Kitchen equipment suppliers:
Mold Brothers, Maé Innovation, Bake Supply Plus and Miniature Sweet - food molds
Japan Trend Shop - ice ball machines
Nella - Kitchen supplies
From Japan the classic Benriner adjustable mandoline food slicer:
A tamis is essential for making extremely smooth forcemeats, purees and sauces. They come in a variety of mesh sizes, typically 20, 40 and 60; the mesh size is the number of square openings per linear inch, so a 20 mesh would have 400 openings per square inch. Though tamises are commonly used for sifting flour, I use the 40 mesh to make sauces very smooth.
Dessert, appetizers and even main courses can be enhanced with tuile (or tuille) decorations. The original tuile is a classic French very thin and crispy "cookie" that contrasts well with creamy desserts or is used as an addtion to appetizers or mains. Other versions are made in molds to make more elaborate designs. The flavours can be sugar, honey, chocolate or fruit for desserts, or parsley, red pepper or turnip for savory courses. Most molds are made from silicon, so they can be either baked or frozen. Readily available from Amazon in these and many more designs. Also see Frida Molds. (Get some tuile recipes here.)
 |
 |
 |
| Tuile leaf mold | Tuile honeycomb mold | Tuile fish mold |
 |
| Cone mold for appetizers |
These molds are used to form fancy terrines for appetizers or main centre pieces; they can also be used to cut out circular pieces. Available from Amazon.
 |
| Küchenprofi Stainless Steel Forming Rings with Tampers |
To enhance a cocktail presentation, use these devices made from brass, aluminum or copper to melt lumps of ice into fancy diamond, sphere or polygon shapes. They range in price from $150 to $750 depending on materials and quality. See the Vevor website.
 |
 |
| JMYTK Ice Ball Maker | Vevor Ice Ball Maker |
Most meat grinders are good for making hamburger or grinding other products. I am looking for a grinder that can produce a finer grind for pates and other more finely minced finished product. The Bosch Universal Plus is a multi-attachment unit that comes with a bowl and mixing paddles but has the capability of adding many more attachments. One advantage of the Bosch meat grinder is the variety of grinder plate sizes available. It comes with a 4.5mm plate; others available are 2, 3, 6 & 8mm.
A good specialty turner with the large openings makes flipping larger items much easier and allows any liquid to drain off. This one by Triangle is high quality.
 |
| Triangle brand turner |
A specialty fish turner is in valuable when trying to flip soft fish like sole that can easily fall apart. This one from Triangle is high quality.
 |
| Triangle brand fish turner |
Quenelles and rochers are different in two ways: the quenelle is made with two spoons, going back and forth to create a three sided shape; the rocher is made using one spoon and a special technique to create a smooth oval shape. Quenelles and rochers are used for everything from forcemeats to ice cream.
Suppliers:
 |
| Triangle brand quenelle spoon |
| |
 |
| Rocher spoon |
 |
|
 |
| ice cream rocher | | forcemeat quenelles |
For food preparation and presentation various tools are used to make it easier. The sets below are made by Mercer Culinary, some are available from Amazon.
For the ultimate in specialized flatware get the escargot/crab extraction fork. Triangle make a high quality model.
 |
| Triangle escargot fork |
