No Microwaves. No Aluminum Cookware.
Speed has changed how food is made.
Microwaves and aluminum cookware dominate modern kitchens because they’re fast, cheap, and convenient. But convenience often comes at a cost — to flavor, texture, and integrity.
At YALLA, we made a deliberate choice:
We don’t use microwaves.
And we don’t cook with aluminum cookware.
Because how food is heated matters just as much as what goes into it.
Why Microwaves Became the Default
Microwaves exist for one reason: speed.
They’re designed to:
Reheat food instantly
Mask poor prep
Encourage shortcuts
Prioritize efficiency over craft
In most kitchens, microwaves become a crutch — a way to revive food that was cooked long ago, frozen, or rushed through production.
That’s not cooking.
That’s correction.
Why We Don’t Use Them
At YALLA:
Food is cooked fresh
Heat is applied intentionally
Timing matters
Texture matters
Microwaves:
Heat unevenly
Destroy texture
Encourage pre-cooking and holding
Break the rhythm of real cooking
When food is made properly, it doesn’t need to be “fixed” later.
The Issue with Aluminum Cookware
Aluminum is everywhere in commercial kitchens because it’s:
Lightweight
Cheap
Highly conductive
But aluminum also:
Reacts with acidic foods
Can leach into food under heat
Lacks stability over repeated high-temperature use
That’s especially problematic in Mediterranean and Moroccan cooking, where ingredients like lemon, tomatoes, vinegar, and spices are common.
What We Use Instead
We choose cookware that:
Is stable under heat
Doesn’t react with food
Respects flavor and ingredients
This means slower cooking, more attention, and fewer shortcuts — but it preserves the integrity of what we serve.
Good cookware shouldn’t interfere with food.
It should disappear into the process.
Texture, Flavor, and Respect
When food isn’t microwaved:
Bread stays bread
Falafel stays crisp
Meats stay tender
Sauces stay balanced
When cookware doesn’t react:
Flavors remain clean
Acidity stays bright
Spices stay expressive
These differences are subtle — but they add up.
Why Most Kitchens Won’t Do This
Let’s be real.
Microwaves and aluminum cookware:
Save labor
Reduce skill requirements
Increase speed
Cut costs
Avoiding them requires:
Planning
Training
Timing
Discipline
Most kitchens aren’t built for that.
We are.
Tradition Meets Intention
For most of history:
Food was cooked with fire, pans, and patience
Reheated food was rare
Cookware was chosen carefully
Modern tools changed speed — not necessarily quality.
Choosing not to use certain tools isn’t rejection of progress.
It’s choosing the right tools for the job.
The YALLA Standard
No microwaves.
No aluminum cookware.
No shortcuts disguised as efficiency.
Just real cooking, done on purpose.
Because food should taste the way it was meant to — not the way it was reheated.
Intentional heat. Honest tools.
That’s how we cook at YALLA.
