My family's cooking is often described as “simple.” In reality, this means that we are mildly lazy. Do not peel the carrots or potatoes (some texture is fine). We come home late, sit on the couch, and only start doing something together when we realize we were going to eat an hour ago. This nonchalance may explain why my knife skills have remained at “hacking” over the years. chopped—But I'm pretty confident in my taste buds, so I don't think anyone would mind if the onions were a little crumbly. Most nights, my freedom to cook is defined by taking whatever is in the fridge, cutting it up into small pieces, and tossing everything into a buttered pot. Results range from so-so to actually very good.
The enemy of this ease of use, in my opinion, is the persistently popular trend of “disposable” kitchenware. They are little artifacts of consumer exploitation, like an avocado slicer or a crepe maker, and cannot justify their presence in a kitchen where there are also knives. And a pot. My problem with these devices is not that they tempt people to spend money on things whose only real purpose is to clutter. Apparently, a large part of our economic recovery is due to Americans buying junk they don't need. Citizens, please think so. My objection is rather that these devices succeed on the premise that cooking is difficult. Given the importance of cooking, and with it basic nutrition and very simple pleasures, this seems like a bit of a sneaky cover-up. do not have difficult.
But my philosophical aversion to disposable utensils is no match for celebrity chef Alton Brown's passion. This is what I learned daily dot Brown posted a video disparaging “Unitaskers” and the idiots who buy them. He dramatically reads his Amazon reviews on devices he doesn't really like. For example, consider “iPerfect Kitchen Meat Handling & Shredding Claws.” Review: “Very durable. But I don't know what I bought these for. A fork can do the same job.” Here's Brown's answer: “I think deep down I know why I bought this. How can you do this with a fork?'' Brown, wearing glasses, holds the shredder like a claw and yells into the camera. “Who wouldn't want to be Wolverine?”
Brown's masterpiece is the Rollie Hands-Free Automatic Electric Vertical Nonstick Easy Quick Egg Cooker. Following his instructions, he cracks two raw eggs into what looks like a thermos. Seventeen minutes later, a white egg tube with a dimly glowing exoskeleton indicating overcooking came out of Laurie's mouth and landed on Brown's plate. “You never thought you'd want something like this,” he says suggestively.
Brown's PSA about Unitasker's deception is much in the spirit of the first few pages of the Google hit “Disposable Kitchen Gadgets,” and is primarily devoted to warning people to stay away from them. In her lovely history of kitchen appliances in 2012. Let's think about forks, food writer Bea Wilson suggests that the proliferation of what amounts to training wheels for chefs may be due to the nervousness of inexperienced cooks. “Lack of confidence explains the existence of the most interesting measuring spoon I have ever seen,” she writes. Instead of tablespoons and teaspoons, there are “dashes,” “pinch,” “little,” and “drop.” Those who are reasonably relaxed at the stove may think that it is not possible to allocate exact quantities to small quantities. we would be wrong. ”
Wilson seems to agree with Brown (albeit more subtly) that this kind of hand-holding can hold back new chefs and prevent them from developing into themselves at the stove. “Many things that are important in the kitchen are immeasurable: how much we enjoy the company of those we eat with; the satisfaction of using up the last crust of bread before it gets moldy; Italy in February; The taste of blood orange. The pleasure of cold cucumber soup on a hot night. The feeling of a voracious appetite and the means to satisfy it,” she writes.
I'm not saying all unitaskers are bad. I think rice cookers and bread makers are really useful. I also really appreciate a lemon squeezer every winter when my hands get dry and cracked. But this industry niche is shaped by a lack of confidence and seems designed to perpetuate the problem. Who needs to learn how to use a knife when you can have different slicers for different vegetables? That's a shame, especially considering data that suggests Millennials are more interested in cooking than any other generation. In a 2014 survey, 54% of young people said they would rather prepare their own meals than buy them, and 89% said they wanted to become better at cooking. I sincerely hope they have the self-actualized joy of making, say, a quesadilla, relying only on a frying pan, a spatula, and their own reckless courage, rather than using this best-selling quesadilla maker. What's the worst that can happen? “Rustic” is in there.
