Before going to Japan, I had the chance to attend the reveal of Chef Cuisine, the new revolutionary kitchen appliance imagined by the holder of 3 Michelin Stars, Anne-Sophie Pic. I didn’t know what I was supposed to expect as it was a well-kept secret until then.
If someone would have told me a few years back that I would get excited to discover kitchen appliances, I would have laughed out loud. It is the proof that everything can happen. Food has always been my passion but I was less interested in cooking. It always surprises me to see that I cook more and more by myself so I can only encourage anyone who has lost hope to persevere.
Gastronomic dishes at home
During the presentation, the machine revealed its secrets and as neo-cooker, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed.
I found out that this Chef Cuisine kitchen appliance was not created to literally cook but it was made to ‘only’ (if I may describe it that way) savour at home, dishes elaborated by our talented Chef Anne-Sophie.
I shared my concerns with her right away and asked the reasons that motivated her to create this machine.
She answered she has never wanted people to stop cooking but she wanted to allow busy people, or the ones who want to stay at home, to discover quality gastronomic dishes, without effort and complete peace-of-mind.
Then, just before leaving to Japan, the machine was delivered to my place so that I could try it.
If I could give you an equivalent to Chef Cuisine, I would say a kind of “Nespresso” machine for gastronomy :
The dishes can be ordered on the website, delivered in refrigerated vacuum bags to preserve the flavours of each ingredient since meats, sauces, and side dishes come into different packages.
So for this post, I put myself into the skin of a hostess (or a Teleshopping presenter?) to show you in details this oddball (I had the chance to discuss about it with a salesperson in Japan, and I successfully convinced her with a ‘Sugoiiiii!’ (= “amaziiiiing” in Japanese) talking about “my” machine haha!
How does it work?
As with the famous coffee machine, we fill up the tank with water since the Chef Cuisine is a slow-cooker (water bath/steamed).
We put the bags into the slots made for that purpose. The machine automatically detects which dish we just inserted, it’s magical!
Then, it asks about the cooking preferences, medium-rare meat or medium doneness: very easy! and hop! We wait for about 30 minutes and it’s ready.
It actually started to convince me the day before the departure to Japan because I was overloaded with last minute work. I hadn’t had the time to prepare my suitcase and even less to cook. My hubby coming back home from work late too (haha, I feel like acting in Desperate Housewives…), having these Chef Cuisine dishes in my fridge was a life-saving!
My impressions
A bit sceptical due to the food delivered inside vacuum bags (the idea of the Space food was scaring me a little), but when I started the tasting, I must say that I was impressed by the perfect way the meat and the fish were cooked.
Everything is surprisingly tender and tasty. (Note: no preservative, food colouring or artificial flavouring).
Nothing to compare with pre-cooked dishes that just need to be warmed up with a microwaves, pretty impressive. I would just say that if you like your food to be crusty, we can’t do it with this machine (BoooOoo), but Anne-Sophie Pic told me that we needed to keep cooking for that!
Then, the machine is a bit massive for me (but in the meantime, not much choices considering the cooking system) but I decided to customize it with stickers bought in Japan (it’s a madness over there, they are UV and water resistant) to make it little funnier when it’s in a middle of my kitchen. When “Top Chef” meets “Extreme makeover”…
Since I can’t enjoy cooking with this machine, I try to ease my frustration with the presentation! Indeed, the machine comes with punches and piping bags to be able to prepare the plates just like a Chef, and it is really amusing (we can either follow the model or decide to be creative!).
I hope I did well for these pictures: I will show you more dishes in a following article.
Rolled veal breast, bulgur with oregano and chutney of plums and ginger
Portions are reasonable, knowing that I have good appetite (on the pictures, I decided to prepare only half of the portion for each dish, so it can give you an idea).
Slowly cooked chicken fillet with pepper from Voatsiperifery, mashed turnips, dates chutney
So to sump up, I am surprisingly convinced by the concept that I was finding hard to understand in the beginning.
Price range starts from 5 to 16 euros, I think I will order meals once in a while (the menu that offers 30 dishes changes every 4 months) so I can have a stock of dishes in case of emergency or just to treat myself. To be continued…. (English translation by Quiterie)
“Chef Cuisine” kitchen appliance & gastronomic dishes by the 3 Michelin Stars Chef Anne-Sophie Pic
available on Chef Cuisine website
