If anyone can make a vegetable peeler an exciting topic of conversation, it's Ina Garten. For decades, this chef has shaped America's culinary habits, comprising everything from blenders to knives to oven thermometers – but we've recently discovered her most accessible essential to date.
Every kitchen needs a vegetable peeler, whether you're an avid cook or not, but you shouldn't get too used to keeping the same one in your drawer. In an interview with Food & Wine, Garten explained that you should replace your peeler (and your zester) every single year – but thankfully for us, her favorite peeler is under $14 on Amazon (and it comes in a pack of three, which, in theory, can keep us going for three whole years).
'Vegetable peelers get rusty, they get dull, and they're very cheap, so you can just throw them out and buy new ones,' Garten says. 'Every once in a while, I do that.'
Described as 'the ultimate all-purpose peeler,' the Kuhn Rikon is ideal for a wide variety of fruits and vegetables (both soft and hard) and more. It features a razor-sharp straight carbon steel blade that maximizes smoothness and minimizes wastage and is suitable for right and left-handed use, so you can invest with confidence. Plus, with this pack of three, it's even easier to cook in a Garten-approved way for longer.
Made in Rikon, Switzerland (since 1986, no less), this peeler is not the only international icon with a place in Garten's kitchen. We recently wrote about how Ina Garten swears by European-style sponges, also known as Williams Sonoma's pop-up sponges. You might be thinking, 'a sponge is a sponge,' it's worth trusting Garten's recommendation in this case.
Garten's go-to sponges are highly absorbent, all-natural, and gentle on cookware. The founder of Williams Sonoma discovered them on a trip across Europe decades ago, and he knew he had to bring them back to the States. Now, they sit alongside the Swiss peeler in the chef's Hamptons kitchen.
These fluffy, compressible sponges are some of the most absorbent on the market, easy to store, and all-natural. Plus, Ina Garten's endorsement makes them all the more sought-after. When it comes to a choice of sponges, it really can't get any better than this.
If it's good enough for The Barefoot Contessa, it works for us. Both this peeler and the sponge speak for themselves. We might even say we would enjoy the potato peeling process from here on out.
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