Often used in a very basic way in everyday life, the microwave remains underappreciated when it comes to truly cooking. In many households, it mainly serves to save a few minutes, without people necessarily thinking of all the preparations it can enable. Dani García, however, defends a completely different view. The Spanish chef, accustomed to haute cuisine techniques, believes that this equipment can find a real place in meal preparation, provided one knows how to use it. In his view, speed and simplicity are not incompatible with a refined cooking.
The microwave in the service of simpler and quicker cooking
This confidence isn’t new. Dani García explains that he has been using the microwave since the early years of his career, long before he was recognized as one of the leading figures in Spanish cuisine. “It’s an absolutely formidable tool, and I have been using it since my beginnings,” he says in El Confidencial. Far from seeing this appliance as a solution reserved for hurried cooks, he especially appreciates its ability to simplify certain preparations while drastically shortening their cooking times. This interest makes sense at home, where one does not always have the time or desire to juggle multiple pots and technical steps.
To illustrate his point, the chef takes artichokes as an example, a vegetable whose preparation can quickly become burdensome. Once cut and cleaned, they tend to oxidize and darken rapidly, which usually requires handling them without waiting too long. Dani García proposes precisely to bypass part of these difficulties by using the microwave. He says he has already shared this method on social networks and explains that his wife herself had been surprised to discover how much easier this way of proceeding made the preparation.
A microwave cooking method that simplifies several steps
Its principle is to not completely clean the artichokes before cooking. They can be placed whole on a plate with a little water, then covered with plastic wrap suitable for this purpose. They then go into the microwave for about four and a half minutes. This short cooking allows them to soften enough to facilitate the next steps. After letting them cool for a moment to handle without burning, the outer leaves become much easier to remove. All that remains is to release the heart and remove the fuzzy choke from its center.
This approach mainly has the advantage of moving the most tedious part of the work after cooking. Rather than wrestling with a raw, firm artichoke that is prone to oxidizing immediately, you work with a vegetable that has already softened. The chef notably suggests serving the hearts prepared this way with a ham vinaigrette. Nevertheless, the accompaniment matters less in the end than the technique itself. The microwave becomes here a way to quickly obtain a ready-to-season base or to be integrated into a recipe, without going through a long boil or steam cooking.
The microwave, a device that many do not use to its full potential
The artichoke example mainly illustrates how Dani García envisions this appliance. Not as a systematic substitute for other cooking methods, but as an additional tool. Depending on the foods and recipes, it can save several steps and avoid unnecessarily lengthy preparation. This versatility explains why the chef does not hesitate to talk about “a wonderful tool for the home.” A stance that contrasts with the sometimes unflattering image of the microwave, still associated with fast or less elaborate cooking.
For Dani García, the real problem would thus come less from the microwave itself than from the way we have become accustomed to using it. When used properly, it can cook certain foods in just a few minutes. It can also facilitate their preparation and avoid resorting to longer techniques. Artichokes are only one example of what the appliance can bring to daily life. This is enough to reconsider this equipment found in many kitchens, and which many people still use far below its possibilities.
