You’ve been watching Top Chef, or maybe you have a women in your life you want to impress with your take on the Joy of Cooking, but either way, everyone’s getting into food. You’re going to need a few things to take your dishes out of the ordinary and into the arena of serious culinary territory. But what do you really need, and what are just useless, expensive pieces of clutter every kitchen seems to have? Read on, and you’ll be on your way to cooking the pants off even your hottest date.

The 12 Inch Chef’s Knife

This is the only knife you’ll need. Period. Yes, there are knifes to filet fist, there are knife’s to cut bread, and there are knifes to do pretty much every other little thing around the kitchen, but this is the true work horse. You can do everything from fabricating meat to chopping vegetables with this thing, and as long as you keep it sharp, you’ll never find a job you can’t tackle with it. Make sure to get a sharpener and actually use it. People don’t cut themselves with sharp knifes; people cut themselves when their knives become dull and they use too much force. Choke up on the knife so your hand is rapped around the butt of the blade, with only the back of your palm resting on the handle. This will up your control.

Kosher Salt

This is a secret from the pros. No other salt is used in a real kitchen, certainly not those ionized grains you’re just as likely to find on the table at your local McDonald’s. Quality cooking is done with kosher salt, sea salt, and some more exotic rock salts. But if you can only have one, kosher is the way to go.

A Solid Cutting Board

Few things will get more use in a kitchen, maybe only the items on this list. It is important to get a good, sturdy board, preferably made of wood. The plastic ones you see are fine, but the knife works better on wood, and wood is actually easier to clean, and carries less germs. Try to find a board with good rubber feet on it, it will help it from slipping on the counter top, which leads to cuts on your hands and arms. Not Good. If your board doesn’t have feet, take a paper towel, fold it in half, and wet it. Place it on the counter, and then put the board on the counter over the towel. This will keep it from slipping around.

A 14-Inch Galvanized Steel or Teflon Pan

A pan, just like a knife, is a place where it will pay off to pay for quality. Higher quality steel and Teflon conduct heat better; meaning less cooking time, and better, crispier skins on poultry and fish. For a full set of cookware, young people should not spend more than $300 to $400 dollars. More expensive sets have advantages that only a seasoned cook will enjoy, so to learn, a less expensive alternative is fine. But if an entire set of cookware seems like overkill, and it does to many of us, then just get a great pan. You can do everything from cook your eggs, to warm up soup, to do chicken, fish, and steak, all in the same pan.

You may not be Wolfgang Puck, but with the four essentials above in your kitchen, you’ll have everything you need to wet your culinary beak. There are a few great books that can give you some solid footing in the food world, including Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, Home Cooking with Charlie Trotter by Charlie Trotter, and of course the book that changed everything, The Joy of Cooking, although this book is a little more advanced in techniques and verbiage than most people expect. Even if you go close your eyes and randomly grab something out of the cooking section at your local bookstore, you are bound to learn something. Freddie says, “Get to it!” Your date will thank you, and us.