I am definitely struggling with this - my old kitchen is in boxes in CA (complete with KitchenAid) and my new one (after 4 years in Italy) is starting to take shape. Keeping it minimalist is good.

My five:
- Santoku knife
- Calphalon spatula/mixer
- Medium size saute pan
- Braun stick blender
- 9x13 glass baking pan

I'd have to go with a good chef's knife, a soup pot, my dutch oven, a metal spatula, and my Braun stick blender.

I have a well-stocked (okay, cluttered) kitchen though and I think I'm going into heart palpitations at the thought of paring things down that far!

Before I read the lists, I actually thought of Ruhlman's except instead of the bowl, I would like a rectangular clear pyrex baking pan.

These were the very first items that we invested on (especially the chef's knife) when my boyfriend and I first moved in together. We were able to entertain guests with complete 3- to 4-course meals using just those.

Have to delurk for this one!

-My big Global knife
-Deep cast iron fry pan
-Mandolin (one that grates, slices, chips, zests, etc)
-Spatula (one that stirs and flips)
-And ... it's indulgent, but I have to include my espresso machine. Or could I just put that in the bathroom (shower, coffee; two birds, one stone!) and add a baking dish?

Love your site (and book!) Clotilde - thank you.

1) Vegetable peeler with a swiveling blade!

(please don't say that with the proper technique and a sharp knife I wouldn't need one)

2) Soup pot

3) Chef's knife (in ADDITION to the vegetable peeler - what luxury!)

4) One really big spooon

5) Screw your stick blenders, I want my robot

well, like you, I'm figuring i'll find a surface to chop on - a clean rock, perhaps. So definitely a knife.
a large shallow-bowled ladle
my mixie/ blender (which comes with a dry grinding attachment)
a wok
soup type saucepan

Okay, I was just assuming I would chop on the counter top (I do frequently anyhow, but don't tell anyone! ;-) )

I would have:
1) chef's knife
2) wooden spoon
3) large saute pan
4) casserole dish
5) steamer

Bingo bango. I am still reading your book, but it is very good so far!

I would need:

my chef knife
wire whisk
large spoon
stock pot
saute pan

I love your book and hope to get to France some day.
Susan

Mortar and pestle!!!!! The rest of the list I can't decide on.
If it's not cheating, a lot of serving dishes and utensils can function as cooking tools. (I'm assuming our kitchen is allowed to have plates and silverware!) It's far from ideal, but soup spoons can stand in for a wooden spoon, a plate can be a cutting surface, a fork can be a whisk.

Ohh this is tricky. At least on Desert Island Discs they get a choice of 8!! I think, like Jen I would go for;

1) chef's knife
2) wooden spoon
3) large saute pan
4) casserole dish
but,
5) a medium sized saucepan

Then I could do grilled chicken and rice with stir-fry veg. Tho' I would have to go out for desserts... unless I bake a cake in the casserole dish...!

This is a particularly amusing question for me, as I frequently have to spend time in a tiny apartment in the Caribbean equipped only with a single burner hot plate, 2 glasses, 2 plates, a fork and spoon, and a mini fridge. Restricted by airline baggage weight charges,(and complete lack of any baking/roasting facilities) I have found I can survive with:

1 saute pan
1 pot
1 chef's knife
1 silicon spatula/spoon thingie

My final item often depends on my food preferences at the time-- I've been known to take my stick blender or a mini slowcooker at times!

Good Q:

1. chinese cleaver
2. spoontula
3. long chopsticks (I'm Japanese - can you tell? Good for whisking, and as a tong)
4. Le creuset (mine has a skillet top and a saute pan bottom - is that cheating?)
5. bowl

Found your site serendipitiously.
I just ordered your book.

Now wait a minute, doesn't anybody want a can opener?

chef's knife, dutch oven, wooden spoon, microplane and glass measuring cup

I really have to stick with Ruhlman on the cutting board! I'd go bonkers with a good knife and trying to cut on a plate >_

My five:
-Good, ~8" knife
-Wood cutting board
-Nonstick saute pan
-Soup pot
-Tongs

I'd rather fashion my own wooden spoon than cutting board, so I'll happily trade those out. How in the world do you people get so much use out of a stick blender?

Oh, I meant to say for my #4 - my lecreuset skillet and a saucepan combo.

skillet and saute pan - what was I thinking??

