Spoons. Knives. Forks. Occasionally a pot holder.

Seriously, for hundreds of years, great French cooks have produced exceptional results with a fairly limited collection of equipment. They have relied on whisks for beating, spatulas for folding, spoons for stirring, heavy copper pots for excellent distribution of heat, and rolling pins to shape dough. Like serious cooks anywhere, they absolutely depend on good knives - a heavy chef’s knife for chopping vegetables, a paring knife for paring and boning (and many have a separate boning knife) and a slicer, at least. All very low-tech, but in the right hands, capable of turning out masterpieces.

There are, of course, some specialty kitchen tools that have also found wide acceptance outside France. Among them: