Flummoxed by recipes mastered by previous generations, French cooks are turning to machines that can do the job for them — whisking, beating, kneading, chopping, steaming and stewing, among other talents.
The latest evidence of France’s passion for ultra-sophisticated devices that can come up with a recipe, and, in many cases, cook it themselves, emerged when Lidl, the supermarket chain, started selling a low-cost robot chef for €359 this month — which compares with more than €1,000 for most models.
Queues formed outside stores and shoppers fought to get hold of Monsieur Cuisine Connect. The chain said it made tens of thousands of sales in ten days.
The rush was born of a lower middle-class desire to follow the wealthier households who have made food processors such as the €1,299 Thermomix TM6 the centrepiece of their kitchens.
The trend took off five or so years ago as households became distrustful of frozen and pre-cooked food after health scandals.
Jean-Claude Daumas, a historian specialising in consumer trends, said: “With the fashion for home-cooking spreading, the French have returned to the stove.” But he said there was a paradox because processors “do everything on their own, and therefore you don’t have to do much yourself. We are very much removed from the authentic dish that demands a real knowledge that is perhaps lacking today.”
A total of 3.8 million French households have the most sophisticated type of food processors that can prepare and cook dishes, according to Damien Chicaud, director of statistics and studies at the Group of Home Appliances.
He said the fad could be explained in part by the French gastronomic tradition and in part by women’s liberation. In a country that has a high percentage of working mothers an “entire generation of young women no longer considered that it was their job to be the kitchen during the postwar boom”, he said.
This caused a “gap” in the handing down of recipes, he said. That gap is now being filled by the devices that can rustle up a meal at the click of a button.
Dining and Cooking