Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. Winston received a Tefal Cuisine Companion and was also flown to Sydney to attend the launch event courtesy of Tefal Australia and Hausmann Communications
The new Tefal Cuisine Companion has now arrived here in Australia and now available exclusively at Harvey Norman stores nationwide!!
So, last month I received a very intriguing email from Hausmann Communications telling me about this new product that Tefal was launching. It's already being sold in Europe and about to hit the stores in Australia soon. I must admit, I wasn't reading the email too carefully and at first and didn't think much of it because it was on my phone and I was a bit pre-occupied at the time but it mentioned something about a product called Cuisine Companion... Something about a food processor with functions....... But then when I scrolled down further they said that they wanted to give me one for free??? And that it costs about AU$1,699????????
Wait... What?
Hold the phone. What is this product that they are talking about and why is it costing so much? I did a quick Google search and later realised what this Tefal Cuisine Companion was all about. In short, this is Tefal's version of the Thermomix. Wow.
First of all, I had no idea that Tefal was launching its own version of the Thermomix. This is big news to me. I have always been a fan of Tefal and was actually thinking for a while now about getting a Thermomix myself. Now, you've got my attention...
What it is, it's basically an all-in-one kitchen appliance. It chops, stirs, cooks a bucket load of stuff all in the same bowl. To paint you a better picture, it's that kitchen appliance that you hear people talk about that costs a bomb to buy but cannot stop raving about how they can just dump a bunch of ingredients in the bowl, walk away, and come back to see that your food is all cooked and ready to eat. That thing.
I want that. In fact, I kinda need that. Me, being someone who is extremely used to eating homecooked food for breakfast, lunch and dinner every weekday, my biggest struggle has always been to have freshly cooked meals on a weeknight after work because I do get home quite late especially if I go to the gym after work. This is why my Sunday afternoon routine is always to spend hours to cook several dishes in bulk for me to eat for lunch and dinner for the week. So, what are my options for a weeknight dinner? Either I eat at 8:30pm (or sometimes later) after I get back or defrost yet another packed meal from my freezer. It's not great, but at least it's better than eating takeaway. I really struggle when it comes to eating out or doing takeaway on a weekday.
In fact, after deliberating about it for months, I was actually *this close* to getting one late last year as a Christmas present from Mum (because she knew how busy my sister and I were with work and knew this would help) but decided to put it off in the end. Basically, I attended a few Thermomix demos when I was in Malaysia and so we spoke about it at length about whether or not this was a good investment because it was really, really expensive. In the end, we thought it was but literally just as Mum was taking out her credit card to pay, we asked if what we were about to buy was the latest model and the lady told us "NO, there's actually a newer model than this that just came out in Australia". Why didn't you say this before?!?! NEVER MIND. We felt a little bit cheated, if I'm being honest. After all that dog and pony show of demonstrating the product and telling us how good it is but knowing fully well how expensive it was to us and that we're living in Australia, yet still trying to do this and hoping to get away with it didn't sit right with us. What if we got back to Australia and realised that after we had spent all this money, it was actually for a DATED model???? So, we walked... Actually, she came to our house so we politely said thanks no thanks and we weren't interested anymore, so she left...
Sexy little thing...
RIGHT. I apologise. I am going off on a tangent a little bit here but I thought I'd share a bit of my history with this whole thing so you understand my perspective a little bit more as I'm blogging about this.
Anyway, back to the email. Have I mentioned how darn excited I was after knowing what it is now?! It also included an invitation to a cooking demo they were holding in Sydney for the Tefal Cuisine Companion, which I respectfully declined because, well, it was in Sydney. Later, I got a reply saying that they were willing to fly me there for the event... WOW!
In my years of blogging, this was the first time I was ever flown anywhere for an event. Everything else was completely paid for too like my flights, accommodation, all my taxi fares. In fact, I was told that I was 1 of only 6 people who was actually flown in from around Australia just for this event. I felt really humbled to have been given such a rare opportunity like this, to be honest. Just humbled.
