Tools of the soup maker's trade: Microplane® graters
Sometimes, it's one final flourish that takes a soup from good to great. A bit of chopped cilantro or parsley, a few pepitas, a dollop of creme fraiche -- all make an ordinary soup extraordinary. One indispensable tool for creating the wow comes from the hardware store: a Microplane® grater. Or, in my kitchen, two graters, one for each of my favorite soup finishers: lemon zest, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
A Microplane is nothing more than a rasp, the exact same kind your dad might keep in his toolbox to use in woodworking. It's a thin strip of metal with a sharp, perforated surface.
I don't know who was the first chef to discover that rasps make ideal tools for grating cheese or lemon zest, but that person was a genius. Microplane already manufactured rasps, so it was a short hop from the woodshop to the kitchen. They added some cook-friendly handles, and offered rasps in three different perforation sizes, perfect for everything from chocolate to Cheddar. Smaller perforations create a fluffy grating, and the largest holes yield small shards -- lovely for a topping of cheese on a bowl of soup.
Most good cookware stores sell Microplane graters now, for $11-14. They're a bit less expensive in the hardware store, but it's worth an extra dollar or two to get a grater with a comfortable handle. I'm sure that we all grated things before Microplanes came along, but I can't remember how we did it.
Do you have a Microplane (or more than one)? Do you love it?
I do love my microplane! I use it for cheese and chocolate like you mentioned, but I also find it is terrific for grating garlic - instead of going to the trouble of mincing it!
I have two of them but only ever use the large one which I feel is easier to handle. Love it for citrus zest, fresh nutmeg, and chocolate. But I still usually use my larger grater for cheese. I guess I just like the bigger pieces.
Girlfriendlifeline, I've never thought to use mine for garlic, but that's such a great idea! Thanks for the tip.
Susan, I do use both sizes. I love the small size for lemon zest, especially in baking, when I don't want to get the texture of the zest but just the flavor. (Or maybe this is my excuse for having more than one Microplane!)
How do you microplane parsley?
I love my three microplanes. They are pictured here: http://heidicookssupper.com/blog/2009/03/11/so-mom-said-whats-a-microplane/
I keep the little one with the whole nutmeg.
I've had them for years and they've been through the dishwasher numerous times with no ill effects.
I can't imagine zesting lemons or grating ginger without them.
Sue, carefully! Only kidding -- I don't use it for parsley, of course, but for cheese and lemon zest.
Heidi, glad to know I'm not the only one who has more than one Microplane!
Mine is the small one you show above (small holes, powerful tool...), and it's revolutionized citrus zesting. (I have a bona fide citrus zester, which is more trouble than it's worth, so I would make too little; now maybe I make too much.) Now, tell me about ginger: it doesn't seem to do more that graze the ginger; advice?
I have two microplaners, and don't know what I did before they came along! My family loves the way the smaller one grates parmesan!! I haven't used it for parsley or cilantro, but have for garlic and citrus zest.