If you’ve been paying attention to the kitchen gadgets section of stores in the past few years, you’ve probably noticed a dramatic upswing in the number of these for sale:
This is a microplane grater/zester, and I’m guessing several of you already have one in your kitchens. But I’m also guessing many of you are holding out, wondering, as I did, whether you really NEED a separate grating device when you have a perfectly functional box grater sitting in your cabinet already.
A microplane grater has very thin, sharp blades, which create a very fine grate. Its best known for its excellent work with cheese and fruit: it makes lovely pillowy piles of hard cheeses, like Parmesan, and it zests citrus peel thinly so you get the good stuff without catching any of the bitter pith underneath.
But it’s a star at other tasks, too. It grates fresh nutmeg effortlessly (and once you taste freshly grated nutmeg, you’ll be a convert, I swear to god. Buy some at Spice House, it’s cheap.) It shaves chocolate beautifully. And, I was delighted to discover that it excels at grating fresh ginger into a nice fragrant paste, a task that I’ve found to be pretty much impossible with a standard chef’s knife.
All told, given its small stature (its long and skinny and fits easily in a silverware drawer) and its excellent performance in a variety of tasks, I’d say its a keeper.
So: Do I need a Microplane Grater?
Verdict: Yes!
Microplane zester/grater, $11.95 on Amazon
Bridget
I don’t have this specific grater but one similar to it and I love it!!! It is much easier to store and I have more uses for it then the large box grater.
August 19th, 2009 @ 2:54 pm
NGS
We need it fo’ sure!! I had no idea how many recipes I was just passing by because they called for lemon zest or some such nonsense. Oh, yes. Cookie making has just gotten a whole lot easier.
August 19th, 2009 @ 11:25 pm
Martha
My parents have one. I am jealous. It’s super awesome and I come over to steal it now and then, hoping they’ll get the hint. Hey, it’s worked with other things!
August 20th, 2009 @ 8:26 am