Cutting board, chef's knife, dutch oven, wooden spoon (I confess I actually prefer my big red nylon spoon), and another pot or bowl in case I want somewhere to put the beans that are about to go into the dutch oven as soon as I finish the soffrito. Hate to have to hold all those beans in my hands.

4-qt Sauté pan (with lid)
Chinese knife
Pepper grinder
3-qt Saucepan (with lid)
Strainer

1. large bowl (for mixing)
2. soup pot (for cooking)
3. knife (for slicing, dicing, paring, shaving, and threatening...remember, desert island, possibility of encountering unfriendly "savages and wild beasts")
4. fork
5. plate (the kind with a bit of a rim, perfect for soups and "drier" meals)

It would be important, since I have a bit of an etiquette thing, to be able to dine upon my desert island meals, without shoveling with my big spoon straight from the pot!

: )

I've been thinking about this question too, as I am also reading this book.

My list reads as follows:
- My Staub dutch oven
- santoku knife
- cutting board
- wooden spoon
- pepper grinder

Hmmm... I'm not a very good cook, so I'd be lost without eggs, soup, and grilled cheese. Thus, my list:

A pot with a lid (which could double as a frying pan)
A sharp knife
A big spoon
A spatula (to flip aforementioned eggs and grilled cheese)
A large bowl for mixing things

Hmmn, lets keep the following items:

#1 A chefpan (like my Mayer Anolon). The only one you need at a push, the shape means you can cook anything from a stir fry through boiled potatoes to a casserole.

#2 My SMEG frige freezer. Well, partially to show off, but also to keep my food nice and fresh :)

#3 A nice sharp chef knife. I don't have anything special here (I'd chop my fingers off).

#4 A microplane grater. I love these and can't see why they haven't completely phased out "normal" graters...

#5 A wooden spoon. You gotta stir!

Ha! Having lived with only the VERY basics in Canada, China and Russia (I move a lot and travel light), this is an easy question. Cooking gear is great, but you can make a heck of a lot of stuff with only a few things, and improvise the rest.

1) soup pot
2) paring knife
3) chopsticks (@Sara: you're so right; you can cook with them and then use them to eat!)
4) wok (doubles as a mixing bowl...)
5) blender (the only thing I don't have...oh, the smoothies I'm missing out on!)

I personally could not live without a pair of tongs. I think they're the most useful item I've got in my kitchen!

If I could only have five, I'd go for:
1) tongs
2) 2 qt dutch over
3) chef's knife
4) paring knife
5) cast iron skillet

what a fun question!

1) iron skillet
2) good knife
3) 2 qt saucepan
4) 9x13 pyrex baking dish
5) whisk

For some reason, I keep thinking, "I'm on an island with just these utensils ... what will they be?"

In order of importance:
-A short chef's knife (8" for some extra versatility)
-A honing steel to keep my knife honed
-A big, stainless steel saucier
-A wooden mixing spoon
-A sturdy bowl (stainless steel if I'm on an island) ;D

Five items:

1. 8" Shun chef's knife
2. Large cutting board
3. 12" cast iron skillet
4. 7.5 qt. dutch oven
5. 4 cup measuring cup

At the risk of being redundant, my list (before I read yours and Michael's) went like this:

1. Large, sharp knife with a good heft to it
2. Wooden spoon OR silicone scoopy-spatula
3. Heavy-bottomed skillet OR wok
4. Whisk
5. Large bowl OR pot

I don't know why my whisk is so important to me, except that I seem to use it for every meal I cook! From the simple emulsifying of salad dressings to the quick blending of a smooth bechamel to all sorts of sauces and egg dishes, I think I would be lost without it. Of course, a fork does in a pinch/desert island, so I would probably trade it so I could have both a bowl AND an ovenproof pot of some sort (e.g., Dutch oven).

1. Medium wide-mouthed saucepan
2. Wooden spoon
3. Fork
4. Paring knife
5. Mixing bowl

I think those are my essential cooking tools :-)

I've been agonising over this, and then remembered that the year I was an assistante d'anglais in Tours, I lived in a chambre de bonne with a 'kitchen' consisting of a small fridge and a hotplate and actually did not have ANY of the items on either your or his list. If I'd walked in one day and found either set of five items had magically appeared, I would've thought I'd died and gone to heaven!

