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Fired up over kitchen aids

Iwill never forget what legendary food person nonpareil Julia Childs said - and without hesitation - when asked what she would hustle out of the kitchen if it ever 'caught on fire'.

'Myself, dear, myself,' came the nonplussed response. 'Why, whatever did you expect?' Of course, she was partly joking. But her witticism and the ensuing laughter from the people at our table prevented me from discovering exactly which kitchen aid was closest to her heart, which single piece of equipment she just couldn't live without - which is what we really wanted to know.

Martin Kniss, executive chef of Cafe Deco on the Peak, was unaware of Ms Childs' retort when he replied: 'I'd grab my Lody.' I had to mentally run through a probable utensil inventory that Mr Kniss could possibly avail himself of while preparing the restaurant's extensive and varied menu. But my list, long as it was, lacked a Lody.

'I hate to show my ignorance, but what exactly is a Lody?' I sheepishly inquired. 'Not what, but who,' he replied with a smile. 'Lody has been my assistant in the kitchen for more than three years, ever since Cafe Deco opened. I'd be lost without him.' Now why was I expecting something along the lines of a favourite pot or a food processor? Lateral thinking would have told me it was understandable Mr Kniss would want to remove his 'right arm' from danger before all else.

After the moral issues of first saving lives were discussed, Andrew McConnell, master of the kitchen at M at the Fringe, confessed he would then make a leap for his precious knives.

He has a set of about 20, but more or less relies on just four or five to perform his daily cutting and paring. The essential tools of his craft have been with him for years and much like your favourite, most comfy shoes, have moulded themselves to fit their owner's body.

Mr McConnell told me his reliable knives 'have become extensions of my own arm. Working with somebody else's would seem as though I was using my left hand'.

What about a Chinese chef in a Chinese kitchen? If he had to rescue one thing, would it be his perfectly cured wok, or perhaps his finely honed chopper? Cheung Kam-chuen, executive chef of The Regent's famed Cantonese dining spot, Lai Ching Heen, has been creating his own special recipes for the award-winning restaurant since 1980.

Mr Cheung said at the first whiff of smoke he would make a mad dash for his coveted recipes (like the others he would do this only after whisking his staff away from harm).

It was virtually impossible, he said, to commit hundreds of his original formulae to memory. So he would grab these documents before anything else.

Bernard Ibarra, the recently arrived executive chef of the Mandarin Oriental, is French by birth but has come a long way from his Basque beginnings.

He has prepared delectable dishes in a diverse assortment of respected kitchens the world over. What does such a sophisticated cook hold closest to his culinary heart? It did not take long for Mr Ibarra to reveal that he would brave the flames in search of a jar of his very own homemade Singaporean-style sambal chilli.

'I can hardly eat without it,' he exclaimed. Not that he could not whip up another batch of his addiction, but it is an extremely time-consuming process, and time is something an executive chef at the Mandarin has in very short supply.

Would a female chef feel differently? Would there be other priorities if her kitchen was in peril? After all her staff were safe, Cheryl Clark, executive chef of California and Zona Rosa, would grab her 'special' cleaver. Ms Clark says that magically it is always sharp as a razor when other similar implements in the kitchen turn dull and lifeless. And while it is out of character for her to feel attached to inanimate objects, she makes a glaring exception in the case of her wonder cleaver.

'But above all,' she says, 'it has great sentimental value. My mentor gave it to me many years ago when I got my first big promotion. And it has a remarkable way of bringing me good luck wherever I go. So, needless to say, I don't go far from from home without it - especially if I know I'll be cooking where I'm going.' It is fascinating to hear master chefs reveal their personal attachments in the kitchen.

I, for one, never travel without my hi-tech rubber-handled pet knife. I love to cook, so I even take it along when I'm a house guest. Sooner or later I know I'll end up preparing a meal which simply would never look or taste as good without my trusty slicer and dicer wielding its magic.

But what about you? What would you grab?

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