The average American kitchen is lousy with innovation. Science has bombarded us with convection microwave ovens, induction cooktops, and countless other curiosities aimed at making food preparation tidier and more efficient. Yet for all the patents crowding our counters, every time I put together a meal I find myself facing some tediously antique trade-offs: Would I prefer wholesome, quick, or safe? Maybe I can figure out how to achieve two, or even all three? Haven’t cracked that one yet.
The truth is that nutritious, delicious food is quite difficult to obtain quickly. “Quickly” has traditionally meant either cooking food beyond recognition (safe but disgusting) or barely cooking it at all (also disgusting, if you ask me). Raw or rare food may be popular among health nuts, but it is also an attractive dining option among the world’s largest constituency, bacteria, a population riding high on its recent success in contaminating ...