So, here's my list of five:
1. chef's knife
2. cocotte
3. wooden spoon
4. mixing bowl
5. food processor (much as I like my stick blender, this is more versatile)

My list has the knife, saucepan, and spoon -- but I also added a mandoline and a food mill. I am considering swapping one of the last two for a spice grinder! Could I please have six?! :-)

My five:

1) Immersion blender (mine has a whisk and food processor attachment!)

2) Peeler/grater/corer/shredder combo utensil (just swivel the blade)

3) A large pot

4) Bialetti stovetop espresso maker

5) Shun chef's knife (yep, I'll ruin the blade without a cutting board, but I'll find a piece of wood)

This IS a difficult choice, especially for someone like me who loves all kitchen gadgets!

Here's my list:

1- Santoku Knife
2- Silicone Spoon (my Orka, I adore it!)
3- Chantal Enamel11QT Roasting Pan (lid flips over and can be used on top of stove or in oven as can the bottom, I adore this, too!)
4- Cuisinart Food Processor (mine has a whisk...is this cheating!!!? )
5- I have a toss-up between my Microplane (it's true, my food processor has a grater disk, but I love the convenience of zesting citrus, etc, with a microplane) or a pyrex bowl that could be used for mixing or for baking!

I'll assume I can find some surface for cutting other than bringing a cutting board, too!

BTW, for a holiday party, I used your spices to make my Mom's Gougère recipe - the 2 are similar except that mine has more milk and yours has more butter.... "butter, butter, and more butter..." isn't that the secret of French cooking?! ;-) and they were a great success! I'll try your proportions next time just to compare!
Speaking of butter, I'd love to try making my own and then make the gougères!

I will have to check out the book. My immediate list is all the things I use the most:

1. Chef knife
2. large non-stick soup pot
3. silicon spatula
4. food processor
5. Pyrex baking pan

What a thought-provoking question! I've been thinking about this all day, and finally decided to answer on my blog.

1) Handmade wok
2) Butcher's knife
3) Wooden spoon
4) Whisk
5) Rolling Pin

I would pick

A Wok.
A Chef Knife.
Long Wooden Chopstick.
Stock Pot.
Chopping board.

I'm boring but that's the only equipment I use anyway :D

Quick question: why do all your entries have a link to read more? I'd much rather read the whole entry on one link, and then progress to the next and the next, etc. Just wondering if there is some rationale....

Clotilde, how ever do you chop using a paring knife? I use my paring knife every day, but I'd be lost without a chef's knife.

Thinking of my cooking at home, my list would be:

Vegetable knife
Saute pan (large)
Soup pan (large)
Colander
Vegetable peeler

However, as I am currently living in accomodation with a microwave, kettle and toaster only, I seem to be managing with only a pyrex jug, a sharp knife and a cafetiere. Five items? Luxury!

"A Student" your comment reminds me of the book "Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant"--an exceptional collection of short stories about cooking and eating for one. Highly recommend it to all.

6" chief knife
wooden spatula
cast iron frying pan
stock pot
watt ware bowl

I'm Indian and live in India, so this is influenced by working habits in a kitchen equipped with certain traditional bits and bobs, and often denuded of electricity!
1. A balloon whisk
2. The Indian cook's blade which rises upright sturdily from a wooden base (and leaves BOTH hands free to play with your food!). No chopping board needed!
3. Coffee filter
4. Wide-bottomed kadhai, preferably made of lined copper/brass or else cast iron (for frying, roasting, brasiing, boiling, steaming...)
5. A bottle --- for water as well as doubling up as rolling pin (also for keeping recipe notes and maps of the island's kitchen garden dry!)
What I hope to improvise:
1. grinding stone --- basically a rough flat slab and a smoother rounded one will do the job of most grinders and blenders. It's what most Indians use!
2. Leaves for grilling in, packaging foodstuff in...
3. Scalded flint piece or hardwood twig by way of spatula/skewer/stirrer...
:) (alright, i'm being facetious...but only slightly)
as for utensils, don't need 'em -- we eat with our fingers! and actually, one CAN cook many things in a coconut shell or on a thin flat stone slab...

I think I'll have to take lessons on how-to-restrict-yourself-when- you-are-in-a-kitchen-shop as sometimes I really splurge on too many things I even do not use afterwards...ever. Yes, willpower and self-control probably forget my name every now and then...:-)

Clotilde, you are a star!

