WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN
ALL MY LIFE!
am not an early up-taker, it takes
me ages to adopt a new piece of
technology or gadget. Not that I am
waiting and watching to see how it
goes. Usually, I’m just too busy to
I
care and too lazy to master the skills needed
to navigate a new device. So that magazine
article I had saved on the Thermomix sat on my
pin board, ignored for years, and invitations to
attend a Thermomix demonstration fell on deaf
ears. I had attended enough Tupperware and
lingerie parties thank you!
So, it was a great surprise to my host when I
accepted her third invitation to a Thermomix
demonstration. I dragged my friend Camille
along and we prepared ourselves to fend off
high-pressure guilt based sales techniques. That
one time I had not been able to avoid buying a
$100 camisole to ensure that the lingerie party
host made her sales quota was still fresh in my
mind. How then was I going to avoid buying a
$2000+ appliance when we were the only two
guests at the party?
Two hours and much eating later, Camille and
I had each bought a Thermomix!
Looking back, as a business person that can
never seem to get the work-life balance right,
I don’t know how I managed without my
Thermomix. It has saved me time, saved me
stress, saved the meal, and literally saved the day!
On Friday nights my husband and I like
to have an impromptu meal with friends but
that decision is usually made late afternoon
when all the good restaurants are booked out.
My solution is to download the Thermomix
Bouillabaisse recipe and swing past the Ferry
Road Markets just before they close at 6:00pm.
I then hit Reef Seafood & Sushi for some
mussels and the freshest seafood of the day, pick
up some fresh veggies and the pantry items I
need, and then grab their last loaf of sourdough.
By 7:00pm our friends have arrived, I do about
five minutes of prep and we crack open a great
pinot to go with the Bouillabaisse that is looking
after itself in the Thermomix. About 30 minutes
later (with little input from the chef) we are
sitting down to a luxury fish stew.
The point of difference between the
Thermomix and all the pretenders is that
Thermomix does what it promises – it is 12
separate appliances. This is not one of those
useless all in one gadgets where you use it once
and stick it in the cupboard. Yes, they did show
me that I could cook a three course meal all at
once in my Thermomix but I am not that sort of
cook. For me, this is not a gadget, it is a cook’s
tool that can be worked into any current recipe
or favourite dish and give me faster and more
professional results.
The Thermomix is really a pet chameleon,
it changes its colour to suit your culinary
environment. If you are into clean eating it
has recipes and functions to suit. My Walnut
& Date Bliss Balls are as hard as weigh, chop,
roll, refrigerate - all of about five minutes of my
time. If I want comfort food, I can be watching
my favourite movie with a pot of decadent rice
pudding stirring itself in the Thermomix, after I
threw all the ingredients into the bowl in one go
as the movie downloaded. If you are worried
about additives in your children’s diet, you
can start with pure ingredients and end up with
flavour that they will gobble up. And, if you are
one of those cooks who like the idea of cooking
in bulk but can’t face all the prep, you can prep
the veggies for ten litres of bolognaise sauce in
five minutes and get on with frying off the meat.
But hasn’t the Thermomix had some bad
press? And isn’t it dangerous? Yes, it needs to
be acknowledged that the older TM31 model did
have some issues and ended up with a national
product recall in relation to a seal. The TM31
has been superseded by the TM5 model and this
model has not had similar issues. The astute
buyer needs to take a balanced approach and
remember that it is a kitchen appliance and, like
all appliances, it must be operated according to
its instructions or injuries can occur.
I can see that you are running out of excuses
but ….. it has got to be difficult to clean, right?
Not a chance or it would never have passed my
appliance test. All components disassemble
easily and go straight into the dishwasher.
And as to your last excuse, there’s no room
on my benchtop, the Thermomix TM5 isn’t the
extra small appliance you squeeze in between
your blender and food processor. It’s the one
appliance above all others that deserves a
permanent gig on the bench. In no time you will
be shooting down the naysayers and gazing at
your pet chameleon with affection, saying where
have you been all my life?
Sandra Walter | General Manager, Gold Coast Spine
98 | Pindara Magazine ISSUE 12 | 2018