So off I flew to Sydney for a whirlwind tour as I was only going to be there for 12 hours in total because I had to take the 6am flight the next morning to go straight back to work...
When I got to the event at the Seafood School in Pyrmont, we started off the evening with champagne (not pictured) and a demo of the Tefal Cuisine Companion, which made me feel like I was part of a studio audience of a live cooking show...
This was followed by a quick Q&A session
Next, we went next door to a massive kitchen where we each had a Tefal Cuisine Companion to play with. They gave us each a recipe to cook with, with all the ingredients measured out in tiny bowls (like you see in old school cooking shows). NOT TO MENTION, we were told before we started that we didn't need to do any washing at all during our cook (we had to wash our bowls in between) because they had people on standby to do all of that for us. Whoaaaa??
Wowsers, I must say that this was a luxury that I couldn't help but feel slightly guilty about, standing back and letting someone do the washing whenever I needed. I was wondering if the Tefal Cuisine Companion came with a full time kitchen hand to do my dishes at home too?
After we all finished our cooks, we then proceeded to the dining hall where they had this beautiful table set up ready and waiting for us...
We were given 2 recipes that evening. The first, was this stunning Summer Risotto with lots of sun-dried tomatoes and basil... Deeelish. And so easy to make.
Then, we also made a simple cheesecake, which again was tasty and easy to make with the Cuisine Companion.
The whole event was really pleasant from start to finish and I'm so glad to be able to see some familiar faces from the blogging community and also get to meet new ones that night too.
After we wrapped up the evening, we were each given our Tefal Cuisine Companion to take home. Again, it felt kinda cool in some ways because that night, we got to use and was also given something that was not available to the public yet.
Using the Tefal Cuisine Companion
SO... I've had the Tefal Cuisine Companion a few weeks now and must say that I am honestly in LOVE with it. It really is just as easy to use as I had hoped or imagined. Cooking for me have honestly been made so much easier (as I have shared the predicament that I face above) and I know everyone keeps saying this, but I really, really, really like the fact that I can just dump a bunch of ingredients in the bowl, press a few buttons and just WAIT for it to be cooked without having to lift a finger. It's just something that you've really got to experience for yourself. This really eliminates the need to stand over a stove, watch the pan and stir constantly.
It's just time I get to use to clean other parts of my kitchen or simply rest in front of the TV after a long day's work. It's great. And all I need to do later is just enjoy my food and clean the plate I ate it with and also the bowl itself. Too damn easy. And clean. The other thing I liked about using the Tefal Cuisine Companion is that cooking with it is such a CLEAN process compared to cooking over a stove where I often get splatter and need to wipe down the wall, the grills for the stove and also the stove itself when I'm done. Again, this is another convenient and time saving benefit which I appreciate.
This product really has solved a big problem I had in my life (as I've outlined above) and I am just so grateful that I can have some freshly homecooked meals at the end of a work day because of it. And even if it isn't necessarily quicker to make the same dishes over a stove, it sure as hell is easier (because you just dump it all in a bowl) and cleaner (yay for not having to clean the kitchen after you cook!). LOVE IT. I've used it so many times since I've got it and in fact, I just realised that I've actually used my Cuisine Companion 7 times in the past week alone. I swear, as long as you have it permanently sitting on your benchtop, you will find yourself using it a lot like I do. Each machine comes with a cookbook which contains SO many recipes, which you will find very handy to use too.
Prior to this, there's a few kitchen appliances which I own already like a food processor ($350), slow cooker ($80), blender ($180), stick blender ($50) and a cake mixer ($700). I can tell you now, none of these gets used as much as I thought I would and now that I own the Cuisine Companion, it PAINS me so much to say that after having spent all that money, I am very certain that all of these appliances will continue to gather a lot of dust. The other annoying thing is that my kitchen is small enough as it is and these appliances are now just taking up space. The cuisine companion really is one of those appliances that you will find yourself using quite often, which makes it quite a good investment, if you ask me. Especially if you are moving into a new home and haven't bought any appliances yet, this single machine really is all you need. Think of how much room you'll be saving too.
