The rice cooker, a revolution in fifteen minutes

His history

Everyday cooking is a cruel world. Why does it take ten minutes to master cooking pasta when cooking rice is an inexact science that requires years of learning? Add an overflow of water to the pot and you have an inedible porridge; turn off the heat a little too early and you’ll get undercooked grains. The invention of the automatic rice cooker, in the middle of the XX^e century, appeared as a small revolution – at the same time as a relief.

The first model came out of the Toshiba factories in 1956. Until then, in Japan, rice was cooked in an earthenware pot over a traditional wood or charcoal stove called a kamado. From now on, it is no longer monitored like milk on the fire: it is enough to rinse it thoroughly (to get rid of some of the starch it contains), to incorporate it into a container by adding a little water level, finally cover it with a lid… and press a button. In about fifteen minutes, the machine is responsible for cooking the sweet starch to perfection – and keeping it at temperature.

Its use

Embedded in a long corridor, the kitchens of Accents table Bourse (Paris 2^e) look like a restaurant car. On the right, a series of stoves, a worktop and three heating lamps. On the other side, glued to the wall, a shelf supports four rice cookers covered with a beautiful patina. Which spit out, here and there, a few wisps of steam. But no rice on the program of this starred restaurant. So what can they be used for? “Here, we experiment by making everything ourselves: from earthenware dishes to condiments, explains Romain Mahi, chef. To make my black garlic and brown the heads, I needed a hot, humid place, and for that, nothing more practical than a rice cooker. »

The chef macerates the garlic cloves for twenty-four hours in a whiskey bath. Then he wraps them in a cloth and transfers them to the hollow of the cooker – at the bottom of which they will change in texture, color and taste, for three weeks, at constant temperature. A few minutes before serving, the black garlic is mixed with lemon and olive oil before counterbalancing, with small spicy and tangy touches, the full-bodied flavor of a deer back with golden-red reflections.