Julie Bindel
During the Covid lockdowns, I accrued a number of kitchen implements I used only once or twice before confining them to the back of the cupboard. One item that lurks among the mismatched Tupperware is a rather expensive chip pan, namely a deep fat fryer with a whacking three litre capacity, in stainless steel, with a viewing window. I live with one other person, not in a lesbian commune, so why I thought I needed one as big I cannot fathom. In fact, why I needed one at all I have no idea.
Stuck at the back of my cupboards is a soda stream, coffee percolator, and an electric carving knife
Then there is the pasta maker I could not resist buying, along with supplementary gadgets including a ravioli tablet; drying rack; and roller and cutter set. I have used it only once, and it takes up a full cupboard all by itself.
Before you judge me as a money-wasting brat with an Amazon Prime habit, do remember that the restaurants were closed for what felt like an eternity, and I missed decent French fries and home-made pasta. But both were a disaster: the fries were soggy and burned at the same time, which was quite a feat, and the pasta looked (and tasted) like an explosion in a wool factory.
The most disturbing thing about my collection of kitchen implements is that they all seem to belong in the 1970s. Stuck at the back of my cupboards is a soda stream, coffee percolator, and an electric carving knife. These are embolic of the kitchens of aspiring working class women in the 1970s, acquired from Grattan’s catalogue and paid for on the never-never. Such gadgets were often on display to impress visitors and never used.
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Julie Bindel
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