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Israeli-Made ‘Genie’ Machine Produces Insta-Food

Send one to Tablet; I double-dog-dare you.

by
Jonathan Zalman
May 08, 2015
(Shutterstock)
(Shutterstock)

Some discoveries are rad and useful, like fire, which can help us pan-sear a whole Branzino to taste so darn good that we wait a few extra seconds before wiping the grease off our lips. It takes effort and carefulness and time but who has time for that these days?

So, technology burst onto the scene, like those ubiquitous Keurig coffee brewing systems. I’m principally against these machines because coffee is nothing if not fetishized, and the product a Keurig yields tastes like plastic and burns a hole through my pride. But I’ve come to accept these machines if only because I’ve accepted coffee as a daily necessity and who doesn’t want narcotics with the press of a button? (I mean, it’s called a “K-Cup.”)

But I’ve got to draw the line, and it happens here and now with a machine called “The Genie.” Reuters reports:

The Genie, similar in size and appearance to a coffee maker, can produce an unlimited variety of meals using pods, that contain natural dehydrated ingredients. So whether salty or sweet, an appetizer or a dessert, the device can create the food you crave in 30 seconds.



Developed by Israeli entrepreneurs Ayelet Carasso and Doron Marco from White Innovation company, the device uses a mobile app to operate.



“The dish can be anything, it can be a meal like chicken with rice, like couscous with vegetable or an amazing Ramen or even a chocolate soufflé or any other dessert that you want,” Carasso explains.

(Here’s a video of this machine and its inventors in action.)

Later on in the article, Carasso and Marco refer to Star Trek’s replicator as inspiration for their invention, which is cool.

But for me, any modicum of coolness and appetite gets thrown out the window when the phrase “all-natural ingredients” is juxtaposed with “freeze-dried” and “pods” and “shelf-life between one and two years.”

I know I sound like a salty old man. So, prove me wrong.

Dear Ayelet Carasso and Doron Marco of White Innovation:

Send a “Genie” to the Tablet offices in New York City, and I will eat meals from your machine every day for a week—breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I’ll blog about it.

I’m waiting.

Jonathan Zalman is a writer and teacher based in Brooklyn.