Miele Experience Centre: The Kitchen of the Future?

There is an episode of The Simpsons where the eponymous family grow tired of their old kitchen and purchase a state of the art culinary behemoth voiced by Pierce Brosnan.

It turns out to be so advanced that Marge, the familial matriarch, is left with almost nothing to do: the kitchen prepares and cooks by itself and even clears away the detritus and dirty dishes.

No doubt owing more than a mere nod to Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick, the kitchen develops an awareness of its own consciousness and power and begins to take over, leaving the Simpsons with little choice other than foist the technology onto Patty and Selma, Marge’s sisters, and revert back to their old appliances.

I couldn’t help thinking back to this episode when cooking at the Miele Experience Centre, a futuristic temple to cooking just outside of Oxford.

I’d been invited, along with four like-minded bloggers who’s lives revolve around food as much as mine, to test out some of the gadgetry and cook up an Irish themed feast in honour of St. Patrick’s Day.


[Beef ready to be cooked in Guinness]

And the gadgetry is certainly impressive: ovens with a seemingly endless selection of pre-set programmes, indoor barbecues complete with lava rocks, self-opening dishwashers and pressure ovens that appeared more intelligent than some of the lecturers I had at Cambridge.

But I learnt to cook on an AGA. I learnt by instinct, about why things happen, how they happen and how they can be improved. I’ve burnt and ruined and undercooked countless dishes and each one has made me a better cook.



I love the hands on aspect of cookery. The trials and tribulations of the kitchen, the ongoing process of creation. Put too much faith in technology and, for me, as a committed foodie of the old school, this link is lost.

There is no doubting the quality of the appliances, the professionalism, friendliness and sheer knowledge of the Miele team or the potential fun to be had in the test kitchen.


[Veggies on the indoor barbie]

But as to whether you want a kitchen that gives NASA a run for its money in terms of technology, that’s up to you to decide.

Fancy having a crack at playing in the kitchen of the future? Sign up for a Miele ‘Let’s Do Lunch’ day and you can. See here for more info.

For other bloggers take on the experience see Joanna's Food, the Cycling Cook, Princess and the Recipe and Almanzo’s Belly.

For more from me, just scoot on over to Twitter.

Cashew Nut Butter and 'Live Blogging'

Sometimes you read something in the food pages that strikes a real chord with you. Often the recipes featured are distinctly seasonal and faintly inspiring but occasionally one will come along that simply shouts ‘Try me!’

In last Saturday’s Guardian, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall was talking nuts. More specifically those big packets of nuts that sit in the back of a dark cupboard slowly going stale.

‘Don’t we have a bag of cashew nuts in the back of our store cupboard?’ said my girlfriend.

I tried to think back to the last time I’d used a cashew. ‘Erm, I think we might,’ I replied. Vague memories of toasting and grinding cashews to top a Phad Thai back in the Summer came to mind.

I went to check.

She was right. It appeared I’d bought a rather ambitious kilo of them after we returned from Thailand last August, no doubt purchased in a fit of enthusiasm and a desire to recreate some of the great food we had whilst on holiday.

But there was still a vast quantity left. ‘I’m going to make this,’ she said, pointing to a recipe for cashew nut butter. I nodded an approving nod, made a positive noise and watched her bound into the kitchen.

After a few minutes and much noise, she returned with a teaspoonful of what looked like peanut butter, only the colour of clotted cream.



It was delicious, especially over the remainder of the oatcakes I made last week.


Cashew Nut Butter (after HFW)

200g unroasted and unsalted cashew nuts
3-4 tablespoons of rapeseed or groundnut oil (we didn’t have either so used sunflower oil instead. It worked just fine)
1-2 tablespoons of runny honey
a pinch of salt.

Mix this lot together in a food processor until you have a creamy paste and there you go. It should keep for about a week in a sealed and refrigerated container.


Live Blogging
In other news, tomorrow will see my first attempt at ‘live blogging’.

I’ve been invited by the good people at the Miele Experience Centre to go and try out some of their gadgetry and learn how to rustle up some quality Irish fayre in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.

I’ll be posting throughout the day from about 11am. Just drop by from then to follow what’s going on.

Alternatively, follow me on Twitter.

*Currently cooking to the sounds of Handsome Devil by Jim Bianco. Excellent debut from the gravel voiced Hotel Cafe resident. Snippets of sleazy prohibition era Americana, delicious ballads and some cheeky dittys thrown in for good measure. Also excellent live. 8.5/10