Totally Fabulous Existence: Total Food Equipment
All that you ever really need and want for your kitchen and cooking is likely to be at Total Food Equipment (TFE).
It’s a mouthwatering destination. Sandra McLay of the Moorhouse Avenue store says the shop has long had a reputation for very high quality cookware and tableware, decorative items included. Because of this, it’s the store to frequent for those serious about cooking and meal quality. Using the right tools; cast iron, enamelware, or clayware makes meals deliciously successful. Many home cooks may not realise the tender effects that flow from long slow cooking in a perfectly evenly heated vessel, for instance. Or the fact that top-quality knives make their users less prone to injuries, rather than the reverse.
The team at TFE is trained in all of the technical aspects of their globally-sourced cookware, coffee-makers and appliances. They might even tell customers the temperature at which to cook certain dishes on their barbeques. Some of the pots and pans here are relative rarities, such as steamers with several tiers like multi-storey buildings. Sandra says she personally doesn’t boil anything except potatoes; she prefers to steam her vegetables, thereby retaining texture and nutrition. So the denser vegetables go into the lowest steamer, and the more watery, thinner veges into the top tier. Cooking like this is also elegantly simple… it’s literally a vertical stack, freeing up kitchen and element space.
All of those items which make meal preparation simple and ergonomic are bound to be somewhere in the Moorhouse TFE. Sandra says she supports local suppliers wherever possible. She points to a range of bread-or-cheese-board-looking ‘lynchboards.’ These are beautifully finished, silken-looking chopping or presentation-boards made here in Canterbury. They’re produced from recycled native beech and rimu, in thicknesses you’d struggle to find anywhere – even in currently produced high-end furniture. For those people keener on collating food, or in producing maximum-impact, minimum-effort meals, a visit to TFE will truly pay dividends. Not only is there gorgeous serve-ware and indie platters, there’s also the sauces, preserves, and grinds. In other words, here are the finishing touches in which the interesting and the tangy collide. These are the perfect items to ‘salt away’ for presents, no pun intended. This is the place to find marmalade containing whisky, jam made with riesling and lemon thyme, or salt for fajitas with the perfect ‘kick’ to make a meal memorable.
Later on in the calendar, when it’s becoming ok to talk about impending Christmas, this is the shop to put all gift dilemmas to bed. There’s gold-coloured cutlery, silicone casserole carriers; children’s bake-ware and cookie-cutter sets, not to mention candlesticks, cake stands, serviettes; even old-school pottery biscuit-jars. People who preserve lemons or any other fruit will find super-cool glass jars with different seal options here. Maybe TFE staff will even share their best-ever recipe into the bargain. TFE is at 218 Moorhouse Ave and has ample customer parking.
Visit www.tfe.co.nz, or phone 03 366 6912.
