Grater

A grater, also known as a shredder, is a kitchen utensil used to grate foods into fine pieces. The modern grater was invented by François Boullier in the 1540s, originally to grate cheese.

"Cheese grater" redirects here. For the industrial tool, see surform. For the skyscraper in London, see 122 Leadenhall Street. For the building at Leicester University, see Attenborough Building. For the UCL magazine, see The Cheese Grater.

Grater A box grater with multiple grating surfaces Box grater with vegetable slicing surface displayed

Uses

Food preparation

Cheese grater

Several types of graters feature different sizes of grating slots, and can therefore aid in the preparation of a variety of foods. They are commonly used to grate cheese and lemon or orange peel (to create zest), and can also be used to grate other soft foods. They are commonly used in the preparation of toasted cheese, Welsh rarebit, egg salad, and dishes which contain cheese sauce such as macaroni and cheese, cauliflower cheese.

In Slavic cuisine, graters are commonly used to grate potatoes for preparation of dishes, including draniki, bramborak or potato babka.

In tropical countries graters are also used to grate coconut meat. In the Indian subcontinent, the grater is used for preparation of a popular dessert, Gajar Ka Halwa.

Graters produce shreds that are thinner at the ends than the middle. This allows the grated material to melt or cook in a different manner than the shreds of mostly uniform thickness produced by the grating blade of a food processor. Hand-grated potatoes, for example, melt together more easily in a potato pancake than food-processed potato shreds.

In music

In Jamaica and Belize, coconut graters are used as a traditional musical instrument[1] (along with drums, fife, and other instruments) in the performance of kumina, jonkanoo, and sometimes mento.

History

The modern cheese grater was invented by François Boullier in the 1540s in France with the idea that hard cheeses could still be used.[2]

Variants

Spiralizers are complex food-processing machines with grater-like mechanisms. These mechanisms rotate by the turn of a cluster to produce ribbons or noodles.

Images

• 
  A microplane
• 
  A Zester
• 
  A nutmeg grater
• 
  Multiple graters
• 
  Porcelain ginger or garlic grater
• 
  Sharkskin grater
• 
  Traditional coconut grater design in the Indo-Pacific

In popular culture

• In The Sopranos episode, "Mergers and Acquisitions", Valentina La Paz reports, in disgust, to Tony Soprano that in lieu of having conventional sexual relations, Soprano family mob captain, Ralph Cifaretto, asks her to scrape a cheese grater across his back and pour hot candle wax on his testicles.
• Comedian Mitch Hedberg performed a joke in which he stated that the negative name of cheese grater would be "a sponge ruiner".[3]
• Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, got the idea for the Shredder's armor from large cheese graters which he envisioned on a villainous character's arms to be used as weapons. Originally called "Grate Man", the Shredder is known as the primary antagonist in the TMNT franchise.[4]
• Wisconsin sports fans are often called cheeseheads, and some wear cheese hats. In 2013, sports fans of Chicago and Minnesota replied to their rivals by wearing cheese graters.[5]

See also

• Food processor – an appliance that sometimes has a grating blade
• Mandoline
• Oroshigane
• Surform
• Tamis
• Soap grater

References

1. Brad Fredericks. "American Rhythm and Blues Influence on Early Jamaican Musical Style". Retrieved 2007-07-14.
2. Hill, Kathleen Thompson (Fall 2011). "A Grate Look". Culture Cheese Magazine. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
3. Mitch Hedberg. "Mitch Hedberg - Cheese Shredder". Archived from the original on 2013-07-18. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
4. The Making of 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles': Behind the Shells. 1991.
5. Cheddar shredder - Chicago Tribune, 26 December 2013