1. Plain ol' vegetable peeler
2. Cutting board
3. Potholders
4. cooling racks (love them!)
5. Our new fancy frying pan

1) a really good paring knife
2) cutting board
3) cast-iron pan/pot
4) heat-proof all-purpose mixing bowl
5) a pair of chopsticks (they are as versatile as anything...)

the very faithful five in my everyday cooking escapes... =)

Hmmmm....
1. A large chef's knife
2. A large non-stick or cast iron skillet
3. A whisk
4. Set of nesting bowls
5. Spoon

fascinating responses. love the comment that a wok could serve as bowl and cooking vessel--but could you fry an egg, make a pancake in a wok? when i asked bourdain he put wok on his list. keller, a big cast iron pan. jim poris an ed. at food arts didn't have a cutting board-his countertops would be wood.

Ruhlman... aka this is all your fault!! :)

We have a wide wok that I've used for frying eggs in... tho' I haven't tried pancakes in it... yet! I suppose you could make very small pancakes in it as all the mix would slide to the base of the wok. Then again if the mix was carefully manoeuvred then maybe you could make pancakes... I am sooo going to have to try this now!!!

Only 5. Yikes.

8-inch chef's knife
3 quart saucier
12 inch carbon steel skillet
whisk (can stir and whip with it)
6 quart stockpot (can boil water for pasta, make a stew, use as a bowl)

I assume I have a fork to eat with so I don't have to include a fork to flip things. Hardest thing for me to do without - the original Microplane rasp.

Yes, you can make pancakes in a wok, I have done, but it doesn't make my list, because I need something heavier for stews and braises.

Like virtually everyone, my 8" chef's knife, and silicon spoonula. My 5qt. black Staub iron cocotte with lid, my kitchenaid coffee grinder with removeable washable blade section- which will do coffee and grindings of spices, etc., and a paring knife.

Just missed the list: Braun immersion blender and wok.

My 5 items:

my trusty knife
saute pan
coconut shell spoon
tamis
tagine

and i have to hold back with hands on chest!! :)

such a good question! my top five are:

- solid wooden spoon
- food processor
- chef's knife
- microplane/zester
- cutting board

Hmmm. a tricky question, but if I had to:

1. Pressure cooker, vintage preferably.

2. Large non-stick frying pan

3. Chef's knife

4. Rice cooker/steamer

5. Wooden spoon

whew... please dont make us to that again! :)

* A good chef's knife and paring knife (Funny, a friend of mine was just here for dinner the other night and I was prepping a bunch of vegetables, blissful with the thump-thump of a shiny new knife when she said, "what, don't you have a food processor?" I was so thrown off.)

* All-Clad stainless skillet with cover

* Le Creuset doufeu

* Mandolin

* A big orange ceramic mixing bowl

1. Fireman's axe
2. Sledgehammer
3. Small vial of KY
4. Brillo mitts
5. Lighter with plenty of fluid

As you can probably tell, I am an outdoorsman and live off the land. Except for my laptop and satellite dish.

my list:
1. 5 inch serrated utility knife (Currently I have a henkel one of these...it isn't the best for anything, but will, with patience, do almost everything)
2. Le Creuset marmitout (3 qt please, i have a 2qt now, and use it at least 5 times a week, just a touch too small-but i've made most everything on the stove, plus roasted with it, and made bread and cakes)
3. wooden spoon (although yes, a silicone spoonula is tempting, but i wouldn't give up the real spoon)

I could stop there--i did have only these things (although I added a cheese grater after a month) for about 4 months. But i did no baking then...

4. large heatproof bowl (10 qt at least!)
5. 9x13 metal pan (I bake a lot of cakes in a 9x13 pan with lid that was my Grandmother's in the 50s--but maybe a 9x9 would be easier to work with/more flexible).

Just missed
Cheese Grater (not a box--medium if just one)
Sheet pan
Silicone spatula
cutting board
paring knife (3")
oven stone
whisk
spatula (turner)

I love how similar tools float around with unusual ones in everyone's lists... I know I'm posting a bit late on this topic, but I couldn't resist. :-) Here's my humble list:

My enormous Calphalon non-stick skillett, with which I could cook dinners for the whole county.

