grater
What did this expat Italian bring back from the recent trip to her country of origin? Un po' di cose (a number of things): several books (libri), including the most recent Montalbano novel and a Sicilian cookbook, temporarily lost in one of the still unopened boxes that crowd my space; some food items and food-related gifts, which I will describe in future posts; and a grattugia.
I am well aware that a grater is not featured in any 'must bring back from Italy' advisory lists, so why did I occupy precious luggage space with this item? Because I like my parmigiano, pecorino, asiago, etc. freshly grated, but using the food processor for a few tablespoons of cheese seems overkill, and the flat grater I have is not ergonomic. Then there is the issue of making breadcrumbs: pangrattato (literally, grated bread). I find that neither a food processor nor a blender are acceptable tools for this delicate task, and I refuse to buy breadcrumbs. This was the situation until one morning, while visiting my parents in my home town (Perugia), I went grocery shopping with my father.
Turning the handle (manovella) rotates the grating cylinder. The piece of cheese or bread to be grated is inserted in a hole at the top and kept in place by a feeder (not sure if this is the right word, but hopefully you get the idea). The grated material is collected in the small bowl that functions as the base of the hand-powered appliance, so cheese bits and crumbs do not end up scattered around. Finally, the grattugia is easy to disassemble and all the pieces are dishwasher safe.
Hear me pronounce the words on the grattugia audio file [mp3] or go to the grattugia audio page for more listening options.
