09.17, Monday 27 Mar 2006

Mashed potato concepts: A spider-shaped piece of metal that you place on a potato, which weaves mashed potato and ejects it in a river from its middle. Or: A straw, or upside-down spoon with a hole in it, which is used like an additional piece of cutlery, which mashes whatever food it is placed against. The straw would have nanojaws at one end, and mechanical cilia to propel the food up the pipe. Also: A cotton candy machine that takes a mixture of potato, butter and cheese to produce a light mash-on-a-stick snack.

Other food concepts include a meat marinade propelling pencil, the paint-on sauce being the consistency of Marmite, and a saucepan with sensor pins and a base that can abruptly shut off the heat, so that, with a browning knob, it can act as a meat toaster.