Led by Fanny Craddock in the 1960's, followed by the Galloping Gourmet Graham Kerr in the 1970's and then by Michel and Albert Roux in the 1980's, there is no doubt that the current huge proliferation of celebrity chefs is a sign of the times and evidence that they are here to stay.

Our current celebrities in the 2000 s are a mixture of memorable personalities and completely cooking different styles. From the Gallic charm of Raymond Blanc to the crude rough edges of Gordon Ramsey, the technical scientific precision of Heston Blumenthal to the casual, relaxed style of Jamie Oliver, your favored celebrity chef is strictly down to you.

One characteristic they all share is the requirement for more and more kitchen equipment. If the domestic gods and goddesses of the amateur kitchen are to keep up then they are often obliged to spend money in buying not just the freshest ingredients but also the latest equipment which might be needed to cook those ingredients. The kitchen work top seems to have less and less space occupied by more and more gadgets and gizmos.

Exotic equipment, until recently completely unheard of in the UK, has now become common place in many of the UK's kitchens.

For example, the coffee machine 30 years ago was at best a machine which boiled water at one end and dripped coffee through a filter paper at the other end. Today the consumer has a massive range of machines to choose from – from the simple percolator to the most complex espresso and cappuccino "bean to cup" machines which grind the beans, boil the water, pressure-pumps the water through the coffee, to produce exquisite espresso and pours the coffee into your cup for you. Much of the reason for this change is not just that there is more high quality coffee in restaurants, but that the consumer urged on by celebrity chefs is pushed to go for quality.

Another example is the humble kitchen knife. Time was when the ordinary kitchen just had a carving knife and a chopping knife. Chefs have shown us their remarkable dexterity in chopping food using specially designed knives and in order for simple folk to do the same…. they also need to have their own range of knives. As we all know, these knives can range in quality quite dramatically – some of the more exotic knives from the Far East are painfully expensive but seriously impressive and very sharp.

So what is the amateur chef to do? Well, carefully think about what you do and don't need and then find a really good kitchen shop that is full of information and content that can really help you make the right decision.