Replacing up to 21 kitchen appliances, the Thermomix is an amazing creature. ELENI ANTONIOU watches as food appears before her eyes
Until a year ago, when I finally mastered the art of cookie baking (it’s a start), I had never bothered with cooking. The reason was simple: too much hassle.
My assumptions were reinforced when my mother-in-law came round one Saturday afternoon hell-bent on teaching me how to make pastichio (aka pasta in the oven). While I was up for the challenge, I wasn’t prepared for the complete and utter mess that accumulated in the process. I was there to learn and yet I spent the majority of the time washing, wiping, drying and cleaning; hardly a great first lesson but one that could’ve been far more educational had I had in my possession the brilliant Thermomix.
In one sentence and without a hint of exaggeration, Thermomix is the smallest electronic mobile kitchen. It replaces a total of 21 appliances including pots, pans and food processors because it cooks, simmers, steams, blends, kneads, whips, weighs, mixes, crushes and chops.
And as if that isn’t amazing enough, here are some facts: a carrot cake mixture takes 30 seconds, a lemon curd six minutes, a crème brulee, which would normally take one hour and 20 minutes to prepare and cook, takes 15 minutes from start to finish and that trickiest of sauces, Hollandaise, just four minutes.
I was at a recent demonstration (like Tupperware, only far more entertaining) and wiped my plate clean of rice and steamed chicken with Milanese sauce and vegetables, bread, strawberry ice-cream and even a chocolate cake, all made within one hour and entirely by the Thermomix.
Before we go into more detail about this German engineering marvel though, there is a catch: the Thermomix costs €1,289. Hardly a small sum, I thought to myself when I was introduced to this secret weapon. “This is why we do the presentations,” said Eleni, mother of two and owner of a three and a half year old Thermomix. “If we put it in a shop window, it would not have gained the great following it has all around the world. You need to see it to believe it.”
“Though the machine at first seemed daunting with buttons, timers, speed settings it took very little time to become familiar and I was soon whizzing through the instructions,” one first time internet blogger admitted.
Vorwerk, the company that manufactures Thermomix, launched its first food processor in 1961 and since then holds 21 patents over their unique design and technology. Today the multitasker comes with an electronic screen and sword-sharp blades that can be set to gently stir a mixture or terrifyingly high speeds that can chop through ice or rock-hard parmesan cheese. It has a knob that controls speed and a series of other buttons that change time, weight and heat.
The weight part I found truly amazing, as it can ‘pick up’ on added weight even while the jug is full! And while it can steam almost anything – it comes with a steam basket and several other attachments, it cannot cook, like an oven can – the cake and bread were put in an oven – and does not fry, as it only reaches 100°C.
“It’s actually a surefire way to healthier living,” says Eleni, who uses hers on a daily basis as do her children, 13 and 10, who love to make ice cream. “Making my own marmalade and icing sugar and other basics I used to purchase regularly, has made the world of difference to the kind of food my family enjoys but also having the time to make it all and work is just as amazing.”
Thermomix also comes with a recipe book jam-packed with familiar Greek foods and many classics too that may use the basic ingredients yet go into speed numbers and funny signs when it comes to the execution part since it is based on the Thermomix way.
The price tag may way down heavy on many people’s pockets but consider the combined sum of a blender, a mixer, food processor, scale and saucepan, plus hours of washing, cleaning and slaving away in the kitchen and you’ll probably be tossing out the pots and pans and booking a demonstration next week.
Call Eminentia Trading for more information at 22-667242