Product Review: Tefal Cuisine Companion versus Thermomix
I guess the next million dollar question which most people immediately asks after hearing about this product: "How does the Tefal Cuisine Companion compared to the Thermomix?". Now that I own the Cuisine Companion and having used the Thermomix several times at cooking demos and also borrowing my friends' ones to use in the past, there is definitely some noticeable differences.
First, I must say that the final product or foods made with both appliances taste the same.
BUT, it is for the following reasons that make me like the Cuisine Companion more than the Thermomix (and I am being very honest when I say this):
- I find the interface for the Cuisine Companion more clear, intuitive and easy to use (my sister thought so too when she used it for the first time even without watching demos or reading articles etc)
- The lid is transparent (which means you can see your food getting cooked)
- Bowl is bigger (which is very good for me because I like to cook in bulk and I do find the Thermomix's bowl to be too small)
- Price is CHEAPER (quite significantly too, as it retails for AU$1,699 compared to the Thermomix's price of AU$2,000)
- Quieter than the Thermomix
- Available through retail distrubution (at Harvey Norman) or overnight shipping (compared to having to place an order for it online or hosting a demo at your place before waiting a few weeks to arrive)
Like I said, the final food that you put on the plate from both machine tastes the same but it's the little things like that above that makes a difference... Plus, the other reason why I was really excited about the fact that Tefal was coming out with their own version of the Thermomix is because I have always been a fan of Tefal. And all my friends know it, they really do. They've heard me talk about how happy I've been with the Tefal stuff that I bought over the years and how I like it more than many other brands in the market. Their products are all made in France and are always very reliable and durable compared to the other brands I own. In fact, my friends came over for dinner a few weeks ago, took a look around my kitchen and noticed all the Tefal products I had scattered around and even they went "Wow, Winston, you really do like Tefal don't you?". Why yes, I do...
That's why if I had to go with another competitive Thermomix product by a different brand, I sure as hell would go with Tefal. They've been good to me for so many years and I trust the brand a lot. This is me talking from my past experience with them and not from the fact that I was "just given" a Tefal product and have only "just become a fan" of them. Nope.
Anyway, as you can see I am quite happy with the Tefal Cuisine Companion. To be honest, I would've personally gone and bought this product myself if someone told me about it as we were just about to spend even more money on a Thermomix anyway (glad we didn't). And, again, because this is Tefal and not some random brand which I've never heard of. I am even happier and grateful that they chose me to collaborate with them because I couldn't have hoped for a better brand or product to work with.
Oh, and you've gotta make this Lemon & Lime Curd if you do get one. It's so damn easy and tasty. I've gotten so many compliments for it that I've made another batch and even that is almost gone now.
Simply delicious
This curd is so addictive I highly recommend you try!
Friend snapped this sneaky photo of me and I didn't even know hah
Love the look of it too
Lemon & Lime Curd Tart Recipe
(Adapted from a recipe from the Tefal Cuisine Companion menu book)Click here to print the recipe
Ingredients
For the pastry:
200g butter (chilled and cubed)
250g plain flour
125ml sour cream
Pinch of salt
For the lemon & lime curd:
3 eggs
150g sugar
20g corn starch
500ml milk
90ml lemon juice
90ml lime juice
Method
2. Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out to about 3mm thick. Place at the bottom of a tart pan (or muffin tin). Trim off the edges. Place a piece of baking paper over the pastry and place some dried beans/uncooked rice/baking beads on top. Blind bake the pastry for 10 minutes before removing the baking paper with beans/rice/baking beads and continue to bake for a further 10 minutes. Remove to cool on a wire rack until ready for use.
3. To make the curd, place the eggs and sugar in the bowl fitted with the mixer. Mix at speed 6 for 1 minute.
4. Add the cornstarch, milk, lemon juice and lime juice and launch the dessert program at 90°C at speed 5 for 12 minutes, without the stopper.
5. Transfer the curd into jars or ramekins. Cover it with cling film and put it in the fridge for at least 3 - 4 hours. Place some curd in the tart and enjoy.
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