What are good gifts for people who love cooking?

Serious home cooks already have most of the gear. The strongest gift is either an upgrade to something they use every day, an ingredient they wouldn't buy themselves, or an experience that teaches them something new.

Daily-use upgrades: a real kitchen knife (Shun, Wüsthof, MAC) if you know they're using a supermarket one, a quality pepper mill, a beautiful chopping board (end-grain walnut or maple), a heavy-bottomed saucier, or a great pair of kitchen scissors.

Premium ingredients: aged balsamic, single-estate olive oil, real Sicilian salt, single-origin chocolate, a curated spice set from a specialist (Mt Zero, Herbie's), or a high-end finishing oil. These get used and remembered.

Cookbook from a chef they admire — but only if you know who they admire. A generic Jamie Oliver book to a serious cook reads as effort-light. Yotam Ottolenghi, Diana Henry, Sean Brock, Marcus Samuelsson, or local Australian chefs (Adam Liaw, Maggie Beer, Andrew McConnell) generally land well with the right audience.

A cooking class. Sydney Cooking School, CIBO, Otao Kitchen, and most state capitals have respected schools. Pick a cuisine they don't already cook, not one they already do.

Avoid: anything single-use (a quesadilla maker), anything battery-powered for what a knife already does (avocado slicer), or any 'gadget' from a kitchen store catalogue.