Things Cooks Love Reviewed in Memphis’ Commercial Appeal

Whining & Dining: Kitchen must-haves for cooks

By Jennifer Biggs
Wednesday, April 23, 2008

A wonderful book came in last week: "Things Cooks Love" by Marie Simmons ($35, Andrews McMeel Publishing). It's part of a series owned by the kitchen store Sur La Table, which, of course, has good cause to publish books about gadgets, cookware and beloved ingredients.

More power to them! I'm crazy about this book, even though I take exception with some of the beloved items. While I agree that a clay cooker and a pressure cooker are treasures, I probably haven't used my fish poacher three or four times in the 15 years I've owned it.

I love my garlic press -- I just started using it about a year ago -- but I don't care for a garlic peeler. In fact, I have no need for one since I throw the unpeeled cloves in my press. I don't use a melon baller, but I couldn't get by without my mandoline. Bread machine? Not for me. A panini grill, ditto (come on, we've all seen enough "Good Eats" to know we don't need that). But don't touch my stand mixer or my citrus press.

The book also lists foods by country, such as essentials for the French pantry, the Iberian pantry (yum!), Moroccan, Indian and so forth.