Everyone by now knows of the need to season cast iron. The process involves applying a thin layer of oil to a new pan, wok, or skillet, and heating so that the oil becomes polymerised to the metal’s surface.
Many of us too will shiver at the thought of the struggle that comes with maintaining cast iron. The whole process of cooking becomes beset by arcane rules and mythical regulations. Can I cook tomatoes in my pan, am I allowed to use soap in order to clean it, will staring at the pan cause the seasoning to wear off, have I done myself a damage by failing to apply the oil evenly?
Whatever the pitfalls and stresses of cast iron, seasoning is necessary to prevent rust and stickage. But it does more than this, so much more. After a long stretch of cooking and washing only with lukewarm water, your seasoned cast iron pan will begin to impart to your food a special sort of flavour. Buttery, peppery, jam-packed with herbs and spices, this flavour profile will be unique to you, a sort of DNA stamped firmly upon your cooking utensil.
What barely anybody knows is that you can also season your blender. Whether standalone or part of a food processor, operated carefully by hand or – like the NutriBullet – quick and ferocious in function, the effect is utterly sensational, and will bring a whole new meaning to your nutritious mid-morning smoothie or voluptuous, fruit-filled, post-workout milkshake.
As with cast iron, the secret lies in minimal washing. After blending up a thick batch of the good stuff, just flick your blending implement momentarily under the tap, or better yet pat clean with a damp washcloth.
But not too clean, because it is all that gooey banana leftover, that chunk of apple left in one corner and that sticky remnant of baobab powder, which in the long run will provide your shakes and smoothies with that extra burst of taste, with that perceptible extra surge of life-giving vitamin C.
