"If it's good enough for Paul Bocuse, it's good enough for me." These are the self-convincing words you might mutter when desperately trying to justify splashing out on this posh panini maker. That it has been endorsed by one of the world's top chefs might sway you to part with your hard-earned. But it shouldn't. This fantastic piece of equipment from Cuisinart could have been backed by a tag team of Krusty the Clown and SpongeBob SquarePants, it would still bring a whole new dimension of cooking to your kitchen.
In fact, who needs a kitchen when you've got one of these? The sleek, brushed-steel multifunction grill and griddle can be plonked down, plugged in and cranked up practically anywhere. And when you're done, it can be folded up, grabbed by the handles and whisked away in a businesslike fashion, like some kind of panini addict's briefcase. With five different cooking methods (grill, panini, barbecue, plancha and toasted sandwich), it can perform a variety of tasks with meat, fish, fruit, vegetables and even eggs. But let's look at its prime function first: panini making.
The non-stick griddle plates can be clicked into place with consummate ease before the control knobs are turned to the required setting. This gets the griddle sufficiently hot to toast a sandwich, not burn a sandwich (unless you giddily rush out of the house to tell the world you've got a new panini maker and leave the appliance sizzling away). I slapped some buffalo mozzarella, bresaola, tomato slices and a few leaves of rocket between two slices of ciabatta and popped it on to the hot griddle. The floating hinges meant that when I pulled the handle down, the top plate dropped parallel to the bottom plate, making clean contact with the sandwich for a crisp and even toasting. In just a few minutes it was done, and it was as delicious as it was simple to make.
You might decide that paninis are all you want to cook, and leave it there. You won't have wasted your money. But all you have to do is preheat the device on the barbecue setting and you're ready to slap all kinds of steaks and sliced vegetables on to the grill. The top plate folds back to 180 degrees, allowing you to cook, say, tuna steaks on one side and sliced aubergine on the other. Alternatively you can switch the ridged griddle plates for the flat plancha plates in a flash and start cooking fried eggs sunny-side up or even an omelette.
Not only is it seductively attractive, versatile and a cinch to use, it's also healthy. Any fatty cooking juices will automatically drain off at the side, and can be caught in the little plastic drainage cup provided. Not only that, but it has a special little cleaning tool that will shift any residue left behind with a minimum of elbow juice. Only one question remains: is the Cuisineart panini maker so sickeningly perfect that it will put you off your food? Not on your life.
The Cuisinart panini maker is available at Tavola, Marina Mall, Abu Dhabi, and Mall of the Emirates, Dubai.
