15 Insights – First Look at the Tefal Cuisine Companion – Gepps Cross Adelaide – March 2015

 
 
 
Tefal are taking it to the Thermomix with the launch of the Cuisine Companion in Australia this Thursday.
 
A select few were treated to a VIP preview of the machine and how it performs in Harvey Norman stores around the country this week.
 
So it was that I made the trek from the Vale to Gepps Cross.
 
Bubbly staff from both Harvey Norman and Tefal greeted us and we assembled at a nifty display area.
 
Here we got our first look at the machine.
 
 

The machine in all its' glory. Photo: Willunga Wino

The machine in all its’ glory. Photo: Willunga Wino

 
 

Next on the agenda was a beverage. For that, we tested out the Swiss-made Jura coffee machine – it looked like the Impressa J9.3 RRP $2899. In went La Zumba beans, and out came a medium strength coffee with plenty of lovely thick foam from the in built steamer.


 
Jura coffee was nice. Photo: Willunga Wino

Jura coffee was nice. Photo: Willunga Wino




Welcoming remarks were made by National Sales Manager for Tefal Australia Gary Cahill. 

Tefal is part of the 140 year old Groupe Seb, with other brands including Krupps, Moulinex and All-Clad.The Cuisine Companion has been on sale in Europe for 18 months with strong sales demand. 

 
 
Gary from Tefal doing introductions. Photo: Willunga Wino

Gary from Tefal doing introductions. Photo: Willunga Wino

 

Tefal and Harvey Norman staff on the night were noticeably excited about the machine which was nice to see.


Cuisine Companion Consultant for Tefal, Matthew was our chef and product demonstrator for the evening. Keep an eye out for him running demonstrations in your local Harvey Norman in Adelaide over the coming weekends.


Matthew shows us the bowl. Photo: Willunga Wino

Matthew shows us the bowl. Photo: Willunga Wino

 
 



Here are the 15 key insights I picked up about the Tefal Cuisine Companion:

1. It’s Made in France


2. The Tefal CC is sold through retail stores, with a 2 month exclusive deal with Harvey Norman as sale agent (by comparison,Thermomix is sold via parties).

 
 
 
Signage & branding in store. Photo: Willunga Wino

Signage & branding in store. Photo: Willunga Wino

 
 
3. No extended warranty ‘product care” via Harvey Norman is applicable on it.

4. Retail price is $1699.
 
5. It has a 2.5 litre capacity, dishwasher safe bowl (compared to the Thermomix’s 2.2 litre capacity bowl).
 
 
The large, dishwasher safe bowl. Photo: Willunga Wino

The large, dishwasher safe bowl. Photo: Willunga Wino

 


6. It has 1550 watts of power from the motor (Thermomix has 1500 watts) and has a maximum temperature of 130 degrees.

7. It has a simple, large button, user interface, with a one line digital display (Thermomix has a larger digital display screen).

 
Simple user interface. Photo: Willunga Wino

Simple user interface. Photo: Willunga Wino

 
 
8. The unit is a similar size to a mid market $6-800 coffee machine, and is white and silver.
 
 
Matthew and Heather preparing guacamole. Photo: Willunga Wino

Matthew and Heather preparing guacamole. Photo: Willunga Wino

 
 
 
9. It comes standard with an attachment kit that includes:
  • an ‘Ultra blade’ to cut n dice, an attachment for Mixing,
  • an attachment to Whisk, Whip and emulsify,
  • an attachment to Crush 
  • an attachment to knead all standard
  • a hardcopy Recipe book with 100 each of entrees mains & desserts, making 1 million possible meal combinations
  • separate 1gm increment scales (Thermomix has built in scales to 5gm accuracy)
  • Spatula 
  • Cleaning tool 
  • Apron.

 

One of the million possible meal combo's. Photo: Willunga Wino

One of the million possible meal combo’s. Photo: Willunga Wino

 
 

 10. There is a 24 month replacement warranty from Tefal


 11. The machine is quiet. 
 
The most noise is when it is chopping hard ingredients (like vegetables). 
 
On the night, the machine was loudest when dicing the onion, but it only took 10 seconds at one of the higher speed settings, and it was still quiet (much quieter than my New York Smoothie Blender when mixing protein powder & milk!!). 
 
 
Just 10 seconds to dice the onion. Photo: Willunga Wino

Just 10 seconds to dice the onion. Photo: Willunga Wino

 
 
 
 
12. When cooking a meal that creates steam, the inside of the clear plastic lid steams     up, so you can’t really see the cooking other than than by taking out the ‘lid stopper” and looking through it.
   
 
Lid during cooking with the stopper out. Photo: Willunga Wino

Lid during cooking with the stopper out. Photo: Willunga Wino

 
 
 
 
 

13. Can swap the attachments mid recipe without emptying the bowl

14. The stainless steel bowl gets hot to touch during the cooking process

15. If you forget an ingredient, say the liquid component of muffins, then the machine can initiate it’s safety feature to turn off if overheated for half an hour.

 

How did the food prepared in the Tefal Cuisine Companion taste?


The texture was surprisingly still good in the Guacamole (Entree No 5). It was not super smooth, characterless mush, rather it still had some toothsome chunkiness. The recipe was good as it tasted great. It called for a teaspoon of Tabasco which made some in the audience gasp, (not me I’m a chilli fiend) but it was not spicy.

The Vegetable Muffin (Entree No 18) was mixed in the machine in accordance with the recipe. It was light and fluffy with plenty of properly cooked but not textureless vegetables throughout. 


Guacamole and Vegetable Muffin. Photo: Willunga Wino

Guacamole and Vegetable Muffin. Photo: Willunga Wino

 


The Summer Vegetable Risotto (Main Meal No 133) was very impressive. The grains of rice were separate, not gluggy, and slightly al dente as they should be. The creamy sauce well coated the grains. It was very, very tasty, more than I had expected. 


Enjoyed the risotto. Photo: Willunga Wino

Enjoyed the risotto. Photo: Willunga Wino

 


Rockmelon and Mango Gazpacho (Dessert No 274) came out silky smooth and thick, like a dairy free smoothie. I enjoyed the taste and texture though I couldn’t taste much of the ginger and lime.


Fruity gazpacho. Photo: Willunga Wino

Fruity gazpacho. Photo: Willunga Wino

 


Will I never chop by hand again?


Only if you want to. There is a pulse function on the machine that can do it for you (not the peeling though!). On the night, preparing the vegetables for the muffins, and the fruit for the gazpacho, was done by hand. 

 
Ready to go into the risotto. Photo: Willunga Wino

Ready to go into the risotto. Photo: Willunga Wino

 
 


Is it all I need?


No, you still need other appliances and equipment, like an oven, pots & pans, and a freezer/ice cream maker. The machine can’t cook things like a loaf of bread, or sear a steak. Likewise, it can do the mixing component of cold dishes, like terrine or ice cream, but cant chill it inside the machine.


The bottom line?


It does seem like a labour and possibly washing up saving device. Menu planning is easy which would help with shopping.

At this price point, research into the options makes sense.

I also attended a Thermomix party and have compared seeing both units in action


Special thanks to Harvey Norman employee Filomena for her hospitality on the evening. 





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What do you like the look with the Tefal Cuisine Companion? Comment below!
 




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