What Is Difference Between a Mandoline & a Spiral Slicer?
Two specialty cutting tools available for the gourmet kitchen are the mandoline and the spiral slicer. A knife is no match for the efficiency and production enabled by either of these tools, even in the hands of a skilled cook. Both of the slicers move fruits and vegetables against a fixed blade; the mandoline in a lateral motion and the spiral slicer in a circular fashion, and both create consistently cut food in short order. Does this Spark an idea?
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The Mandoline
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A mandoline is a kitchen tool for cutting even and repeated slices of vegetables. It is composed of two flat surfaces, and a blade mounted between them. The fixed blade juliennes or flat-slices a vegetable as it slides against the blade. The usefulness of the mandoline for a chef is that the fixed surfaces and blade make the second and twentieth--and two-hundredth--cuts exactly the same, which is crucial for even cooking.
The Spiral Slicer
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A spiral slicer turns hard fruits and vegetables against a fixed blade, creating long, noodle-like strips of food. The slicer makes a variety of cuts in different widths, as determined by the interchangeable blade. While it is a workout for the turning arm, the speed with which the chef can create the thin strips of food for a recipe makes this a tool worth considering.
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Development
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Both the mandoline and the spiral slicer fall into the category of human-powered food processors. Each tool makes a repetitive food preparation task faster and less tedious. The first crude mandoline was described by a French chef in the sixteenth century, but it wasn't perfected until after World War II into the form available today. The origins of the spiral slicing tool are not as well documented but the long, thin vegetable slices that it creates have long been a component of Asian cuisines.
Use
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A mandoline is a simple tool to adjust and operate. The cook lowers one of the flat surfaces to the thickness of the desired cut, exposing the edge of the blade. She cuts by sliding food back and forth over the blade, which takes and identical slice with each pass. The spiral slicer is no less simple in its operation. The cook clamps a fruit or vegetable between the handle and a pin turns the handle. Pushing the food against the blade causes it to be cut away with each turn of the handle into the long, thin strips needed for a recipe.
Safety
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While statistics are difficult to come by, the mandolin is a dangerous kitchen tool if not treated with respect. The thrill of the speed with which it slices potato masks the speed at which fingers inch fractionally closer to the blade with each cut. Most cuts occur because the cook held the vegetables wrong, did not use the safety holder, or continued slicing after the piece grew too small for safe handling. The safety of the spiral slicer lies in a design that embeds the blade beneath the food, keeping the cook's fingers far from the cut. Some designs go one step further and house the spiral blade inside of a container for capturing the food.
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References
- Photo Credit julienne de légumes-2 image by AlcelVision from Fotolia.com
