Kitchen essentials for the holidays

KitChen holidays essentials For the by Nick Nunes

The happiest time of the year is also the busiest time of year. Not only does the Christmas season come with an influx of tourists to the island but it comes with a surge in familiar fetes, focuses on food, and general chaos in every kitchen around the island.

Like most Caribbean cultures, a strong stance is taken when it comes to feeding the ones you love, especially during the holiday season. No other time of the year has quite the focus on food as the Christmas feast commands.

Christmas comes with the demands of the delicious revisiting of old memories and traditions that spark jubilant imaginings of all the joyous flavours of years before. Hams, roast birds, puddings, potato-based everythings, pies, pumpkin dishes, rice, confections—this is the time of year when all the best and more extravagant feast foods come together.

For many, this may be the first Christmas in two years that family is truly coming together again, at least the extended and extra-large families that may have been stifled by social regulations that have now been lifted. A good Christmas clean of the kitchen is a great start to finding out what you need and what needs replacing or restocking for the season. Christmas is basically already here. The radio waves are already demanding a focus on the jolly season and hams are filling the cold isles of supermarkets in anticipation of being taken home. So, what are the essentials? Here are the obvious items to check over-baking paper, foil, cling film, paper towels, wax paper, measuring cups, tongs, graters, thermometers, stirring spoons, serving spoons, ladles, tongs, sieves, scissors, mixing bowls, twine, scales, peelers, roasting trays, baking trays, serving plates and bowls, colanders, kitchen knives, and chopping boards for different purposes. Making certain that you’ve got all these up to scratch and ready to undertake the heavyduty workload that they’re about to endure is paramount for a successful Christmas feasting season. Aside from measuring spoons and baking dishes and an assortment of pots and pans for all the fixings to be festooned across the serving table, an often forgotten must for feast occasions is Tupperware. Without a doubt, there will be leftovers of all the Christmas dishes that help to make the holiday a happy home dining experience. Inevitably, we all lose our takeaway containers to family and friends that will definitely be carting off some of the sumptuous selections on the Christmas table.

It is definitely time to restock on all the small and large containers that can be carried away when lethargy starts to set in but a desire to revisit the wondrous meal still remains. Making the kitchen experience a little lighter is always going to be a boon for anyone dedicated to personally crafting a complete and hearty banquet. Some of the best ways to tackle a host of different dishes come in the form of new-fangled gadgets for the kitchen.

One of the biggest trends of the day comes from the air fryer. These contraptions aren’t a new addition but have certainly gained steam in the last few years. Basically, they’re just small convection ovens that make for easy use and quick cleanup. Throwing some potatoes or any other dishes that usually require baking or frying into an air fryer can cut down on the amount of time your oven is occupied with other items.

A rice cooker is also a perfect option for saving stove top space and setting and forgetting something that doesn’t need a whole lot of vigilance. The stove top is definitely going to be covered in pots and pans for sauces and gravies and other dishes that need a watchful eye. However, washing and pouring your cleaned rice into a rice cooker makes for checking one big ticket item off your list and removing it from taking up stove space. Plus, when the rice cooker is done, there’s no risk of burning the bottom of your rice when you get caught up in the fray of cooking too many dishes at once.

Now, the big boon of kitchen helpfulness comes in the form of a crock pot or slow cooker. These wonderful gadgets are so versatile and wonderful that every kitchen should boast one. Stew, roasts, soups, casseroles, stuffing, braised meats—the crock pot can seemingly do it all. Especially for dishes that you want to get extra tender, low and slow cooking is the way to go without wasting expensive gas by utilising the stove.

Kitchen gadgets of today can aid in improving all facets of dish creation and are a great way to smooth out all the wrinkles in space and cook time in the kitchen for Christmas. If you know someone that’s always in the kitchen, some of these gadgets will also make for extremely appreciated gifts. See our gift guide on page 14 & 15.