While upscale foodies have been proudly learning the gastronomic alphabet (A is for arugula, B for balsamic vinegar and C for imported chevre), mainstream America has been mounting a kitchen counterrevolution by mastering new cooking techniques like zapping and nuking. With microwave ovens now installed in three-quarters of the nation's kitchens, the U.S. is in the midst of a food upheaval that may leave taste buds as imperiled as the Panamanian drug trade.
The microwave oven is not to blame: it is not machines that kill taste but the people who use them. What is destroying American cuisine is the growing...