Grater

"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.

A grater (also known as a shredder in parts of the eastern United States^{[citation needed]}) is a kitchen utensil used to grate foods into fine pieces. It was invented by François Boullier in the 1540s.

Uses

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, and macaroni and cheese.

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

In tropical nations, graters are also used to grate coconut meat. In Jamaica, a coconut grater is 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 cheese grater was invented by Issac Hunt in the 1540s so hard cheeses could still be used.^{[citation needed]}

Variants

There are also complex food-processing machines with grater-like mechanisms. These mechanisms rotate by the turn of a cluster or electric motor.

Media

• 

  A microplane

• 

  A zest grater

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  A nutmeg grater

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  Multiple graters

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  Porcelain ginger grater

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  Sharkskin grater

In popular culture

• In The Sopranos episode, "Mergers and Acqusitions", 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.

• In recent times, the term 'cheese grating' has evolved, as slang, to mean 'screen cheating' in video games. Therefore a 'cheese grater' can also reference a person who actively 'screen cheats'. For example: Mark grates tonnes of cheese in Halo: Reach.

• Comedian Mitch Hedberg performed a joke in which he stated that the negative name of cheese grater would be "a sponge ruiner."^[2]

See also

• Oroshigane
• Tamis
• Surform
• Mandoline
• Food processor the appliance that sometimes has a grating blade

References

1. ^ Brad Fredericks. "American Rhythm and Blues Influence on Early Jamaican Musical Style". http://debate.uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/fredericks.html. Retrieved 2007-07-14. 
2. ^ Mitch Hedberg. "Mitch Hedberg - Cheese Shredder". http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/01ebe428cd/mitch-hedberg-cheese-shredder-from-standupfan. Retrieved 2011-06-25.