Knowledge Base > Dan Marek - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

Dan Marek - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)

This event was on Tuesday, July 02, 2024 at 11:00 am Pacific, 2:00 pm Eastern

Join Chef Dan Marek in his virtual office as he welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to Ask Anything – from cooking techniques to cours… Read More.

Recorded

Question:

I will be starting the Forks over Knives class today. Checking to see what tools will l need besides knives. What pots and pans etc. I am starting from nothing or the basics.?

— Chrystee Pharris

Answer:

So the basics is actually a great place to start for the Forks Over Knives class. Um, you're not gonna need a whole lot more, but there is an equipment list that's actually listed on, um, the kind of in the beginning of the class. It's one of the sidebars you'll see. You can find an equipment list on those. Um, d and our customer support was fantastic about putting all those into the, the courses for that as well, so you can find all the equipment that you might need. Now that being said, um, you know, just starting off with your basics, your knives, a good saute pan, a good stock pot, um, you know, I think that those are probably gonna be the best places to kind of start with. Um, you know, there are, I can't think of a single one where you have to have like a food processor, but you might need wanna B blender or a food processor. And it doesn't have to be something like we were talking about here a second ago, like the Brevilles and the Cuisinart. Um, even the, the Hobart ones, those are very expensive. You can get a food processor at like any, you know, like big box store for like $30, you know, and above. Um, but something just to basically start out with that. Um, so I would basically start with what you have and see, um, you know, if, if something comes up as far as specialty equipment, see what you can do to get around that. Um, if it's something you're not going to use that often, because one of the things about the Fork Super Knives class is we want to meet, be able to meet you where you are. We don't want to take it beyond, um, what you have in your kitchen. You don't need a lot of fancy tools to cook. Um, you know, it's like the, like Michael Jordan didn't jump as high as he did because he had Jordan's on, right? He jumped as high as because of his own techniques that he had in himself. Um, and I think that's the same way all of us are in the kitchen. The more you learn, the more knowledge base you have, the less fancy stuff you need. There are all kinds of kitchen gadgets out there to be able to make things simpler or to be able to do things, um, in a different way. But those, all those kitchen gadgets can be done in a simpler technique than something that would plug in, um, think of a mortar and pestle, right? Instead of a food processor to make pesto same results. Um, you know, and some would argue that the mortar and pestle actually has a better flavor out of it as well. So, um, just start slow with it. It sounds like if you're starting with the basics, that's totally fine. You know, make sure you have your knives, a good cutting board. Um, you know, having a good SA pan and a good stock pot is more than enough to get you started on this and to continue your process as you go. Um, if there is a recipe for something that comes up where you don't have the equipment, um, you can always email us at support to be able to find a workaround around that. Um, or borrow it from somebody if you have somebody else that cooks too. But, um, have fun on that journey. It's a fun class and I'm sure you'll learn a lot.
Dan Marek

Dan Marek

Director of Plant-Based Culinary & Dev

rouxbe.com