“A wooden spoon compels even the strangest of ingredients to get their acts together.” – Amish Proverb

I’ve long held that the most beloved tool in your kitchen should be a good, solid wooden spoon. You must keep it for as many years as it will allow, and use it for as many recipes as you can.

Every aroma, every flavour and every colour must be allowed to imbue itself into the wood, and you must never, ever try to remove them. They must be allowed to become part of the spoon’s personality.

Because that personality will then imbue itself into everything you cook from that time forward. You must allow the personality of the spoon to subtly alter the aroma, the flavour, and the colour of your dish, making each recipe you prepare slightly more unique, even from the last time you made it.

It was my goal with this image to show the personality of this humble wooden spoon as it prepares the awesome flavours of this Thai green curry. It has cracks and splinters and the head is darkened with the stains of countless meals it has prepared over the nearly twelve years I have owned it. And it is still my favourite utensil, the first thing I grab when preparing to start my next dish.