FULL STEAM AHEAD

V-ZUG’s suite of Combi-Steam ovens are designed for a world of infinite possibilities when it comes to flavour and creativity, whether you are looking to create gourmet restaurant-level cuisine or aim to cook without a recipe

From primitive man to chefs running Michelinstarred kitchens, people have been harnessing the point at which water changes from its liquid form to gas for cooking for millennia. The origins of steaming are almost impossible to isolate, for it plays a starring role in formative human history across the globe, often marking a significant step on our path towards sophistication.

Steam pits dating back 10,000 years have been discovered in the American southwest, while some of the earliest examples of cooking with steam date back to Stone Age civilisations in Europe. In contemporary terms, the method is most associated with the bamboo steamers of Chinese cuisine, a practice that can be traced back 3,000 years to the Shang dynasty, a time delicious and nutritious food was highly valued and food preparation began to be considered an art.

Today, the benefits of steaming are widely known and employed by everyone from home cooks to the most celebrated chefs in the world. However, this has not always been the case. As recently as 15 years ago, steamed food had become a victim of its virtuous success, considered bland, diet-friendly fare that only the pious partook in. At least, that was the common ideology of those in the West.

Unbeknownst to flavourhungry diners, esteemed kitchens across the planet were not only steaming ingredients, they were experimenting with time-honoured techniques such as steaming en papillote or sous vide, that would make the practice as commonplace as it already was in Eastern cuisine.

Favoured for its health rewards—as well as its ability to preserve the aromatic qualities of fish, meat, vegetables— steaming is unequalled in its simplicity. Scientifically speaking, its superiority as a cooking technique lies in the fact that the water molecules that make up steam conduct heat better and therefore cook more quickly. Additonally, the method does not agitate or immerse food in the way that boiling does, meaning that precious nutrients are not lost in the cooking process.

Perhaps no one has said it better than famed French chef Michel Guerard, who wrote in his seminal 1976 book, Cuisine Minceur, that steaming, “is a process filled with fragrances that also causes the fat to ‘sweat’ out of food while preserving the nutritive elements (minerals, vitamins) and the original, essential flavours.”

Put another way, steaming steps up the cooking game, and Swiss brand V-ZUG’s CombiSteam oven takes it one, great leap further.

Ideal for busy city dwellers, V-ZUG’s multi-function approach and expert- insired setting bring professional levels of food preparation within reach of amateur home cooks, all at the touch of a button. Preferred by some of the biggest names in the industry—including Andreas Caminada of three-Michelinstarred Schloss Schauenstein and Tanja Grandits from

Stucki restaurant, which has two Michelin stars—for its precision and programming, the Combi-Steam affords them the opportunity to test the boundaries of creativity, safe in the knowledge that the technique is well and truly taken care of.

The Combi-Steam offers numerous operating modes, allowing you to select exactly the method that suits. It also makes the notoriously tricky art of sous vide accessible for all through V-ZUG’s

Vacuisine cooking method, which is both nutritionally and sensorially beneficial.

Moreover, cooking ingredients to perfection becomes not only easy, but fast and worry-free. Rather than having to check on progress throughout the cooking process, you are given the gift of time to speak with guests, put some thought into which wines to pair with your dinner and plate dishes in the most artful way. Second helpings and even leftovers can be reheated at lightning speed, serving the optimal experience the very next day. Ultimately, the CombiSteam does most of the hard work for you, making cooking, dining and life in general that little bit more enjoyable.