Under pressure (+recipes)
04.04.11
There's a degree of irony in the name pressure cooker, because, in fact, they take all the pressure off the cook.
Whereas slowcookers have had a huge revival in modern kitchens in recent years, the pressure cooker has remained devoutly retro uncool, perceived by many as something used only in the olden days by your nana.
The use of pressure cookers fell of the boil about the same time that microwaves snuck their way into the corners of every kitchen boasting giddily-fast cooking times, provided you didn't mind rubbery meat and instant noodles.
Now, with most foodies donating the microwave to their kids' student flat or possibly the inorganic recycling pile, it's time for the good old pressure cooker to step back into the kitchen limelight.
Leading the charge is British food writer Richard Ehrlich with his new book 80 Recipes for Your Pressure Cooker (New Holland, $39.99, out now).
In it he makes the point that pressure cookers are among the greenest, easiest and fastest cooking methods around. They use little energy, and preserve the nutrients, aroma and flavour of your food.
Source: New Zealand Herald