For the longest time I have feared The Mandoline.
I’m sure many of you know just what I’m talking about, but
for those who don’t, let me share. From the Webster’s
New World Dictionary of Culinary Arts, second edition:
mandoline
(MAHN-duh-lihn) A manually operated slicer with
adjustable blades; it has a narrow, rectangular body holding
a blade that sits at a 45º angle; the food is passed
and pressed against the blade to obtain uniform slices,
matchstick shapes or waffle cuts.
I
believe this definition is incomplete, or misleading to
say the least. There is no direct mention that someone’s
hand is what’s passing and pressing the food against
the body (runway) of the apparatus, nearing the blade at
every pass and slice, separated from imminent danger only
by the disappearing food item below. Furthermore,
this passing and pressing motion cannot be done slowly and
methodically. One must pass the food item quickly and with
enough downward force to produce even slices, matchsticks,
or gaufrettes (waffle-cuts).
For
example, let’s take an ordinary Russet potato. Here’s
the scene, Cook vs. Mandoline:
First,
Cook must set up Mandoline to prepare for slicing.
Mandoline’s hinged, heavy steel legs must be set into place
in order to slice in the correct direction. After
nearly 3 minutes of fighting the awkward bracing system,
Cook sets the blade and the desired thickness of slice.
Ready,
yet a bit shaken by the tedious set-up, Cook’s hand fully
encases almost the entire potato, fingers gripping the sides
of the tuber, leaving only about 1/3 of the mass for the
blade to slice with ease and confidence. What happens
when this first third of the potato is processed?
Cook, now afraid, must palm the remaining potato (no fingers),
now having to press downward even harder to harness a secure
“palm-grip.” But now the potato has bled out starch
and water from its cut surface, lubricating the runway of
Mandoline, which is quite inconveniently made of smooth
stainless steel. Wobbly, uncontrollable friction ensues,
thus requiring more pressure (hand nearing blade
quickly) to finish slicing while maintaining the same momentum
of motion. Cook, shaken, courageously makes a few
more passes, then opts for wasting quite a bit of the first
potato and grabs a second.
Suffice
to say, mandoline work is quite difficult for me, especially
since the hand guard which usually accompanies the apparatus
is often absent in restaurant kitchens due to misplacement,
pilferage, or egos. Also, practically every person
I’ve worked with in a kitchen knows of someone who has sliced
off portions of their fingertips. Mandoline scares
me.
But
nearly every day at work I have to cut length-wise potato
matchsticks to fry for the garnish on our salmon dish.
Enter the New Benriner Vegetable Dresser.
I
was perusing the aisles of The Coolest Store Ever, Surfas
of Culver City, the other day, tempted to spend money
I don’t have on imported olive oils, fancy dipping-sauce
bowls and paella pans, when I came across the New Benriner
Vegetable Dresser. I had seen this mandoline-esque
tool once before, in the possession of a sous chef I worked
for. Light, sea-foam green, compact and plastic, the
New Benriner Vegetable Dresser seems, at first glance, inferior
to the traditional French mandoline, which showcases its
shiny steel, complicated levers and locking systems.
But I wasn’t going to continue to combat our kitchen’s mandoline
(whose dulling blades actually juice potatoes), so I purchased
my new sea-foam green toy for an affordable $25. I
couldn’t wait to try it out at work, so I christened it
at home, with a red onion I needed to slice thinly for steak
sandwiches. All I have to say is that the New Benriner
Vegetable Dresser blows Mandoline out of the water (or kitchen,
I guess). Here’s why:
Ribbed
runway—The New Benriner Vegetable Dresser is
fashioned from just three connected pieces, and the entire
runway from handle to blade sports lengthwise grooves,
which practically eliminate friction and allows for ease
of passage through the razor sharp blade.
Razor-sharp
blade—No more potato or onion juice, just uniform
slices, matchsticks, or gaufrettes.
Convenient
handle—This allows for bracing the apparatus
without the hassle of fumbling with cumbersome, heavy,
hinged legs such as those on mandoline.
Blade
changes made simple—Three different blades come
with the New Benriner Vegetable Dresser, and each are
simply locked in by two built-in screws. No complicated
levers or locking systems here.
Safety
Device—Yes! A hand guard!
Visible,
built-in warning of caution—The New Benriner
Vegetable Dresser always reminds the user to Watch Your
Fingers (which is scripted on the side of the runway),
an engraved “safety device” provided by our friends at
Benriner. It is nice to know they care.
Useful and entertaining pamphlet of instructions—Half
in Japanese, half in translated “English,” the accompanying
instruction manual not only provides safety guidelines
and tips for preparing sashimi garnishes, but it also
makes for quite humorous reading.
So,
I leave you with a personal, high recommendation for this
kitchen tool, ideal for homemade potato chips and sashimi
garnishes to impress your friends (Surfas also sells the
little plastic, green grass-like garnish usually found in
sushi bento boxes, in case you would like to put your sashimi
plate over the top), and a few entertaining excerpts from
my New Benriner Vegetable Dresser instruction pamphlet:
• “Let’s
have daily crisp vegetables.”
• “The new type-toothed blade.
Can be cut in any birection. Thickness adjustment
with
ease.”
• “10 dishes in 1 minutes.”
• “Have the general purpose vegetable
dresser, Benriner at your kitchen by all means...”
• “When vegetable becomes small, thrust
it slowly by fixing your eyeson it with great
care of your fingertips,
or use Safety Device.”
• “Be careful not to stick out your fingers
from Safety Device.”
• “As the vegetable you feed narrowed
to a small piece be full well careful about your
finger. Either
thrust slowly or use safety device.”
• “Thank you very much for your patronage
of the general purpose vegetable dresser.
This Company has
been making research for over 50 years in an intent of
helping out
your kitchen
work through ‘Cookers of superb quality’...In this equipment
has been
incorporated cream
of experiences accumulated in long years.”
No,
thank YOU, Benriner!
Kristin
can be reached at kristin@babblog.com. |