My 8" JA Henkles chef's knife - the greatest (and albeit most unusual) graduation present ever!

Cast iron dutch oven

A nice plump balloon whisk

Food processor (who could live without being able to whip up hummus at the drop of a hat? :-)

Wok
Steamer (especially microwave steamer, but the ordinary one that sits on top of the stove is pretty brilliant, too)
Food processor
Manual cappucino whisk which actually whisks eggs far better than anything else I have!

(I am acting on the assumption that the regular "batterie de cuisine" is taken for granted!)

It's funny - I live in a small apartment with an even tinier kitchen (I tried to find the biggest kitchen possible when I was apartment-hunting, but one's funds reach only so far), and every time I cook, I have to be content with the essentials. When I started out, I really did only have five or so tools. I had the following:

Rice cooker - essential because of how often I eat rice and it reminds me of home (and was in fact a gift from my parents)

No-stick frying pan - essential for making omelets, pancakes, scrambled eggs, stir-fries, etc.

No-stick pot - essential for everything else that need to be boiled or submerged in liquid.

Knife - I just started getting interested in cooking recently, my mom cooks a lot but has never had different kinds of knives, so I go with one basic one (I have no idea what kind it is) and use it to pare, chop, slice, mince, all of the above.

Wooden spoon - For mixing when using silverware isn't safe.

My kitchen tools have grown in number since then, mainly because I've grown more inventive as to how to make space for them. But still it's growing slowly - for instance, just yesterday, I bought my first whisk ever. :)

My picks:

santoku knife
ceramic baking dish
rubber spatula (the cake scraper kind)
cheese grater
cast iron pan

1. Wusthoff santoku knife
2. Cast iron wok or karhai (Indian wok)
3. Medium sized mortar and pestle
4. Ceramic baking dish
5. Flat spatula (good for stir-frying, flipping pancakes, cleaning baked-on crud out of wok, etc)

I'd also really like a grater and my cast iron skillet, but that's #6 and #7...

1. 12-inch skillet
2. immersion blender
3. stock pot
4. whisk
5. chef's knife

I find it interesting that people are divided between paring knives and chef's knives. I try to use a chef's knife more, but end up chopping what some food writers call "grandma style" with a paring knife. I cut almost everything except meat this way. It is instinctive. Obviously I would take the paring knife which I can do anything with, and a dutch oven for a pan, as it can be used, in a pinch for sauteeing or for making soup or stew. I couldn't do without eating untensils, though. I think it would be too hard for me to slurp from the pan-- especially if I was sharing the meals with others.

Dory

knife
Dutch oven
wooden spoon
stock pot
spatula

my five: trying so hard not to look up...

my cast iron pan
good sharp chopping knife
flat wooden spatula
cutting board
stock pot

For cooking purposes I would have to have what I use each and every day and what I love to pieces. My...

1. 7 inch santoku knife (can we bring the knife sharpener as a set?)
2. wooden block cutting board
3. microplane grater
4. mortar and pestle
5. William Sonoma spoonula

My 6th item would be a cast iron dutch oven.

But cooking aside, I would also need my tea kettle and French press. A day does not start without caffeine!

Mine is very similar but I would choose...
My Santoku Knife
A large Heat proof bowl
A whisk or tongs
I love using a whisk for lots of things but a spatula is good also.
My large Green Cast Iron Enamel Dutch Oven. It can do anything and I never make soup or chili with out it.
And a wooden spoon I would take this over a spatula any day.
But If I could I would choose my Kitchen Aid Mixer oh and a cake pan too.

Lots of great discussion on this topic. My five would be:

1. Good 8" chef's knife
2. Heavy duty mortar and pestle (for years I went without a processor and just used my smooth granite mortar)
3. Big enamaled cast iron Dutch oven - it can be used for nearly everything
4. A silicon "spoonula" - I saw someone else mention this and think it's a great idea. I never realized how handy they'd be until someone gave me one.
5. A 2 1/2 qt sauce pan - sometimes that big Dutch over would be overkill

If I get to add a 6th item it'd be a good Swiss Army knife with a can opener and a corkscrew!!!. Yeah, I know adding a 6th item is cheating, but whatcha gonna do about it - throw me into blogger jail? :-0

My five:
Wok
chopping board
chef knife
Wooden spatula
Kettle