Bot Cuisine

Robots in the kitchen? Sounds like a crazy 1950's movie theme but it was the subject of an article in yesterday's New York Times Dining section. Before all of you get excited and wonder when Target and Williams and Sonoma are stocking these, remember the kitchen 'bots are only in prototype phase right now. Maybe by mod decade they'll hit homes.

Ian Dalywrote this piece wher e he interviewed the robots' creators at the Carnegie Mellon Institute in Pittsburgh. One robot, dubbed the "Snackbot" served him a granola bar , not unlike Rosie on the cartoon series "The Jetsons"and even called him by his name.The Snackbot is just one type of kitchen automaton. A Chinese company, Fanxing Science and Technology have created other robots that can easily whip up thousands of Chinese delicacies. They know how to bake boil and steam. One even has a creepy looking human looking hand attached to pick up sushi. American scientists have also created a robot that whips up omelets.

As much as it sounds like a fantasy to have a robot doing all your cooking there is one big drawback. They're not human. Robots can't taste so food can either be uber spiced or too bland.A Japanese ramen restaurant has a robot to cook its' food, Unfortunately the cuisine is none too great because the bot can' ;taste it and make any necessary adjustments . Another drawback is that we flesh and blood cooks love to add and reinvent recipes making them our own. Without this human factor food is going to be as exciting and tasty as institution food.

Robots in the kitchen. Well , I wouldn't mind them to clean and core and knead for me but we already have gadgets that do that. Call me old fashioned but I prefer my cooks to have a pulse. i also prefer to have help that I can talk to and get a response.
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