The Littlest Kitchen does not have room for much, let alone for kitchen gadgets that rarely get used. Life changing and attractive at the store, somehow when they get home, they become a pain to use, or don’t work, or are forgotten altogether. And they’re usually a hassle to wash, having so many moving parts and pieces. But, I swear by my Microplane grater/zester. Made by a company that started by making woodworking rasps, these tools have crossed over to the kitchen. Since the rows of specially designed three-edged teeth are sharp enough to cut wood, it easily glides through the hardest Parmesan, yet fine enough to skim off the zest of a lemon. It’s effortless, and yields a lot of fine food shavings. My only complaint is that the handle is made of cheap and dorky black plastic, wood would have been so much nicer and given it a good weighty feel, the substantiality that it deserves.
Oddly enough, Microplane has also expanded into the realm of personal care with their series of callous removers. Wood, cheese, feet, they all need the finest tools.
