Iremember as a young apprentice working through the daily ritual of preparing a mousseline forcemeat for our quenelle de brochet Nantua. First and foremost, we were instructed to put all of the grinding equipment on ice.
In fact, when the chef needed to hire a new cook, he derived great pleasure from asking the potential candidate to make him two things: a mousseline forcemeat and an omelet. If the candidate did not first put the grinding equipment on ice or in the refrigerator, the chef would laugh and blurt out, “Thank you. I don’t need you!” If the candidate possessed the wisdom to pass the first part of the test, he or she might actually have the skill and knowledge to produce an omelet.
The ethereal texture and lightness of a quenelle is achieved partly by passing the mixture through a drum sieve and partly by the processor used to grind the mixture into a smooth paste. Long ago cooks used a mortar and pestle, but today there are many ways to process foods.
Food processors are similar in function to blenders. The difference between the two is that blenders have a single, fixed blade, and most processors have interchangeable attachments to perform a variety of functions with varying results. Many people think products can be puréed only in small batches that can fit inside a blender, but that is not the case. Since the 1960s we have had the advantage of the immersion blender.
Invented in Switzerland, the immersion blender is widely referred to as a Bermixer, similar to other successful products whose names became synonymous with their functions—the Frigidaire and the Frialator come to mind.
The Bermixer is hand-held, allowing cooks to bring it directly to products simmering in pots, pans, kettles or skillets. Previously, if you made, say, 40 gallons of purée Argenteuil, an asparagus soup, you would simmer the stock with the vegetable mixture known as mirepoix, then add asparagus until tender, strain the stock and put it back on the stove to thicken with roux. Next, you would purée the vegetables in batches before again combining it with the stock—all in all, a long process. The immersion blender allows you to simmer the thickened stock, add the asparagus and simply drop the blender in to create the silky smooth soup in a matter of minutes.
That is not to say that blenders are obsolete. In fact, some blenders, like Vita Mix and Blendtec, are so powerful and efficient that you can process dried peas and beans into a flour-like consistency in seconds.
A French catering company salesman conceived another type of food processor after he realized that cooks spent so much time chopping, shredding and mixing. That creation featured a bowl with a revolving blade in its base. The invention evolved into the well-known Robot Coupe, which introduced its home version in Great Britain in 1974.
The American equivalent, the Cuisinart, was brought to market by Carl Sontheimer in 1971. Sontheimer was an MIT-trained physicist who invented 47 patented gadgets during his lifetime. The engineer eventually sold Cuisinart in 1987 for $42 million.
Few pieces of kitchen equipment come in as many sizes and with so many attachments as the food processor. It can produce any size of grated, sliced, puréed or shredded foods, in addition to mixing cake batters and kneading doughs.
Most of us are familiar with the standard 2.5- and 3.5-quart bowls, but there are also 4-, 6-, 8- and 10-quart models, all of which are available with a full spectrum of plates and attachments. Then there are the big boys—the VCMs, or vertical cutter mixers—with capacities of up to 60 quarts. VCMs with the ability to tilt are easier to empty once foods are cut, mixed or chopped. Don’t forget to place VCMs behind a floor trough and to have a hot- and cold-water faucet nearby for easy cleaning.
With labor cost such a hot-button issue, these labor-saving devices are worth their weight in gold.
