We all know the late Julia Child was the queen of kitchen cool. In her French Chef show on French Bread, at 8:29, Julia obtains a piece of cling film from an electric cling-film dispenser.
The show was produced in 1971 when I was but a lad of 16 (oh, to be 16, young and stupid again!). I remember seeing this show the first time it was broadcast in 1971. When I saw it again on YouTube, I dismissed the electric cling-film dispenser as another piece of kitchen kitsch, a relic of the '70s, the era of hot-lather dispensers, CB radios and machines that wrap your leftovers in an evacuated plastic bag (a.k.a "Seal-A-Meal).
Imagine my astonishment when I discovered that today, in 2015, you can still buy an electric cling-film dispenser:
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/wraptastic-food-wrap-dispenser/1041136515
I'm not going to buy a cling-film dispensing machine to be as cool as Julia Child. If Julia were really cool, she would be using her machine to dispense baking parchment.
Not only that, you can still buy hot-lather dispensers, CB radios and meal-sealing machines. It seems the '70s aren't totally dead after all:
makes me think of when I was growing up with a home builder dad who liked gadgets. House built in 1959 had a built-in blender aparatus in the counter and a coffee dispensing machine in the wall which at that time were state of the art! Brings back memories of my first record player and princess touch tone phone too! What a difference it is for kids today who live in the an instant world.
Hey, I've got a food sealer, and I love it. No more freezer burn on those Costco packs of meat. I can't find my 8-track though. Maybe it's at the bottom of the freezer.
They still make food sealers, today, in 2015. They must sell or they wouldn't be manufacturing them. I'm glad to hear you love yours and find it useful.
Please tell me you didn't win yours as a prize on Match Game.
on making French Bread. She was using an 82.8% hydration dough - a real surprise since one would expect a hydration of 67-75% for a white French bread. It was great to see the great Professor Calvel at work too.
Here is the professors method for making a starter
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/index.php?content=professorcalvelsstarter
Happy baking