50 years of Gastronomo, the story of one of the most popular Girmi home appliances.

The Gastronomo is one of the oldest Girmi appliances and has passed through the history of Italian families while keeping its historic name. What has changed a lot in the fifty years separating us from its birth are the shape and functionalities. Let's discover together the history of this appliance up to the recent release of its latest version: the Gastronomo Plus. Let's discover together the history of this household appliance up to the recent release of its latest version: Gastronomo Plus.

The origins of the Gourmet

The history of the Gastronomist goes hand in hand with the birth of of the first appliances. While in the United States, already in the twenties, there was a rapid and massive spread of appliances in homes, in Europe, especially in Italy, this phenomenon began with a delay of about a decade, further slowed down by the arrival of the Second World War. The early 1950s saw the introduction of the first kitchen and household devices powered by electricity, but it was only in the 1970s that a real boom occurred in this sector.¹

An exhibition of Girmi appliances at the 1974 Milan Fair - Source: Archivio Storico Fondazione Fiera Milano

The first Girmi household appliance to capture the public's attention was Frullo, an electric blender from 1954 inspired by trends from overseas, where families were already using modern electric blenders. Girmi stands out as the pioneer in the field: it is the very first Italian electric blender.

Riding the success of Frullo, in 1960 the Gastronomo was introduced, , a multi-purpose blender equipped with various easily interchangeable accessories: beater, mincer, grater, juicer, citrus press, and ice crusher. In later versions, a slicer and an innovative accessory called Cremexpress, are also included, to make creamy coffee at home like the one in a bar. The Gastronomo proves to be a true multi-function appliance, anticipating the "robots" that will become common in the years to come, and quickly wins the favor of the public, with a record production of over a thousand units per week.

The Gastronomo becomes an icon of the new well-being of Italian families and a change in lifestyle, where the most tedious and repetitive household tasks can be entrusted to machines in order to enjoy greater freedom. In addition to being modern and practical, the Gastronomo also includes a useful recipe book in the packaging, which illustrates how to prepare a wide range of tasty and healthy dishes, accompanied by helpful dietary tables. This reflects a change in the eating habits of Italians, in line with progress. In those years, Girmi is committed to promoting a more complete and nutritious diet.

A 1960s advertisement for Gastronomo - Source: Bruno Maffeis, “1919-2019, Cent'anni di Girmi

An advertisement showcasing one of the twenty versions of the Gastronomo produced in the 1960s-1980s - Source: Bruno Maffeis, “1919-2019, Cent'anni di Girmi

In the 80s, the famous designer Luca Meda was commissioned to renovate the individual accessories that made up the Gastronomo. This restyling, in addition to being aesthetic, also focuses on the functional aspect, making the device more compact, efficient, and less bulky. For example, the included glass, which was originally separate from the base of Gastronomo, can now be flipped over and securely attached to the base after use, minimizing the space occupied. 

This is just one of the many evolutions that the Gastronomo has undergone over the years: it will have more than twenty versions. At one point, in the 1980s, it was replaced by the FR52 blender, which boasted components designed by Luca Meda. Subsequently, multifunctional robots took over the market, but theGastronomo was destined to make its comeback, reinventing itself once again to meet contemporary needs.

Today's Gastronome

Through a long series of evolutions and improvements, the Gastronomo has reached its most contemporary and updated form in the current line of professional planetary mixers.

In the Sixties, the Gastronomo responded to the need to lighten the workload of housewives in the most repetitive tasks of food preparation, especially considering that many of these tasks, such as grinding coffee or mincing meat, were done manually at home. Today, we not only have all kinds of appliances to perform various tasks, but we also find all sorts of ready-made ingredients on the supermarket shelf. However, there are many people who are passionate about cooking and want to go back to performing some of those tasks that were once done at home out of necessity, such as kneading and preparing fresh pasta with quality raw materials.

Once again, the Gastronomo adapts to the current times and transforms into a multifunctional mixer that allows you to achieve professional results even at home.

The most recent model, Gastronomo Plus, stands out for its elegant vintage style that evokes the atmosphere of the Sixties. With its essential design and the professional-looking stainless steel container, it is the ideal appliance to display in the kitchen.

For those who want to tackle complex preparations with abundant quantities of ingredients, the Gastronomo Plusplanetary mixer proves to be an ideal ally, allowing them to save time and effort and cook at a professional level. With its 8-liter capacity, the size of the dough is no longer a obstacle!

The preparation of dough for bread, pizza, fresh pasta or sweets and cookies at the level of a true pastry chef becomes extremely simple with this multi-purpose dough mixer. Thanks to the power of 2200W, planetary movement, and 6 different processing speeds,adaptable to the specific needs of preparation, Gastronomo Plus offers high-level performance. It is equipped with a hook whisk for kneading, a mixing accessory for soft doughs and a planetary whisk for whipping or beating.

But the features do not stop there: the planetary mixer is designed to accommodate a range of optional accessories that turn it into a multifunctional device like theGastronomo of the past.It is possible to add the meat grinder, the pasta maker, the accessory fortagliatelle and the one spaghetti, thus further expanding the possibilities of use of the stand mixer.

Today, Gastronomo is definitely the most fun and practical way to try your hand at preparing all kinds of dishes from A to Z at home.

¹ Bruno Maffeis, “1919-2019, Cent'anni di Girmi"