Wednesday, December 15, 2004

On Food: Thermomix takes all-in-one to a new level

By HSIAO-CHING CHOU
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER FOOD WRITER

The Thermomix is the ultimate kitchen appliance. It chops, grinds,
mixes, blends, steams, heats, stirs, weighs, times, kneads, whips,
stews, homogenizes. In all, it accomplishes 20 functions and supplants
about a dozen other appliances. At least, that is the claim. If the
Thermomix had a steering wheel, it would be the ultimate driving machine.

You may have encountered this über-tool in Europe, where everyone,
apparently, owns one and loves it beyond words. Perhaps you saw this
gleaming powerhouse looming from the pages of a recent Gourmet magazine.
photo
Zoom Mike Urban / P-I
Angelo Papa, regional Thermomix salesman, seasons salmon fillets for
steaming as he demonstrates the machine's uses.

Made by the German company Vorwerk, the Thermomix has finally reached
these shores. If you have a cool grand to drop on a single countertop
appliance for your home, then this is the contraption for you. The only
way you can see or touch it, however, is to contact a Thermomix
representative who will show up at your home to demonstrate exactly how
function has been redefined.

Chris Keyser, an architect who works out of his Magnolia home, e-mailed
me to ask if I would be interested in attending a Thermomix "dinner
party." Angelo Papa, the regional salesman, promised to make an entire
Italian meal using the Thermomix. I agreed to go, though I generally
have a healthy dose of skepticism for hyperactive kitchen appliances.

Honestly, if a single piece of equipment promises to tackle so many
tasks, can it do any one thing well?

Keyser and his partner, Steve Casteele, were in the market for a new
food processor because Casteele burned up the Cuisinart trying to grate
Parmesan cheese. Keyser's mother, Mary Anne, a very generous gift giver
and sharp observer of current trends in kitchenware, was prepared to
purchase a new machine for the couple for Christmas -- as soon as they
decided what they wanted.

Casteele found the Thermomix in Gourmet and had to see it for himself.
Keyser made arrangements, invited his mother, friend Roger Herr, and
yours truly. We all gathered in the kitchen as Papa and his assistant
prepped for the demonstration.

The Thermomix has a 600-watt motor, weighs 18 pounds, and has a capacity
of a little over two quarts. It requires no more space than a large food
processor. The work bowl or container looks like an enlarged blender
jar, with about a third of it resting beneath the rim of the base.

Papa's first trick was to show us how easily the Thermomix turns a chunk
of Parmesan into cheese dust. We oohed and aahed accordingly. Then he
dumped the ingredients for a tomato sauce into the bowl, showing off how
the machine accurately weighs each addition. Papa's machine is European,
so it uses the metric system and weight for measurements. There also is
an American, non-metric version of the machine.

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He set one dial for heat and the other for stirring and the sauce was
left to homogenize and cook at the same time. The pasta had to be cooked
separately on the stove. Papa next attached a steamer bowl to the top of
the sauce canister. He poured a bag of frozen vegetables into the bowl,
and set yet another tray above the vegetables into which he placed two
fillets of salmon. He turned the Varoma dial, adjusted the timer, and
let everything cook.

The sauce was tasty. It had a kick from a chile pepper and anchovies.
But the pasta was overdone and not very flavorful. The vegetables were
oversteamed and had yellowed, and the salmon was unexciting. It made me
wonder if the results would have been different with "better"
ingredients and a more conscientious cook.

After pizza and a lemon ice dessert, Keyser and Casteele were convinced
they needed the Thermomix. It would minimize the need for other
appliances in their soon-to-be remodeled kitchen. Mary Anne Keyser, who
joked that the Thermomix would make even measuring cups obsolete, agreed
to get the machine.

It was as easy as buying a pack of gum.

Since the dinner party, Casteele has made brownies. The Thermomix
allowed him to melt the chocolate and mix the batter in the same bowl.
Keyser cooked a tomato sauce while he steamed chicken breasts. His
verdict was that the Thermomix is great for prep, because the garlic and
onion for the sauce went in the machine whole. That's definitely a plus.

Hoping to get a second opinion, I contacted Alton Brown, who's the king
of kitchen gear. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to get a sample
Thermomix to try. (If anyone can sell a $1,000 appliance to Americans,
it would be Brown.)

My concern is that the Thermomix perpetuates blind cooking. That is to
say that your senses are robbed of not only the pleasures of cooking,
but your cooking is deprived of your senses, which can tell you whether
a dough needs more or less moisture, or whether a sauce needs slower or
faster heat. It also reduces cooking to turning dials.

Would I replace everything I own to have this machine? I don't know.
Yes, Spanish superstar chef Ferran Adria is reputed to have used the
Thermomix in his foam experiments, which makes for a strong endorsement.
Yes, the machine does have its strengths, such as its ability to melt
chocolate for brownies and then mix the batter all in the same bowl.
Yes, it would be the culinary equivalent of having a plasma television
that's high definition and has a built-in TiVo.

Herr made a good analogy about why the Europeans are so fond of the
Thermomix. It's not unlike their attitude toward their wardrobes: They
have a few extremely nice pieces, not one of something in every color.

I can appreciate the Thermomix from that perspective. But I don't think
I'm ready to dispense with human touch in my cooking.

For more information about the Thermomix, visit www.thermomix.com.
P-I food writer Hsiao-Ching Chou can be reached at 206-448-8117 or
.