Another Reason Why the Spoon Is the Most Useful Kitchen Utensil

Photo credit: Julia Bainbridge

As if we needed yet another reason to reward the spoon for its versatility, we learned one last night.

Over a seafood-coconut curry dinner at designer Nicole Miller’s house (she appreciates the finer things in life), New York chef Seamus Mullen taught us to remove the skin of ginger with the humble spoon.

“I learned it in a kitchen years ago,” he says. “It works remarkably well—better than a peeler—and you’re not going to cut your finger off.” Plus, there’s less waste than if you cut the skin in large chunks with a knife. “You get everything.”

The key is to hold the ginger in one hand and gently scrape the edge of the spoon against the skin and towards you, being sure that the concave part of the spoon faces you. “If you use too much force, you might remove too much,” warns Mullen, plus it will be more difficult. The process should feel easy; you want to “gently scrape it down.” As for the type of spoon, Mullen says a good old tablespoon works best.

So: spoons. You can scoop avocados with them, you can dress plates with them, you can eat almost anything with them, and you can prep dinner with them. Pretty good, Spoon, pretty good.