Themomix, the best-selling kitchen robot in Spain, has just turned 50 and, to celebrate it, Vorwerk has organized a tour of 60 Spanish towns with cooking workshops (and tasting) in which anyone can register.
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The first Thermomix model, the VM2000, was released in 1971 and, subsequently, six more have appeared: the TM2200 (1977), which was the first to arrive in Spain;
the TM3300 (1980);
the TM21 (1996);
the TM31 (2004);
the TM5 (2014);
and TM6 (2019).
Among its benefits, the possibility of chopping, heating, kneading, stirring or steaming, but also cooking without having a clue and without the need to resort to a recipe book or an application.
Its versatility and reliability have made Thermomix a household appliance appreciated by all types of public: housewives, students who have just left
the nest
and also great chefs.
A question of resistance
Its price, higher than 1,000 euros, is well above the competition, but the truth is that it is difficult to find someone who has regretted the purchase of a Thermomix.
In large kitchens, in fact, there is usually more than one machine and, often, several different models coexist because the new ones incorporate improvements but the old ones continue to work as well as the first day.
Rocío Parra, chef at the Salamanca restaurant En la parra (one Michelin star) assures that the Thermomix "is a fundamental tool of the restaurant because it makes work a little easier, especially for sauces and creams".
"Everything is very fine for you"
She prefers the old models because it is difficult to get by with the touch screen when your hands are wet, but in any case she assures that "the greasiness and the characteristic touch of the Thermomix is impossible to achieve with a blender". Something similar to what Safe Cruz, from the Madrid restaurant of Canarian cuisine Gofio (one Michelin star) says: "We have four Thermomix. We are a small restaurant but we give it a shot. It has a fantastic resistance. You give it 2 minutes at 100 speed and everything. It fits you very thin. That is the biggest difference with other similar machines. You forget, you don't have to be straining. "
Francis Paniego, from El Portal del Echaurren (Ezcaray, La Rioja), with two Michelin stars, came across his first Thermomix in 1988 and, since then, has also defended it at all costs: "Without it, the muscle volume of the team would grow, but the expense in time and personnel would increase. I would not give it up, it is absurd to do without such an effective and versatile tool. "
Arzak's rice pudding
The chef Elena Arzak, from the San Sebastian restaurant Arzak (three Michelin stars), is also in love with Thermomix: "We have used it in the restaurant since the 90s. It has fantastic qualities in grinding, temperature control ... It surprises a lot when you mount clear in the Thermomix: it costs a lot to get them off! And I remember that once I made a mythical dessert of the Basque Country, rice pudding, with the Thermomix, and I presented it to my father and he loved it. I hope May you last at least another 50 years! "
The Galician Lucía Freitas, from the A Tafona restaurant in Santiago de Comportela (a Michelin star) also has "several Thermomixes" and is delighted with the latest model, although she admits that it drives her crazy "the waiting time since you give the enter ".
"Now I don't know how to live without Thermomix"
"I remember one time that I was going to grind I don't know what, and I just got a health inspection at the restaurant, I hit the button just before putting the lid on, and when I realized it was all stained. At that time I had gotelé. .. I got nervous and they started laughing, "he remembers laughing.
"Now I don't know how to live without Thermomix. When I was working at La Seu d'Urgell, with a team of French people, the chef didn't want to use it. They are more like Robot Coupé. But when the first one came in and tried it, he was blown away. Before They saw her as an enemy for the kitchen: "Bah, that's for fools, that cooks you alone!" I am more of a saucepan, a frying pan, a chup chup ... For me the stove is very important. But I have Thermomix of the old women, at home and also in the restaurant ", he assures.