Cutting boards are as essential to the kitchen as the knives that rely on them, and today, there are more designs to choose from than ever. Notice the Royal Standard’s state-shaped cutting boards or Williams-Sonoma’s wide variety of sizes and materials. It’s not at all excessive to have several cutting boards: a small one in the bar for limes and lemons only; one in the kitchen (for onions) that can be tossed in the dishwasher; and a rimmed cutting board, for slicing meats, that keeps juices from running over. They also make great serving pieces for hors d’oeuvres. Moreover, local artists are making beautiful cutting boards from reclaimed wood.
Denham Springs-based woodworker Chris Fry is known for his elegantly crafted utensils (his flat-topped spatulas are perfect for homemade roux), but his personal cutting boards are tidy little items for chopping one onion, avocado, tomato or apple at a time. Fry keeps plenty around his own kitchen, often using them to serve sandwiches, clusters of grapes, sushi or cheese and crackers. The boards also work well as spoon rests. Available at the Baton Rouge Arts Market or through spoonmill.com.
New Iberia-based mixed media artist Kenny Greig, a retired school psychologist, uses various exotic hardwoods to make his signature chessboard-style chef block cutting boards like the one pictured belowattractive pieces that add an art accent to the kitchen but are also highly functional. Greig’s other culinary pieces are wooden serving trays, which he makes from reclaimed or sinker cypress. Available at the Baton Rouge Arts Market or through the Louisiana Craft Guild at louisianacrafts.org.
