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Practical, cheap and absolutely essential: not many utensils can boast all three of these qualities. There are several models on the market: they range from those that are like a small knife, but with a fixed or non-rigid concave blade and a hole inside sharpened on both sides to those that are bow-shaped and have a user-friendly handle. Both versions have a point and a small ring, which are very useful for getting rid of impurities and small buds.
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Ideal for close work, such as paring the zest (peel) from the pith of citrus fruits that otherwise would require a lot of skill if you only used a vegetable knife. The zest is nothing more than strips of peel of a citrus fruit and it's only by using the lemon zester that you avoid the white pith coming away with the zest, which would make it bitter.
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The selling point that has made this one of the favourite kitchen utensils is that precise slices can be achieved. When you slice an egg with a knife, you usually end up with slices of different sizes and the yolk crumbles. The metal strips attached to the frame ensure perfect results every time.
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CHEESE SLICERS AND PIZZA CUTTERS |
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Two utensils that are characterised by speed. The cheese slicer is ideal for obtaining cheese slices for use on soft pasta (Fontina, Asiago etc); the spatula version allows you to serve the portion directly onto the plate or wherever it is being served, whereas the wire version allows you to cut the cheese to whatever thickness you want. The practical little wheel of the pizza cutter makes it ideal for cutting up pizza. It is better than any knife and doesn't run the risk of damaging work surfaces.
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The real manual predecessor of the robot. The mandolin is a small piece of equipment used for cutting. It is made in the shape of a mandolin and has a double blade, with vegetables to be sliced placed between them. Setting the blades to the required thickness allows you to obtain any slice you wish - chunks or batonnets. Nearly every model has a guard to lock the food in place and protect your fingers. Preference is for plastic models for ease of cleaning, but they also exist in wood or steel.
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This very practical piece of equipment allows you to have perfect potato batonnets (or juliennes) with a single blow of the hand and with the minimum of waste. By pushing down on the handle, the potato (or other vegetable) passes through a cutting grill. There are usually different sizes of grills depending on the size of batonnets required.
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