they will constantly interfere with your work.