THINGS YOU NEED, THINGS YOU MAY NOT RECOGNIZE, AND THINGS I WANT TO EXPLAIN

There are ingredients and tools I use at Del Posto that you may not have. This section is to help familiarize you with a few of them.

INGREDIENTS

ALMOND FLOUR: This stuff is not complicated to cook with, but it is extremely useful. Out of the bag it’s just 100 percent very finely ground almonds. But here’s a tip: Almond flour is untoasted, and untoasted almonds taste like nothing. Before you use it, spread a thin layer out on a parchment-lined sheet pan and toast it at 325°F for 5 minutes until it browns. Mix it around with a fork and be sure it doesn’t burn.

CHOCOLATE: The economic and social impact on source producers of chocolate is usually pretty devastating. There are a few responsible brands, but usually the process is Ronald Reagan meets Ronald McDonald: not cool. Use very good-quality chocolate like TCHO or Amedei. It won’t be cheap, but as Flipper (the band) said once: “Life is pretty cheap.”

DEXTROSE: I asked Michael Laiskonis, a teacher and a pastry chef in NYC, to explain dextrose. Laiskonis: “Though often referred to interchangeably with glucose, dextrose refers to a full conversion of starch to sugar, or 100DE (as opposed to partial starch conversions that result in glucose and corn syrups). Roughly three-quarters the sweetness of sucrose, it adds a ‘cooling’ effect due to its high heat of solution. Dextrose increases viscosity and benefits texture in ice cream and sorbet. Because of its low molecular weight, dextrose has a greater effect on freeze-point depression—nearly twice that of sucrose—thus contributing softness to frozen desserts.” Dextrose. I use it in sorbet bases.

GRAINS AND FLOURS BY ANSON MILLS: These guys rule. They have high-quality artisanal grains and flours that both restaurants and home cooks can get easily. I am crazy about their Spina Rossa della Valsugana polenta: It is gritty with beautiful little black specks. I also love their buckwheat flour called Grano Saraceno. The grains are milled and stone-ground weekly; these products are highly perishable. Store them in the fridge.

Clockwise from top left: Almond flour, dextrose, buckwheat flour, pectin, nonfat milk powder, polenta.

LABNEH: This is a strained cheese that is pretty much interchangeable with Greek yogurt. I like it because it is really thick and very tart.

MALIC ACID: This is like pastry chef salt, even though I also love actual salt. Find it online. Malic acid adds a beautiful tartness to fruit compotes and jams and sorbets.

NONFAT MILK POWDER: You’ll find this at any supermarket. I use it in gelato bases to prevent ice crystals. On the package it says you can mix it with water to make potable milk. Please don’t do that.

PECTIN: This white, totally natural, totally powerful powder thickens fruit jams and compotes and creates in them a beautiful shine.

SIMPLE SYRUP: Take equal parts sugar and water and bring to a slow simmer to dissolve the sugar granules. It will keep in your fridge a long time.

SOFT SILKEN TOFU: I make Tofu Chocolate Crème Brûlée (here) with this.

TOOLS

BAKING SHEETS (HALF BAKING SHEETS): The gold standard at any restaurant, half baking sheets will fit in your home oven, no problem. They are sturdy sheets with a ½-inch lip on them that won’t flex when you hold them. Don’t bother with lousy cookie sheets. Go to a kitchen supply place and get a few of these. They’ll last forever.

Chinois, left; china cap, right.

CHINOIS: This is a very fine-meshed, cone-shaped strainer. It’ll cost you, even at a kitchen supply store. But it will last you a very long time. Alternately, use a strainer with cheesecloth, or a China cap, which is similar but with larger holes.

COFFEE/SPICE GRINDER: Ideally, you’ll have two, unless you are maniacally diligent. Otherwise coffee will taste like spices, and spices will taste like coffee.

CLING FILM (AKA PLASTIC WRAP), 18 INCHES: Sadly, you probably need to go to one of those megalithic corporate shopping warehouse stores—like Costco—to get this. It’s worth it. A single roll will last a long time, if you have to replace it at all.

DEHYDRATOR: Get an Excalibur. It is cheap and has trays that slide out. I use one at Del Posto every day to slowly remove liquid from various ingredients. For you holdouts, there is another method: Put your oven on the lowest possible setting, prop the door open slightly, and bake. You’ll get nearly the same effect. It’ll just clog up your oven for several hours.

