Saucepans

These are probably going to be the most important purchase a cook will make.

There is so much rubbish out there and millions of pounds spent to beguile you into buying them, so here you really do need some help. What you want is something solid and reliable, and I have spent years searching out what I've now finally come to believe is the best. There is no doubt that heavy-gauge aluminium is the very best conductor of heat. I have demonstrated its importance in making omelettes and cooking sauces: no sticking, no catching, no scorching.

I would banish the traditional non-stick brigade entirely, having suffered so many peeling, scratched and useless non-stick non-starters. Manutacturers needn't talk to me about being careful - you know, never having the heat high and using plastic spoons and forks etc. I am a cook and if I want to sear a steak, I want the pan to be blasting hot and I don't want to then turn my steak over with some flimsy plastic fork that the heat will melt.