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
.

Wednesday, February 9, 2005

On Food: Welcome to the Alton Brown-Thermomix show

By HSIAO-CHING CHOU
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER FOOD WRITER

Back in December, I wrote about the Thermomix, the ultimate kitchen
appliance that's supposed to make all your other small electrics
obsolete. This contraption grinds, chops, warms, blends, weighs, steams,
stirs, kneads, pulverizes and a number of other tasks for a $1,000 price
tag.

My conclusion was that I'm not convinced I need one of these machines --
not that I begrudge anyone else from having one. The Thermomix is wildly
popular in Europe, where famous chefs sing its praises. A woman from the
New Orleans area found my story online and sent me an e-mail saying that
I didn't give the Thermomix enough credit. Her aunt in Spain gave her an
old Thermomix, which she lugged -- all 18 pounds of it -- through
international airports home to the Big Easy.

"My aunt has been cooking with her Thermomix machine for the past four
years. She uses the machine every day, all day to cook for her family of
five." She continues in her e-mail: "I have learned how to make homemade
soy milk, homemade vanilla and chocolate pudding, quince preserve,
lasagna, red beans and rice, chocolate truffles, homemade yogurt ... the
list goes on."

(To be clear, the machine doesn't actually bake lasagna or make
chocolate truffles. It helps in some of the steps, such as mixing the
tomato sauce or melting the chocolate.)

She loves her machine. Good for her. Of course, her Thermomix was a gift.

I also made the comment in my column that if anyone could sell the
Thermomix to Americans, it would be Food Network celebrity Alton Brown,
who emphasizes the importance of good, though not necessarily expensive,
gear.

Brown stopped in Seattle a couple of weeks ago to promote his latest
cookbook, "I'm Just Here for More Food" (Stewart Tabori & Chang, 304
pages, $32.50). If you want to read an interview related to the book,
visit www.altonbrown.com and click on "New Book." It's a Q&A on Alton
Brown by Alton Brown, which is quintessential Brown.

I thought I would do a little matchmaking, so to speak. Brown had never
tried a Thermomix. He had heard of the machine but didn't want to drop a
grand on one to test. I called Chris Keyser, whom I wrote about in my
previous Thermomix article, to ask if he and his partner, Steve
Casteele, would be willing to let Brown try their machine.

"Are you kidding?" was Keyser's response.

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On the appointed night, everyone gathered in my tiny kitchen to see if
sparks would fly between Brown and the Thermomix.

As Keyser and Casteele explained the basic operation of the machine,
Brown slipped into a serious face, absorbing the information. Then, he
kicked into action, opening the refrigerator to look for items to toss
into the belly of the Thermomix.

Like a mad scientist, and wearing a frilly blue linen apron, he put
carrots, celery, garlic, wine, a potato, parsley and some chicken stock
into the machine and turned it on. As it whirred, he asked, "This is
insured, right?"

Brown futzed with the clear plastic stopper to the feed hole in the lid.
There was nothing to secure it to the lid, so it jiggled as the machine
vibrated.

"This is a serious design flaw," he said.

Meanwhile, the brew in the Thermomix became stranger. Brown threw in
some Chinese sausage, which I had sliced for dinner later. He dug
through the pantry and fished out a bag of lentils, a package of ramen
noodles, a package of instant oatmeal with flaxseeds, and some barbecued
potato chips.

I asked Brown if he has a specific procedure he follows when he tests
new equipment.

"You'd like to think so, wouldn't you?" he replied. Then he dumped the
pantry items into the humming Thermomix. A few more ladlefuls of chicken
broth joined the mix.

"Those Germans," Brown said, shaking his head. "(The Thermomix) would be
really great for making lemon curd. If I had eight sticks of butter and
some sugar, I'd say go for it.

"Custard ice cream bases would work, too. This would take all the
guesswork out of it. I don't know that I would pay $1,000 to stir
custard, though."

We all stared at the machine as it churned. Since the pitcher is
stainless steel, we had no idea what was going on inside.

"All right, I'm turning the dial to 11," Brown said. Then he hit the
turbo button, which sent the machine into convulsions. "Can you hear it?"

I looked at him in response to his sarcasm.

"Me neither," he said.

After about 20 minutes of "cooking," Brown tasted the results. He added
some white pepper, red pepper flakes, curry powder.

We all sampled the concoction, which resembled a pureed soup. It didn't
taste as bad as we thought it might, considering what went into it. I
thought it resembled a diluted Thai peanut sauce in flavor. Someone else
said it was like split pea soup.

"I think with some acid, maybe a little vinegar, it would be good,"
Brown said as he picked up a bowl of dipping sauce I had made for pot
stickers. He poured the contents into the "soup."

We tasted again. The rice vinegar and soy sauce did add a nice dimension.

"I wanted to give it culinary validity," Brown quipped.

At the end of the evening, Brown reiterated what he had said earlier
that he wouldn't spend $1,000 on the machine -- even though he'd love to
have one to play with.

Maybe a long-lost aunt from Spain will give him hers.
P-I food writer Hsiao-Ching Chou can be reached at 206-448-8117 or
.