When thinking about kitchen essentials, it’s easy to focus the mind on the big stuff: fridges, dishwashers, ovens, the list goes on. However, despite being small in size, one of the most important ...

Most cooks I know—including me—hate wearing gloves in the kitchen. That’s probably why you can find so many of us ignoring health-department regulations that prohibit touching food with bare hands.

You’re at a deli. You watch the cook take the trash out, or have a cigarette, or step away to heed nature’s call, and then come back to the kitchen just in time to make your sandwich. “Put some gloves ...