Johannesburg - There was a time during the highest levels of the Covid-19 lockdown when any meal available were ones that were home-made.
This is as restrictions during the early parts of the pandemic in South Africa forced the closure of all restaurants and fast food outlets and even roast chicken and store pies were not allowed to be sold.
This led to many South Africans experimenting in the kitchen and with the extra time on their hands as they were confined to their homes, the global health crisis resulted in a rise of nostalgia cooking.
But over two years later and as the country attempts to recover from the Covid-era, the demands of daily life has meant that there is little to no time to cook up childhood meals during the heights of the work week.
For others who are still working from home or adopting a hybrid working routine, they crave comfort and hearty meals which often originated from generations before them, particularly as winter has officially arrived on our shores.
The excessively high cost of living has also meant that many are forced to cut back on restaurant dining and takeaways.
But the arrival of the Philips All-In-One-Cooker in South Africa this week has lessened the worries of all those who are stressing about feeding their families a wholesome and healthy meal in a limited amount of time.
The cooking innovation, which was officially launched at the Vitality HealthyFood Studio in Sandton this week, has 35 preset functions.
This includes slow cook, pressure cook, steaming, sauteing as well as reheating and warming.
The cooking device also has programming for baking as well as soup, yoghurt and jam making.
During the launch at the Discovery headquarters, Elke van Vledder, the Phillips marketing manager explained that their All-In-One-Cooker was designed to assist consumers in developing their cooking skills.
“What they really want is a home-cooked meal that is healthy, easy to prepare and tastes like it was made by a professional.”
In a bid to test the cooker’s functionalities, some of the nation’s top chefs: Dr Harri, Jenny Morris and Zanele Van Zyl were put through their paces during the launch at the Vitality HealthyFood Studio which was hosted by Cape Town chef and food stylist Zola Nene.
The trio were tasked with cooking up a meal which usually needs hours to make, in just 30 minutes.
Food influencers, journalists and other foodies then tasted each dish and scored the chefs on their individual meals.
Dr Harri, from MasterChef SA fame, who is also a dentist, stylist and food blogger, prepared one of his childhood favourites: dhal and chickpea curry with paneer with brown rice.
“This meal is one of my first food memories and usually takes hours and hours to prepare,” he told the gathering.
He added that the Philips All-In-One-Cooker would allow him to recreate some of his mother’s acclaimed dishes in just a fraction of the time.
Meanwhile, Van Zyl, a three times magazine cover star, best selling and award-winning cookbook author as well as 2022 culinary media personality of the year also longed for the taste of her childhood.
During her cooking challenge with the Philips All-In-One-Cooker, she attempted to recreate her mother’s oxtail stew and samp dish, a meal which usually also takes hours to make.
But she only had 30 minutes to cook it, from preparation to serving.
“I love that the device is non-stick and so easy to use,” she said.
Van Zyl added that all the cooker’s buttons and functionalities might appear to be intimidating initially but she managed to master it in not much time.
Morris, a celebrity chef, radio personality and the first South African to host her own show on the Food Network cooked up a chicken bredie and explained that the cooker would allow her to enjoy delicious meals as she juggles her busy work life.
“The All-In-One-Cooker gives us girls the chance to have a bubble bath while our meals are being safely prepared in this device,” she said at the launch.
Morris outscored her fellow chefs, with Van Zyl coming in second place and Dr Harri in third, but all three managed to produce a delicious and wholesome meal in just 30 minutes.
Apart from the cooking festivities, van Vledder stressed that The All-In-One-Cooker is also a healthy way to prepare food as it has a sauce thickening option which allows consumers to not have to add extra ingredients.
“It is also aesthetically pleasing and its clean design will fit into any kitchen.”
“It takes up very little space and looks slick enough to display on your kitchen counter when living space is limited, so gone are the days of old, big and rusted cooking equipment,” she said.
The All-In-One-Cooker also comes with 18 Safety Protection Systems for worry-free cooking which includes a child-lock button.
And when it comes to pressure cooking, there is no hazardous steam erupting from the device.
Meanwhile, Philips Country Lead Africa Troy Gower added that the goal with this product is to be best to market and that its reduced cooking time option is a major selling point.
“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,” he said.
“Because cooking times are 50% faster than stove top cooking, this appliance essentially allows even those with the busiest of weekday schedules to serve a delicious home-cooked meal usually reserved for weekends when they have the luxury of time to spend hours cooking.”
The device also has The Taste Control System, which is a series of 35 automatically pre-set optimal cooking programs which create precise cooking parameters for enhanced flavour.
To make the Philips All-in-One experience even more appealing, a series of product-specific recipes are available on the Philips NutriU-app for all South African consumers.
“The NutriU-app provides daily inspiration for healthy, tasty recipes with step-by-step guidance and it’s a bit like having a chef inside your phone,” Gower said.
The app can be downloaded via Google Play Store or iStore now.
Philips’ domestic appliances has for over 130 years, offered innovative products across kitchen appliances, coffee machines, air purifiers, irons and vacuum cleaners.
Other successful product ranges include the renowned Airfryer, Fully Automatic Espresso Machine with LatteGo, the Perfect Care Optimal Temp steam iron, Air Purifier and SpeedPro Max vacuum cleaner.