A Stick Blender History

Stick Blenders - Part 1

Stick blenders, or immersion blenders if you like, are among the best and most useful kitchen tools, if you have the right one!

The modern Bamix

I first came across one in the early seventies at the Ideal Home Show at Olympia in London.  The blender in question was a Bamix, from Switzerland and it was being demonstrated on one of the lesser stands by a very ebullient gentleman and his female side-kick.  "At this time, Bamix," he said, "may be purchased only here.  It is not available in the shops!"

You know the sort of stand and demonstrator I mean.  They often do knives.  They demonstrate knives with serrated blades, on blocks of wood, sawing back and forth with tremendous vigor. Then, with the same blade, they slice a tomato, moving from the brute force of a Sumo wrestler  to the delicate actions of a cup-cake fairy. They swear you will 'never need another knife' and 'not only one, but two.......just for the show. ....will not be available again in the near future'.........Yeah!

Shamefacedly, I admit I once bought a pair of these knives in my murky past, and they were actually not too bad at all.  I had them for about 25 years and they were always great for slicing tomatoes.  In the end I gave them away out of boredom.

And now - back to the chase! 

My parents from NZ were with me and my father was just developing an interest in cooking.  My mother, rest her soul, was happy to be able to produce a half-way decent Victoria sponge and pork with crackling to die for, all the while stoutly maintaining that she had never been able to bake a decent sponge since she had to change from a coal range to an electric stove!   Hmmmm.....

Anyway - the blender. Dad was mightily impressed.  He watched the "chef" roughly chop enough  vegetables to half fill a bucket, add a few pints of boiling water, and then introduce the mighty Bamix to the mix. Whammy! Instant Soup. I can't actually remember what else the guy did but really, it didn't matter. The bucket of soup had made the sale and Mum and Dad took a Bamix back to NZ.

I don't know how much they actually used it.  I know that they made pate with it, but not the bucket soup.  Avocado, probably.  It was an extremely robust item - all metal and from memory,  a lot heavier than the stick blenders of today.  It stayed with them for the next 20 years when it was passed on and it did them proud. 

Thanks Bamix.