Copper Cookware
It's copper, not gold, that's the kitchen standard
Copper pots are labor-intensive. Just ask anyone who has worked at the bottom rungs of the kitchen of Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, Virginia.
They can attest to the fact because polishing the restaurant's large collection of copperware is a nightly task that must happen before the restaurant closes.
But this chore (and chefs would argue, the high price point) is offset by an indisputable advantage: nonreactive, even cooking surfaces that return consistently exceptional results.
And Restaurant Eve is hardly alone. At Buvette, in New York, copper extends to pastry preparation. The small restaurant's signature chocolate mousse gains unbelievably light texture from egg whites that have been whipped in copper bowls.
At Tennessee's super-luxe agrarian retreat Blackberry Farm, copper pots regulate heat for gently cooked just-plucked-from-the-ground vegetables.
Most copperware is still produced in France, where the cookware gained its reputation. But the metal is finding domestic strides again, thanks partly to Brooklyn Copper Cookware. The pots are lined in the traditional way–with tin instead of stainless steel–and include one retinning in the price (pots start at $159).
So cop to it.