Kitchen gifts are a perfect fit for foodies in your life

Give a man a fish and he eats for one day. Give a foodie a fish spatula and he makes many delectable seafood meals for his family and friends.

If you have people on your gift-giving list who love to cook and experiment with new recipes and exotic cuisines or are always serving amazing dishes at meals and get-togethers, you can't go wrong by choosing kitchen-oriented gifts for these so-called foodies this holiday season. They love everything culinary since these gifts work with their passion for cooking, and even the most inexpensive, unique kitchen gadget or spice mix thrills them.

You can buy for the experienced chef or for those just starting out, such as newlyweds, engaged couples and those who have discovered a love of cooking later in life.

"My mother started taking cooking classes at her retirement home, and she fell in love with organic and Asian cooking," says Dena Guerrard, a mother of two. "Now, she wants cooking tools, sauces, cookbooks and other items for her new interest, which makes it far more exciting to shop for her gifts."

Here are the top types of gifts to consider for all the foodies on your holiday shopping list:

FLAVORED BALSAMIC VINEGARS

These subtly or powerfully infused vinegars open new worlds of flavor profiles in salads, seafoods, poultry and red meats. At Cucina Olive Oil in Tivoli Village, 302 S. Rampart Blvd., some of the top creatively designed balsamic vinegars include:

* Vanilla orange: Create a perfect tangy frosting for your chocolate orange brownies.

* Pomegranate: The intense sweet-tart flavor of the pomegranate is a perfect match for hearty meats like lamb and duck.

* Espresso: This aged balsamic vinegar makes a fantastic glaze or barbecue base for pork, beef or chicken.

FLAVORED OLIVE OIL

Flavored olive oils add gourmet flair to the foodie's treasured recipes and allow them to follow celebrity chef recipes to the letter. At Cucina Olive Oil, you'll find such flavors as jalapeño, lemon, rosemary, garlic and even bacon-flavored olive oil.

Look especially for black truffle olive oil, which the store's website recommends to "drizzle over risotto, pasta, grilled vegetables and roasted eggplant, or just mix with roasted garlic and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and spread on bread."

SPICES AND SUGARS

Quality essential spices are an essential in a foodie's kitchen, and you'll wow them with your gift of exotic spice blends from theingredientfinder.com, such as Marrakesh, a Moroccan blend used for lamb, fish, meatballs, couscous, soups and roasted vegetables; and Cataluna, a blend of pimento and smoked cinnamon, for stews, soups, bean dishes and pork.

Experiment with the savory (and fruity) side this holiday season with Essential Cane, 100 percent natural flavored sugar from Flavor Storm. Flavors range from sweet onion, green chili and ginger to cinnamon raspberry, espresso and wild blueberry. For a complete list of flavors or to order, visit www.flavorstorm.com. Essential Cane flavored sugars can be purchased at select Whole Foods Markets and Sur la Table.

KITCHEN TOOLS

Browse the kitchen gadgets at such popular stores as Sur La Table, Williams-Sonoma and other upscale entertaining and foodie delight sites and you'll see chef-worthy kitchen gadgets that turn the everyday cook into a master chef. From top-quality, ultralong zesters to strawberry hullers to chef-quality mandoline for fine slices of cucumber, to a julienne peeler, specialty tools elevate an indoor and outdoor kitchen's creations.

COOKBOOKS

There are so many gorgeous cookbooks on the market today, from elite chefs' French cuisine to colorful cookbooks on panini sandwiches, healthy appetizers, Tuscan foods and, of course the newest cookbooks from the Food Network celebrity chefs. Rachael Ray's new cookbook on burgers pleases male and female gift recipients, and Melissa D'Arabian's "Ten Dollar Dinners Cookbook" adds budget-friendly recipes to the foodie family's collection.

If you know your foodie owns many cookbooks, give him the gift of choice with a gift card to Barnes & Noble so he can buy the new cookbooks he desires.

On a budget of $20 or less, give subscriptions to foodie magazines for gifts that arrive fresh each week or month or packs of pretty recipe cards so that they can share their recipes with others the old-fashioned way. Gadgets also range under $20, so you can thrill your gift recipient without spending a fortune.

Special section editor Jenny Scheid contributed to this story.