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A grater, also known as a shredder, is a kitchen utensil used to grate foods into fine pieces.


Uses


Food preparation

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
vegetables Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the edible flower, flowers, ...
,
cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During productio ...
and
lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culina ...
or orange peel (to create zest), spices, such as
ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of le ...
and
nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus '' Myristica''. '' Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, ...
, and can also be used to grate other soft foods. They are commonly used in the preparation of toasted cheese, Welsh rarebit,
egg salad Egg salad is a dish made primarily of chopped hard-boiled or scrambled eggs, mustard, and mayonnaise, often including other ingredients such as celery. It is made mixed with seasonings in the form of herbs, spices and other ingredients, bound ...
, and dishes which contain
cheese sauce Cheese sauce is a sauce made with cheese or processed cheese as a primary ingredient. Sometimes dried cheese or cheese powder is used. Several varieties exist and it has many various culinary uses. Mass-produced commercial cheese sauces are als ...
such as
macaroni and cheese Macaroni and cheese (also called mac and cheese in Canada and the United States and macaroni cheese in the United Kingdom BBC, RecipesMacaroni Cheese/ref>) is a dish of cooked macaroni pasta and a cheese sauce, most commonly Cheddar sauce. Th ...
,
cauliflower cheese Cauliflower cheese is a traditional British dish. It can be eaten as a main course, for lunch or dinner, or as a side dish. Cauliflower cheese consists of pieces of cauliflower lightly boiled and covered with a milk-based cheese sauce, for whic ...
. In Slavic cuisine, graters are commonly used to grate
potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern United ...
es for preparation of dishes, including draniki,
bramborak Potato pancakes are shallow-fried pancakes of grated or ground potato, matzo meal or flour and a binding ingredient such as egg or applesauce, often flavored with grated garlic or onion and seasoning. They may be topped with a variety of con ...
or potato babka. In tropical countries graters are also used to grate
coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or th ...
meat. In the
Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Ind ...
, 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 A food processor is a kitchen appliance used to facilitate repetitive tasks in the preparation of food. Today, the term almost always refers to an electric-motor-driven appliance, although there are some manual devices also referred to as "foo ...
. Hand-grated potatoes, for example, melt together more easily in a potato pancake than food-processed potato shreds.


In music

In
Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispanio ...
and
Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
, coconut graters are used as a traditional musical instrument (along with drums, fife, and other instruments) in the performance of
kumina Kumina is an Afro-Jamaican religion. Kumina has practices that include secular ceremonies, dance and music that developed from the beliefs and traditions brought to the island by Kongo enslaved people and indentured labourers, from the Congo r ...
, jonkanoo, and sometimes mento.


History

The first attested graters were made out of bronze, and also silver alloys, in the early first millennium BCE, examples of which were uncovered from burial sites in Greece and Etruscan Italy. In line with
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the '' Iliad'' and the '' Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of ...
's
Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...
these were sometimes used to grate goat's cheese in the making of a type of Kykeon, a fast breaking drink. The modern cheese grater was invented in France in the 1540s by François Boullier. His
pewter Pewter () is a malleable metal alloy consisting of tin (85–99%), antimony (approximately 5–10%), copper (2%), bismuth, and sometimes silver. Copper and antimony (and in antiquity lead) act as hardeners, but lead may be used in lower grades ...
design was intended to convert hard cheeses into something more edible.


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

Image:Micro Plane.jpg, A microplane Image:Zest Grater.jpg, A Zester Image:Muskatreibe fcm.jpg, A nutmeg grater Image:Terka.jpg, Multiple graters Image:GingerGrater.png, Porcelain ginger or garlic grater Image:Oroshigane.Sharkskin.jpg, Sharkskin grater File:Chirava c.jpg, Traditional coconut grater design in the Indo-Pacific


In popular culture

* 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. *
Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michi ...
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.Cheddar shredder
- Chicago Tribune, 26 December 2013


See also

*
Food processor A food processor is a kitchen appliance used to facilitate repetitive tasks in the preparation of food. Today, the term almost always refers to an electric-motor-driven appliance, although there are some manual devices also referred to as "foo ...
an appliance that sometimes has a grating blade *
Mandoline A mandoline used for slicing a carrot A mandoline (US, ) or mandolin (British, /ˌmandəˈlɪn/, /ˈmandəlɪn/, /ˈmandl̩ɪn/), is a culinary utensil used for slicing and for cutting juliennes; with suitable attachments, it can make crinkle ...
*
Oroshigane , also known as , are graters used in Japanese cooking. differ significantly from Western-style graters, as they produce a much finer grating. Traditionally, these graters were tin-coated copper plates with many small spikes gouged out of ...
*
Surform A surform tool (also surface-forming tool) features perforated sheet metal and resembles a food grater. A surform tool consists of a steel strip with holes punched out and the rim of each hole sharpened to form a cutting edge. The strip is moun ...
*
Tamis A tamis (pronounced "tammy", also known as a drum sieve, or chalni in Indian cooking) is a kitchen utensil, shaped somewhat like a snare drum, that acts as a strainer, grater, or food mill. A tamis has a cylindrical edge, made of metal or w ...
* Soap grater


References

{{Kitchen tools Food preparation utensils French inventions