I have to admit I am one of the individuals who dived into home cooking during the pandemic. Recreating those traditional dishes that I grew up enjoying became my guilty pleasure.
With more time on a person’s hands, home cooking has become a go-to option for many people, including myself. We can all agree that playing in the kitchen can be fun, especially if you have the right ingredients and great gadgets.
On Wednesday, Philips launched the Philips All-in-One Cooker and held a celebrity cook-off to demonstrate how this cooker will not end up in that pile of cookware gadgets in the corner of the pantry.
Knowing what Philips has done with its air fryer, my expectations for this product were high.
Award-winning author and “Masterchef South Africa“ judge Zola Nene hosted the cook-off.
She reminded us that her judge’s hat was off as we would be deciding which celebrity showed off the All-In-One Cooker’s 35 pre-set abilities the best.
Zanele van Zyl (Cooking with Zanele), Dr Harri from “MasterChef South Africa” and Giggling Gourmet’s Jenny Morris battled it out in the kitchen.
Aromas of the food being prepared filled the Discovery Vitality Healthy Food Studio and enticed my taste buds.
“The Philips All-in-One Cooker is intended to ensure a home-cooked meal can be prepared in 30 minutes but tastes like it took much longer to prepare," explained Troy Gower, Philips country lead Africa.
Zanele prepared a creamy mushroom and garlic samp with rosemary ostrich stew in the few hours we spent, a meal that usually can take its sweet time to get done.
Dr Harri opted to prepare a chickpea and lentil curry and he even brought along some of his own spices from Durban. He was really in it to win it.
The Giggling Gourmet had us all giggling away as she prepared her Mediterranean chicken stew. Her tales, which are crammed with laughter, were her secret ingredient.
All the chefs were impressed with how much cooking time was reduced with the All-in-One Cooker. Morris joked how she would be able to take a bubble bath while cooking with the gadget. It certainly does allow you to multitask.
The great thing about saving time cooking is that you also save on electricity, which in these tough times is a bonus.
They also remarked on how easy it is to use. Dr Harri even joked about wishing he had it during his time on “Masterchef South Africa”.
Morris’s Mediterranean chicken stew came out on top. The chicken was juicy, tender and succulent.
