THE KITCHEN EDITION · 01
Kitchen
Essentials
The Little Things Behind Great Cooking
Great cooking begins with more than just ingredients. A beautifully prepared sauce, a carefully simmered stock, a trusted cooking pot or a favourite kitchen tool — each has its own place in the kitchen.
Some essentials are about technique, others about tradition. And some carry cherished memories of childhood, family and the joy of cooking.
Welcome to my personal collection of recipes, cookware and kitchen companions — the timeless essentials I love to use, rediscover and share.
Find your essential.
No essentials in this category yet. More kitchen favourites are coming soon.
Beurre Manié
A traditional French kneaded butter made from equal parts softened butter and flour. Stir small amounts into a simmering sauce for a smooth, delicate finish.
Ingredients
- 25 g softened unsalted butter
- 25 g plain flour
Method
- Place the softened butter and flour in a small bowl.
- Work together thoroughly with a fork until the mixture forms a smooth, even paste with no dry flour remaining.
- Add a small piece at a time to a gently simmering sauce, whisking until completely incorporated.
- Simmer for a further 3–5 minutes, stirring, until the sauce thickens and the raw flour taste has cooked out. Add more only if needed.
Alessandro’s Kitchen Note: Always start with a little Beurre Manié. The sauce continues to thicken as it simmers. A wonderful optional finishing touch for the saffron sauce in Moules et Frites.
Direct recipe link: Open Beurre Manié
Kitchen Essentials · Stocks & BrothsWhite Veal Stock · Fond de Veau Blanc
A classic white veal stock made by blanching the bones first, then simmering gently with aromatic vegetables and spices. Based on the culinary training recipe in Eugen Pauli’s Lehrbuch der Küche.
Ingredients
- 4 kg veal bones
- 1 kg veal feet
- 500 g veal trimmings
- 7.5 litres water
- 40 g salt
- 800 g white stock vegetable bouquet (bouquet garni)
- 1 spice sachet with bay leaf, cloves, peppercorns and thyme
Method
- Chop the veal bones, veal feet and trimmings into manageable pieces. Blanch briefly in boiling water.
- Rinse the blanched pieces first with hot water, then with cold water.
- Prepare the spice sachet with bay leaf, cloves, peppercorns and thyme.
- Place the bones, feet and trimmings in a large stockpot, cover with the measured cold water and bring slowly to the simmer.
- Add the salt; skim off foam and fat as they rise.
- Simmer very gently for about 3 hours, skimming when needed.
- During the final hour, add the white vegetable bouquet and the spice sachet.
- Strain carefully through a fine cloth and cool rapidly before refrigerating or freezing.
Alessandro’s Kitchen Note: A little nostalgia from my apprenticeship: Eugen Pauli’s Lehrbuch der Küche was our training textbook. This classical foundation takes me back to the techniques I learned in those early kitchen years.
Direct recipe link: Open Fond de Veau Blanc
Alessandro’s Kitchen Collection · Kitchen MemoriesThe DUROMATIC · A Taste of Childhood
Some kitchen essentials carry more than ingredients. They carry memories.
I grew up with the DUROMATIC pressure cooker. My mother used one regularly, and it was simply part of everyday life in our family kitchen.
Years later, I decided to buy one myself. Rediscovering this wonderful Swiss kitchen classic has brought me so much joy.
There is something beautifully nostalgic about cooking with a pot that brings back memories of childhood — while creating new ones in my own kitchen.
— Alessandro Cipriano
Discover the cookware: Kuhn Rikon · Official product page ↗
Direct collection link: Open the DUROMATIC story