I am not much of a gadget person, unless you count knives, cake moulds, cherry de-pitters, egg slicers and silicone goodies that keep cut avos green.

But my microplane – together with my knives – is precious, and my brand new truffle shaver is the pièce de résistance, even if it is used for ultra-fine slices of my bumper crop of radishes.

I eventually plucked up the courage to buy a pasta maker (we’ve been hand-rolling for many years) but now feel like I’m cheating. Luckily my friends and family still rave about having homemade pasta; it doesn’t matter whether it’s hand-rolled, hand-cut or put through the rollers, as long as it is handmade.

My other prized possession is a Jamie Oliver pestle and mortar – it’s the only one that hasn’t smashed into smithereens.

Last year I ate a magnificent dish at The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français in Franschhoek that used a smart gadget. The little bell jar of smoke that arrived at the table blew me away. It was lifted to reveal a gorgeous smoked oyster with a tiny wobbly granadilla jelly and bits of chorizo. The gadget required to get this dish just right is a smoking gun, and I managed to experiment with one last week.

Smoked butter is so delicious, especially on a fluffy baked sweet potato, or a bit more posh in a hollandaise sauce. Smoked salt is in right now, and some of the poncy cocktail bars are even offering smoked ice cocktails. (A smoked bloody Mary could be quite a taste extravaganza!)

I used the gun to make smoked mussels, which worked out pretty well. They were inspired by a trip that my husband and I did to Maine. We had discovered a little smokehouse in the woods, where we bought copious tubs of meaty mussels and smoky bacon. We used apple and hickory wood chips in this nifty gadget, and we tried to smoke chillies, and even some white balsamic vinegar.

Chef, restaurateur and charcuterie mastermind Neil Jewel from Bread and Wine, also in Franschhoek, was one of the first chefs to introduce me to well-smoked products. (You can get it so wrong, and end up with bitter morsels of brinjal and tomatoes.)

George Jardine of Jordan Restaurant is still having fun in his veggie garden at the side of the restaurant, burning down the odd wine barrel to smoke his ingredients, whilst Luke Dale-Roberts from The Test Kitchen and The Pot Luck Club inspires us with his magical dish of smoked beef fillet in a coffee truffle sauce with a puff from the smoke gun.

Whether you are eating in or out, have a great week.
Abigail

Cook’s note: If you fancy a smoke gun, contact Greg Boki from Cuisine Technology SA, who also stocks other exciting special gadgets from PolyScience.

Photographs: Sarah Mulligan, nessguide, Reinald Kirchner and Cuisine Technology.