“Thermomix is a mincer, a grater, a dough maker, a juicer, a whisk, a blender, a mill and a pestle & mortar to name just a few of its many functions. It is also an ice cream/sorbet maker, a coffee grinder and spice grinder, an electronic weighing scale, a food processor and a food mixer. It whips, emulsifies, homogenises and crushes and has a built in timer. Of course, what makes it completely different from any other appliance is that it also sautées, steams and cooks!”

Sorry to be such an old-fashioned curmudgeon, but no one ever told Mariana “this dish is delicious, you must have a fancy stove.”  Or “this cake is divine, what kind of spoon did you use?”  I think for now we’ll stick to the basics: great ingredients and great talent.  Everything else will just gather dust in the closet.

Mariana really specializes in this kind of cooking with fresh ingredients – you can see more over at her new site, featuring images from the cookbook she wrote – ‘Frutas.’  The book collects recipes from all over Central and South America, using fruits that most of us have never heard of.  In an age of increasing monoculture, it is a rare treat to see just how many different kinds of delicacies there are out there.  Be sure to check it out!

Mariana Velasquez has such a depth of knowledge of ingredients and their combinations – with a simple constraint of ‘chicken soup’ she was able to really get creative for Fine Cooking and make the most beautiful bowls.  We may already be tired of the holidays but the chilly winter is always better with some soul-warming soup!