The microwave is not always given enough credit for the many things it does exceptionally well. It can cook fish so that it stays moist and make old-fashioned steamed puddings in minutes. It is a nifty device for caramelizing sugar with minimal mess and for gently melting dark chocolate without it seizing up. It cooks perfect fluffy Basmati rice effortlessly. The attraction of microwaves for fat molecules makes it the ideal way to de-fat ducks and spare ribs before roasting, as Barbara Kafka notes in her 1987 opus, Microwave Gourmet, the most persuasive case ever made for the microwave as an
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