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The New, Über Cheese Grater

06 16 2008

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better buying
consumerism
food
france

 
 
Sometime back, about two months before leaving for the latest trip to Europe to be exact, my beloved Parmesan rotary cheese grater bit the dust. It wasn't a surprise. It was a gift and it was a Chinese made model with a good deal of plastic to it. Naturally, part of the plastic broke and because most of the damned thing was plastic, it couldn't be recycled. Plop. There goes another piece of landfill out the door. I was not happy in this and the fact that I had to grate Parmesan with the larger, box grater which while functional, was simply not as handy as the rotating one. Thusly, the search was on for a replacement.
      My requirements for a new grater were simple. Firstly, it had to be all metal construction. This way if it ever got too dull or just broke, it could at least be smelted back down for use in new cheese-tacular escapades. The second requirement is that it absolutely not be made in China (I prefer at least five years out of my kitchen implements) and preferably in a First World country, where we can, in theory, control the sweatshops.
      I was willing to pay for these requirements, because I know that you have to these days in order to try and be a better consumer. It just unfortunately turned out that the only grater I could find in the US was this one you see below, the Rotary Grater. It seems nice, but it can't be found for less than $100. That's a bit steep for a cheese grater. I could actually pay myself my hourly rate to build one at that cost, so I put this on hold for a bit and continued to get cheese everywhere when using the box grater.
      Suddenly, along came, Auchan the other day. It was there, deep in the bowels of their cheese-laden aisles that I found the replacement grater, which you can see below. It was all metal, made in France, and less than €10. In other words, it was a veritable bargain. I probably should have cleaned out all that they had, brought them back to the US and sold them for five times the cost to discerning cooks. You can in fact get these graters in a number of places throughout Europe, but I feel a bit of pride knowing that mine is coming home with me, thanks to the good ole France-ola.
The New, Über Cheese Grater
Ah, behold the mighty French cheese grater. How beautiful and basic you are.

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