DIGITAL SCALE: Unlike other pastry chefs, I hate scales. They aren’t necessary for cooking in situations other than the highest of professional kitchens. This will anger some of my closest chef friends, and I have included gram measurements so they’ll relax. Julia Child’s cookbooks never had weight measurements. But if you must have a scale, get an Escali. It is cheap and lasts a long time.

FOOD PROCESSOR: I’m afraid you need one of these, too. Fancy or unfancy. It’s your call.

HUMAN HANDS: If an ingredient can be torn with your hands, put down the knife and tear it with your hands.

ICE BATH: An ice bath is equal parts ice and cold water and will cool your stuff down very quickly and that will make the NYC Department of Health very happy.

IMMERSION BLENDER: Get a good one, something powerful. It blends things. Right around fifty dollars nowadays. Anything cheaper won’t last. It must detach for easy cleaning.

MANDOLINE SLICER: My mom bought me one for my eighteenth birthday. I got a potato, went to the pantry, and shaved off a big chunk of my thumb and a little piece of potato on the first slice. I refused to go to the hospital, so now I have an oval-shaped divot on my right thumb. Use this to cut all manner of vegetables. Watch your fingers!

MESH STRAINER: You only need a little one—from Bed Bath & Beyond or even the dollar store. It will have slightly bigger holes than a chinois and you’ll need it on occasion.

MORTAR AND PESTLE: So caveman. So Pok Pok Andy Ricker. They’ll look really classy on your kitchen counter, like you’re an Italian grandma. Just keep them clean, OK? Make a pesto with a mortar and a pestle. Ask chef Mark Peel: It is the only way to do it.

NONSTICK COOKING SPRAY: Pam is fine. Ignore the version with the “fat-free” sales pitch on it. It’s a fat! It also helps parchment stick to sheet pans. I use it more for sticking than for releasing.

PARCHMENT PAPER: Get a box of the full-sheet pan-style while you’re at Costco getting your 18-inch roll of cling film.

RUBBER SPATULA: Buy a professional-grade heat-resistant one from your kitchen supply shop. Get two, actually: one for sweet and one for savory. Tomato sauce and candy don’t mix. (Or do they?)

SCISSORS: You need a pair exclusively for food. Wash them once in a while! Same goes for that grimy can opener in your tool drawer. Can you please soak that thing in sanitizer for me, like, right now? It’s so gross. The peeler, too.

SILPATS: Silpats are indispensable nonstick silicone baking mats that are washable. Use one for any recipe that is too sticky for parchment paper.

SMALL, MEDIUM, AND LARGE STAINLESS-STEEL MIXING BOWLS: These will make your life so much easier and they last forever.

STAINLESS-STEEL SAUCEPANS (ALL-CLAD): It’s time. Treat yourself to some nice pans, if you haven’t already. You deserve them and they are absolutely necessary.

STAND MIXER: The KitchenAid line does the trick, just don’t ever use it to make brioche because you will kill it right away—even before the showroom shine wears off. Whatever brand, make sure it comes with a paddle (for cookies) and a whip (for whisking), and don’t worry too much about the hook (that’s for bread).

THERMOMETER: This is necessary for making mozzarella, caramels, and other delicate, temperature-based foods. I am addicted to my Thermapen. It ain’t cheap, but it is super cool and will last you a very long time. Using it will make you feel very pro.

VEGETABLE PEELER: When I started cooking professionally, I had to peel a lot of apples. Eventually the natural citric acid split open the skin on my index fingers. Nobody cared. I am partial to the Y-peeler. Keep it clean!

WET-SAND METHOD: There are recipes in this book that call for the wet-sand method (Red wine plums and fried Roman artichokes, for example). It’s easy: Mix sugar with water in a heavy pot over medium heat until you have a slurry of a consistency a little too gooey to make a sand castle. Put a frying pan or lid on top. The condensation will drip down the sides and clean off any excess sugar that might otherwise cause problems with crystallization. Just watch it closely—peeking is fine. Don’t bother with the method of using a brush to wipe down the sides of the pot. Chances are your pastry brush has residual butter or oil in it and that will cause problems later.

WHISK: You probably have one or several already. I’m obligated to be sure.