Sous vide is haute cuisine for boil-in-a bag. But master this technique and you'll never cook another way.

What it's about

Sous vide (sue-veed) is a method of slow cooking food in vacuum sealed bags placed in warm water at low temperature. Because of the lack of oxygen, food retains colour, tenderness and flavour much better and will never be over (or under) cooked.

Today chefs increasingly use it to cook less tough cuts of meat and pressurising certain fruits and vegetables. For instance, a piece of watermelon takes on a firm, meaty texture whereas a cucumber placed in a bag with a little dressing absorbs the dressing and almost tastes cooked.

Can I do it at home?

Margot Janse of Le Quartier Francais says she has. As the equipment is expensive - R10 000 for a digitalised thermal immersion circulator from Culinary Equipment Company and another R15 000 for the vacuum-packing machine, it's out of most of our reach. If you insist, you can also try sousvide.co.za.

Basically you need a water bath with some kind of immersion heater and a circulator that keeps the water moving around.

Pretty much like a fish tank, which Margo used in the past after her handyman adjusted the thermostat. Then you need a professional vacuum packing machine, which is really important as the bag needs to be pressurised and totally airtight.

Where can you taste it?

If you're not going to do it yourself, go to Le Quartier Francais, La Colombe, Reuben's and Rust en Vrede, or fly on KLM's Business class.