Nutritionist, Belinda Rennie looks at healthy cooking using the Thermomix.

It’s exciting to see a growing interest in cooking with the recently opened Cooking Sense school in Media City and a number of talented cooks running classes in their own homes. People do want to learn to cook but they want to do it quickly, easily and with the best results.

One of the challenges of helping people to make the switch to wholefoods is inspiring them to cook.  That’s why last year I ran food demonstrations showing how to construct simple meals and snacks using wholefoods.

I thought that a good wok, steamer, blender or great grilling gadget was all you needed to create wholesome meals quickly. But then I was introduced to the Thermomix, the “smallest kitchen in the world”. German designed and made, it stirs, beats, whips, blends, chops, heats, weighs, times, kneads, sautes, simmers, steams all in the one machine. Luckily the only kitchen task it will not do is deep fry. It controls time, heat and speed, and its footprint is no bigger than a laptop.

The appealing aspect of Thermomix is that all the preparation and cooking is done in the one pot with the majority of the nutrients retained in the food. Preparation is cut from minutes to seconds and cooking is gentle ensuring the flavours, vitamins and minerals are locked into each mouthful. Best of all, you'll have the peace of mind of knowing exactly what is going into everything you eat - no more harmful additives, colours and preservatives.

Thermomix is an integrated appliance that suits our fast paced lifestyle where we cook far less than we used to. Homemade bread can be made from grinding the wholegrains to make flour and then using the dough function that actually creates a ready to bake dough. Jams, juices, soups, pesto, sauces, dips, nuts butters, cakes, biscuits can all be whipped up pronto!

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Thermomix is hugely popular in Europe where a machine is sold every five minutes in Spain. Two entrepreneurial women in Dubai, Maria Evans and Anthie Petrou, are the directors of Thermomix in the UAE and offer home demonstrations with small groups. Owners share recipes in regular get togethers and keep in touch via a newsletter. I caught up with Maria and Anthie recently to find out more about their new career with Thermomix.

"It's a very exciting opportunity. The Thermomix TM31 is a magic pot," said Anthie. "Imagine making a soup in just 10 mins including all the chopping, sauteing, cooking and blending in the one pot! And the blade has a blunt side and a knife-edge side, and it can go in either direction. When the blade goes slowly and backward, the blunt side will stir pulses or a risotto just like a wooden spoon, at about 40 rpm. When you push a button to change direction, the sharp edge can go up to 10,000 rpm and all speeds in between.

"You have to see for yourself," Maria said. Chefs use it mostly for mayonnaise, sauces and coulis without the need for sieving, mashed potatoes, mousses, drinks and any variation of a white or hollandaise sauce.  We have sold many machines to restaurants and cafes”.

“At home there is no limit to what you can do.  I make my own ice-cream, jams, soups, mayonnaise, soups, stir-fries, risottos, hazelnut-chocolate spread, cakes, bread, pastry and anything else you can think of.  When my children were babies I used to make their baby food a week’s worth at a time in a fraction of the time it would normally take because it cooks and blends it to the required consistency all in the same bowl!”

When you taste what Thermomix can make and see how quickly it’s done you’ll want one for yourself.

If you would like to like to learn more about this wonderful equipment get in touch with the Middle East distributor Anthie Petrou on 050-8772795.

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