A cook’s tour

The trip culminates at the KitchenAid Experience, a two-minute drive from the factory that is part-museum, partretail store. Fronting the KitchenAid evolution line is the first model introduced in 1919. It weighs in at 30kg, and cost US$150 in its day—today’s equivalent of $2,000. The brand story goes that when founder Herbert Johnson gave the wives of his executives prototypes to work with, one of them exclaimed, “I don’t care what you call it, but it’s the best kitchen aid I’ve had!” What’s most striking is that from the 1940s, the models start to take on their signature sinous shape. “If you had a machine from the 50s, all the attachments would still fit today,” affirms a sales representative from the store. Julia Child’s personal mixer remains on display. Many world class chefs are often seen using their KitchenAids almost exclusively, but aren’t paid endorsers of the brand.

Excerpt from the July 2014 issue of epicure.