Pancake pan: This is the very pan my grandmother used to teach me how to make pancakes. It’s almost 29 years old – they just don’t make them like
they used to in the old days.
Jaffle iron: It’s a snackwich machine for the fire. Open it up. Butter the outsides of two pieces of bread, add cheese and tomato or whatever you like in the middle. Close it up (butter on the outside) and stick it in the fire. Snackwich!
Sieve: These days they’re making very nifty rubber sieves that fold fl at. Great for travelling.
Measuring cup: For baking only – it’s the one thing about which you have to be precise.
Small pots and pans: They should stack into each other.
Sponge, block of soap, dish towel, pot scourer: You always forget them and it’s a curse.
Moka pot: I love a good cup of coffee in the morning. Commonly known as an espresso pot, you can put these on the fire too – just be careful of plastic handles: they melt.
Tea strainer: You can also use it as a bouquet garni – put all your herbs inside and throw it in the pot with your food.
Grater: These come in small sizes.
Pot holder: Vital for handling pots on the fi re without burning yourself.
Bottle opener: We’ve all sat trying to shove a cork into a bottle of wine.”¦
Bottle stoppers: One for champagne, one for wine and a pourer.
Sugar thermometer: So you can check whether the heat’s penetrating all the way through your meat.
Tin glasses: You really don’t want breakables along with you, these are great for a Bloody Mary, G&T or even wine.
Metal skewers: As much as I like dangling marshmallows on a stick over a fire, sometimes it makes sense to have things that don’t burn.
Wet stone: For sharpening knives.
Oyster knife: Using a screwdriver often means you lose half your fingers in the process.
Skinning knife: My pièce de résistance! It’s made out of mild steel – which rusts like crazy – but when you sharpen it on a wet stone, you get a mighty fine, razor-sharp blade that’s good for everything.
Bush toaster: You can use this on a fire or gas.
Travelling knife: A good sharp knife you don’t mind losing.
Potjie pots: Whatever sizes you need – you can stack them all into each other and they don’t take up much space.
Other things: Mortar and pestle, bread knife, spatula, garlic crusher, lemon squeezer, small fruit knife, pizza wheel, basting brush, scissors, can opener, peeler, basic hiking knife, fork, spoon, wooden spoons, meat fork, whisk, tin mugs.
And anything else that’ll make life out there easier.
For more recipes and outdoor cooking ideas, read Justin Bonello’s Cooked in Africa: A cooking journey through Southern Africa
