Vacuum cooking enhances natural flavors

As I've mentioned before, 'sous vide' (cooking vegetables or meat in a vacuum) is resurfacing again, today in the NYT article, and has spawned an instructive website. Interestingly, "Modern sous-vide cooking originated in Switzerland in the 1960s as a way to preserve and sterilize food in hospital kitchens."

What's the benefit? - "Managing heat transfer — cutting into a steak, timing eggs, inspecting the juices of a roast chicken — is simply what cooks do, working by smell, sound, taste and touch, all of which are reduced or eliminated in sous vide. I found it unnerving to cook without my senses, but extremely liberating not to worry about doneness or cooking times."