Kitchen gadgets and iconic utensils that make fabulous gifts but you'd definately also want to keep for yourself. 

Did you know that, despite the fact that chefs and knives go hand-in-hand, their most treasured kitchen utensil is the humble wooden spoon? It's for all that stirring and tasting of course. 

But we all have spoons. So what else does one need to cook in comfort? Hannah Lewry, TASTE's Assistant Food Editor, is passionate about kitchen equipment and lets us in on those she simply cannot do without - either in the TASTE test kitchen or at home. 

HANNAH'S LIST

• Top class microplane for feathery light Parmesan and to grate long strands of lemon zest
   
• A good quality pestle and mortar will outshine any new grinding gadget - that’s why its been around for so long
   
• A really good mandolin, to make easy work of slicing
   
• A resilient silpad to ensure the even baking of apples or potatoes and that will also prevent them sticking. It can be used time and time again
   
• Sharp knifes - you can't be in the kitchen with out them. I use Victorinox (creator of the Original Swiss Army Knife) and the colourful Scan Pan range from Denmark.
   
• A good processor for the daily grind. Nothing beats freshly ground coffee. Ever. 
   
• Mixers for the perfect cakes – it ensures that the butter and sugar creams well for top results and keeps the air in your cakes. Like the Kitchen aid mixer from Chefs' Warehouse pictured here.
   
• Different coloured chopping boards for meat, veg, chicken, onions so on. This ensure the flavours don’t mix.
   
• The quality of your pots and pans can make or break your dish. Go for heavy, good quality cast iron pots and pans with thick bottoms for slow cooking and sauces, non-stick slick pans for the perfect eggs and ridged pans for sublime steaks. Woolworths' range of anodized cookware with non-stick inside (pictured here) is just perfect.
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• A strong garlic crusher to save time and your sanity. Crushing them also imparts more flavour than when you use a pestle and mortar.
   
• A sturdy potato ricer to ensure lump free, creamy mash that will make everyone look up and say "wow!"

OTHER PRODUCTS WE LOVE

Joseph Joseph Spaghetti Measure from Yuppiechef

The original and innovative spaghetti measure provides an adjustable portion guide for one to four servings. Available in green, white red or grey.

Simply glide the lever along the side of the disc, and adjust the spaghetti measure according to your number of guests.

Also, it looks like a camera aperture and has a little tab that makes it open and close. Nifty.

Buy it online from www.yuppiechef.co.za

Vacu Vin Fruit Slicers from Woolworths

Save time with these 3 practical kitchen products:

The melon slicer helps you cut the melon in half, scoop out the seeds and take out the ready-to-eat slices

The strawberry huller effortlessly removes the cap and hull of strawberries

The citrus peeler makes removing the peel of citrus fruits a dream.

Buy it online from www.woolworths.co.za

Cuisipro Deluxe Decorating Pen from Yuppiechef

With the pressure on to create beautiful macarons and cupcakes, you really need one of these.

With perfect portion size coming out the decorating end, it's as easy as writing with a pen.

You have three decorating options: the pen nozzle for thick lines and two standard decorating tips: round and ribbon.

Simply fill the body with store-bought or homemade sauces such as chocolate, icing, honey or berry sauce and away you decorate.

Buy it online from www.yuppiechef.co.za

Vacu Vin Slice & Catch from Woolworths

Chopping by hand is exhausting and messy. Enter the Vacu Vin Slice & Catch, which replaces the gap left by those horribly noisy choppers we all grew up with, and some of us probably still own (cleaning is/was a nightmare).

This one can slice several types of vegetables and fruits and cleverly catches the pieces in the cup.

Simply press the cup on the fruit or veg and let the stainless steel blades in the bottom do the work. And cleaning is like wiping the chopping board.

Buy it online from www.woolworths.co.za

READ MORE ON KITCHEN GADGETS

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