In planning for our global grand tour I’ve had to think about what kitchen utensils I will want to use in holiday rentals along the way – and what I can justify taking in my luggage. For starters, I’m going to need a cleaver…
It has also got me thinking about what travellers expect a holiday rental kitchen to be equipped with when renting a property. One of the trends I’ve observed over the last couple of years staying in holiday rentals is a move to more sophisticated show kitchens.
We’ve also stayed at some properties where the kitchens have been awesome, but plenty of others where things have been a lot more, ahem, well, basic. Let’s just say you’d have a hard time making a toasted sandwich in some of them.
So just what is it that we think every holiday rental property should have in its kitchen?
Firstly, a list of the basics…
I’d been thinking about this for a while when it finally twigged – the Ikea Startbox! I’m not advocating Ikea – those knives with the plastic handles are awful – but the 365+ cookware is great value, and what’s in their Startbox is about the most basic level of kitchen utensils we’d expect. (Take a look here.)
In addition, there should be a decent stove (gas, pretty please) with oven (gas or electric), toaster, and kettle, thanks. That’s enough to get us by for a week or two, and is even good enough to be able to host a decent dinner party.
We’d be even happier if there were also decent non-stick pans, good cook’s knives, and an espresso machine – okay, we’ll settle for a traditional Italian stovetop espresso maker.
We do, however, understand that some of these items are prone to misuse. We had a guest at our apartment in Dubai who would leave the knob on the steamer that creates the cappuccino foam on our beautiful Gaggia espresso machine, almost causing its metal body to bulge under the pressure.
When it comes to the subject of what I can’t live without in the kitchen of a holiday home or apartment, no matter what’s provided, it’s really just a few things:
- a decent cook’s knife
- a thermometer for the oven and meat (I’m a cook, not a chef with the touch of an angel), and…
- a silpat.
I also asked our readers on Twitter what was the single must-have kitchen item to take around the world and the best response I got was from Chef Gary Robinson, who formerly ran the superb restaurant Mezzanine in Dubai, and was once head chef to HRH The Prince of Wales.
Chef Gary suggested I take a Chinese cleaver, claiming that it’s the only knife he uses at home. But then he’s probably biased after years working in Hong Kong.
The cleaver is an excellent idea now that I think about it. Anything from chicken bones to stubborn cloves of garlic can be slaves to the flat blade. But how do I explain that to Customs every couple of weeks?
“Sir, why are you carrying a cleaver in your luggage?” Um…
So what’s the single must-have kitchen item that you expect to see in holiday rentals?
I agree about the knives and a sharpener. We have holiday cottages in SW France and we think we have thought of everything – we do ask guests for feedback after their stay and over the last 6 years this has pointed out a few missing items and we have been able last season. Bottle opener, tin opener,potato peeler and measuring jug get the most thank you comments. I will be adding a chinese cleaver in each cottage for the 2010 season – thanks for the tip.
Great post. The Ikea 365 cookware and start box are extremely durable, which is the main thing. The only area where our Swedish friends fall down is in their glassware- we find this far too fragile for rental use. Otherwise the utensils have held up well for the past three years. We thought we were pretty well equipped (villa near Perpignan, France) until a family insisted on a deep fry pan/cooker. We’ve decided to invest in a good one, if only to prevent people from trying to create a home made contraption themselves. PS Thanks to @cottageguru for pointing us your way.
Greetings!
Thanks for your comments and the compliment!
Just to clarify, we weren’t actually endorsing the Ikea startbox, per se, merely the fact that it covers the basic utensils that you need to make a decent meal!
I do like the Ikea 365+ cookware, however, I agree that it’s very durable. Glassware? No way. Knives? Nup.
Deep fry pan? Dangerous in the wrong hands and probably something that I’d be very hesitant to put into a rental property myself, but then I’m no fan of cooking fat fires, they’re very hard to put out ;)
A guest must reallylove deep fried foods to bother cooking them on a holiday!
Surely, the most basic item of cookware has to be a saucepan? It can double as a frypan, but you can’t boil water very well in a frypan. Obviously you’ll want a chopping board and knives too. Plus crockery and cutlery.
Travelling with a knife should be okay if it’s going in your checked baggage.
As owner of a rental cottage in Ontario, Canada and manager or 150 others we expect standard items to be crockery, cutlery, glassware, a full range of kitchen utensils and several small appliances. When I go to a vacation home in another country I never go without my trusty potato peeler, so I have made sure my cottage has a very good one. Good quality knives are a must – it’s one of those things vacationers complain about the most. Our list includes, cup measures (for N Americans) and a weighing scale in metric and lbs for our European guests, a good blender and mixer. A slow cooker is one of our most asked for items from our winter guests so they can get something going before heading out for a day in the snow.
Greetings Heather,
Sounds like your guests are seriously into cooking, but I guess if you’re renting a cottage you’d be staying in by the fire at nights!
I don’t worry about a peeler, I can always use a small knife — totally agree on the knives. Great idea about the slow cooker, just the thought of that is making me hungry. Have to admit, I’ve never stayed in a rental cottage in the snow. I’m a first-lift to last-lift snowboarder — I’m usually too tired to cook at the end of the day anyway!
Thanks for your insight.
T
i wonder if you can get a passport for a cleaver?
great post.
Xander,
I just want to see it show up on the x-ray machine when the bags go through!
Shouldn’t the kitchen be equipped with whatever the locals use in their kitchens? Should we expect to have western conveniences in non-western homes? I personally loved making coffee strained through a sock in Thailand simply because brewed coffee was not the norm.
But yes, a good cleaver is a staple that is probably found around the world!
Jamie, thanks for your comment.
Commercial kitchens don’t really vary that much around the world – I’ve been in a lot of them! If holiday-rental guests turned up at a Thai rental property and there was only a cleaver and a charcoal-fired wok and no fridge (just ice) they wouldn’t be happy, regardless of whether that’s the local custom or not. THere is an expectation of a certain level of convenience – western or not. Travelling around Thailand we’ve seen lots of roadside espresso machines. What part of Thailand are you talking about?