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When tides are turning: the amazing microwave!
The radiation left over from the Big Bang is the same as that in your microwave oven but very much less powerful. It would heat your pizza only to minus 271.3o C - not good for defrosting the pizza, let alone cooking it.
— Stephen Hawking
Let's not complicate matters further with a run down on physics and the scientific marvel that the microwave is. Frankly, it does not matter a bit.
Bengalis are a fussy lot, even more so when it comes to cuisines. We like our beef reheated for the umpteenth time till the fibres lose their bonds — that's 'jhura magsho' for you!
Fish is a whole new ball game — always preferred as right off the stove, not steamy, but hot.
"Where does the microwave oven fit into this?" one may ask.
To find an answer, one must dissect the ever-changing values of our society, and that too is not necessarily a bad thing.
The benefits of the microwave are multifarious. There was a time when we looked down on microwave ovens, in fact, there was a time when we rejected all sorts of kitchen appliances — the pressure cooker, the roti maker, the rice cooker…it's a seemingly endless list. Yet, social realities had us accepting them with open arms, simply because they make lives EASIER!
The best thing about a 'microwave' is perhaps the fact that they are low hazard, and keeps all the nutrients of the dish unchanged; something one can never ensure with a stove.
Microwave radiation penetrates deep, and allows for even more heating of food.
It is always a 'green' gadget vis-à-vis a stove as it uses less energy to give the desired result.
Over the last two decades, our lives have gained pace to a point where families struggle to make both ends meet, and then devote extra time for a nutritious meal for the entire family. And truth be told, compromising on serving a wholesome meal can never be an option.
Microwave ovens are so user friendly that it can be used with ease by the entire family, the lazy husband, the restless children, and even the elderly. And at the end of the day, when faced with the enormous task of cleaning comes at hand, microwaves reign supreme.
Except heating food, you can use microwave ovens to prepare food from scratch: poached eggs, cookies, polenta, mac and cheese, popcorn and even potato chips.
At a time when we struggle to manage family minutes amidst our busy schedule, the microwave can be a key weekend family affair that can not only help us serve good food, but also engage the entire family. It can make the help the 'hubbie dear' shrug off the lethargy, make things interesting for the children, and make life easy for the working mother.
So, microwave? All we see is a win-win!
— LS