We asked some of the UK’s finest cooks and restaurateurs about the tools that make all the difference, from tomato knives to stick blenders

• Want to avoid forever chemicals? Here are the best PFAS-free frying pans

We all have that gadget we reach for in the kitchen; the everyday item that changes the way we cook, making chopping, zesting citrus fruit, flipping fish and grinding spices that little bit easier (plus, saving fingertips). A kitchen gamechanger doesn’t have to be fancy, though – Feast’s Georgina Hayden finds a tomato knife picked up on holiday indispensable.

So which gadgets and tools will make your kitchen life complete (and perhaps more enjoyable)? We asked some of the UK’s top chefs about the things they couldn’t live without.

Royal Festival Hall, London
Renée Fleming brought her communicative gifts to Strauss’s Four Last Songs in a programme dominated by Wagner. Making his LPO debut, Thomas Guggeis was an urgent presence

It was Donald Tovey who first coined the phrase “bleeding chunks”, referring to the often unsatisfactory practice of excerpting Wagner’s operas out of context. German conductor Thomas Guggeis’s rather neat solution here was to stitch them together into a relatively seamless whole. It certainly worked well in the second half of this Wagner and Strauss program, the London Philharmonic segueing effortlessly from Tannhäuser into Lohengrin and on to Die Meistersingers von Nürnberg.

Guggeis, whose Wagnerian credentials are impeccable, was an urgent presence, his eloquent body language and balletic arms conveying his every musical wish. If it was a little distracting at times, the results spoke for themselves. In the Tannhäuser Overture, the burnished brass of the Pilgrims hymn contrasted with skittish violins and woodwind in the Venusberg music. Sensual strings were coaxed to an orgiastic climax replete with crashing cymbals and clacking castanets before Guggeis crouched low to tease out a balmy post-coital epilogue.

The last 16 started with a host of intriguing fixtures. We hand out honours and dishonours from the latest round of action

Arsenal

Conservatives raised nearly £2m, Labour £1m and Reform £280,000 from donors in last three months of year

The Conservatives raised twice as much in donations as Labour at the end of last year, including £250,000 from Michael Ashcroft.

Despite some Tory donors flirting with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and others switching to Labour at the election, the party managed to raise almost £2m in the last three months of 2024 as Kemi Badenoch took over the leadership.

Our writers highlight the films they find endlessly rewatchable, including Notting Hill, The Wedding Singer and Mamma Mia!

“Feelgood” movies are often thought of as big-hearted romantic comedies, comforting classics, or childhood favourites that still hold up decades later. In our series, My feelgood movie, Guardian writers reflect on their go-to flick, and explain why their pick is endlessly rewatchable.

This list will be updated weekly with further picks.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham is available on Netflix and Amazon Prime in the US and UK

The median British adult has read or listened to three books in the past 12 months with reading habits also split along gender, class and political divides

According to new a polling by YouGov 40% of Britons have not read or listened to a book in the past year.

The median British adult has read or listened to three books in the past year, the survey found.