Current:Home > MarketsNancy Silverton Says This $18 Kitchen Item Changed Her Life -TradeCircle
Nancy Silverton Says This $18 Kitchen Item Changed Her Life
View
Date:2025-04-13 04:02:52
We interviewed Nancy Silverton because we think you'll like her picks. The products featured in this article are from brands that are available in the NBCUniversal Checkout Marketplace. If you purchase something through our links, we get a commission.
Nancy Silverton is a culinary icon. She's always been a force, from her start as the opening pastry chef at Wolfgang Puck's Spago, to creating the cult-favorite artisan bread-baking La Brea Bakery, to her world-famous restaurants Campanile, Pizzeria Mozza, Osteria Mozza, and chi SPACCA. Silverton is also the author of nine must-read cookbooks. Talk about a culinary legend!
E! got to ask the trailblazing chef our burning questions, including which kitchen gadgets are worth it, how to give a great kitchen gift, and the best way to enjoy mozzarella—Nancy says it's "bufala mozzarella with Spanish anchovies," by the way.
The outstanding chef even told us all about an $18 kitchen item that changed her life.
Silverton is no stranger to life-changing advice. In 2023, the Los Angeles-born chef wrote the cookbook The Cookie That Changed My Life. Now she says there are two kitchen items out there that she finds "life changing." The first being the microplane.
"What I love about it is that it doesn't plug in. I am not a fan of any kind of kitchen gadget that plugs in, so it's right in my wheelhouse," she explains.
"I love that there are so many configurations now to the holes themselves. So there's a small, medium, and large which all have their places. There are also ribbons and slashes. I probably own six of every single kind of microplane and I'm always looking for a better handle and a better weight to them, but they're all great. I use them for anything from zest, to cheese, to grating garlic. I love it all!" she says.
The Osteria Mozza chef also called out her long-time love of the mortar and pestle, dating all the way back to her culinary school days at Le Cordon Bleu in London.
"It's a porcelain-made mortar and pestle. I love making things in mortar and pestles. I use them for making all my pounded sauces, like pestos and nut-based sauces, to green sauces, to using just the heavy bowl of that mortar with a whisk to make any kind of emulsified dressing or mayonnaise-based dressing," she explains.
The chef says the heavy porcelain mortar is actually more ideal for mixing dressings because lightweight mixing bowls tend to "flop around the counter" if not properly secured. However, Silverton, who is one of Hexclad's Chef Ambassadors, did call out the Hexclad mixing bowls with rubber on the bottom as a "great" option because they don't tend to move.
Silverton is also a fan of the brand's pizza steel, as well as their cooking pans.
"I was always anti-teflon; I only had them to make scrambled eggs in," she reveals. "What's great about Hexclad is that even though it's teflon, it's stainless-steel based, which makes a huge difference for conducting heat. I think that they are really terrific, well-made and have a lifetime guarantee, and that's a huge asset when it comes to pans."
Because Silverton is "not a big fan" of things that plug in, when asked what the most overrated kitchen gadget is, she laughs and says, "the electric can opener. Do they even make those anymore?"
However, there is one plug-in item she finds worth it, and if you're looking for a housewarming gift or even a wedding present for someone you love, this device gets the Nancy Silverton stamp of approval. "I'll make an exception, I do love my KitchenAid mixer," she says.
"When it comes to making doughs and batters, it's very hard to get away without having a proper whisk to whisk egg yolk and things like that. It's a great one to gift."
And if you need more gifting inspo, take Silverton's excellent gift-giving advice: "I find all sorts of things I love and I'll give them out."
She calls out her collection of wooden spoons as "a beautiful gift to give someone."
"I really love flat, heavy-duty wooden spoons, or I call them spatulas. I think that those are great gifts. I've recently found a brand of peelers that are really great. I also really love rolling pins that have the right heft to them."
Shop kitchen items inspired by Nancy Silverton's picks
Stock your kitchen with Nancy Silverton-approved kitchen items, all inspired by her career, her favorite things, and her suggestions.
Sign up for E! Insider Shop to get updates on the biggest sales and must-have products!veryGood! (4)
Related
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Why Blake Shelton Is Comparing Gwen Stefani Relationship to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's Romance
- Colin Farrell is a terrifying Batman villain in 'The Penguin': Review
- Japan celebrates as Ohtani becomes the first major leaguer to reach 50-50 milestone
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- This fund has launched some of the biggest names in fashion. It’s marking 20 years
- Takeaways from AP’s story on the role of the West in widespread fraud with South Korean adoptions
- Rare G.K. Chesterton essay on mystery writing is itself a mystery
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- Takeaways from AP’s story on the role of the West in widespread fraud with South Korean adoptions
Ranking
- The Best Stocking Stuffers Under $25
- WNBA playoffs bracket: Final standings, seeds, matchups, first round schedule
- Zayn Malik Makes Rare Comment About Incredible Daughter Khai on Her 4th Birthday
- Prosecutors decline to charge a man who killed his neighbor during a deadly dispute in Hawaii
- NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
- Patriots vs. Jets score, highlights: Aaron Rodgers leads New York to blowout win
- Elle King Addresses Relationship With Dad Rob Schneider Amid Viral Feud
- Meet Your New Favorite Candle Brand: Emme NYC Makes Everything From Lychee to Durian Scents
Recommendation
Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
Michael Madsen requests divorce, restraining order from wife DeAnna following his arrest
Where is Diddy being held? New York jail that housed R. Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell
Joel Embiid signs a 3-year, $193 million contract extension with the 76ers
Could your smelly farts help science?
Colin Farrell is a terrifying Batman villain in 'The Penguin': Review
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Letterboxd Films
Josh Heupel's rise at Tennessee born out of Oklahoma firing that was blessing in disguise