Peelers… no not the blues, more the greens!

All about gadgets… this story from last year is as relevant to me and my kitchen today as it was then:

There seems to be a tool for every conceivable kitchen task these days; I have to be very strict with myself when I am anywhere near the household department of a big shop, or a cookery shop, or a hardware shop which has a few racks of interesting things… Last year when I was trying to get rid of one item a day – given away, recycled to a charity shop, or even thrown in the bin, I had a great clear out of my kitchen drawers and cupboards. When would I need a melon baller? Why had I even bought a cherry-stoner? I bought egg poaching pods and never once used them, we have a poaching pan, why do we need pods? There were many more items which I don’t even remember… I confess I did keep a few, for example a little press for making pirozhki (I’ve never used it, am I ever going to make pirozhki? Maybe I should today)

When I first started peeling potatoes, and other vegetables, I used a small sharp knife, and for preference I still would today. However when I visit friends and help by peeling the spuds, I’m given a whole variety of different peelers… some have a short concave blunt blade with a slot in it, some are a variation on that but with a wobbly, hinged blade suspended like a slack bowstring, some are catapult shaped but with a blade instead of elastic… and I usually revert to a small knife having lost the battle with the friend’s favourite implement.

I looked on the Lakeland website, twenty-three peelers, including:

potato peeler
potato straight peeler
swivel vegetable & potato peeler
fruit & vegetable potato peeler
palm peeler (to hold in your palm, nothing to do with palm fruits!)
vegetable peeler
julienne vegetable peeler
corn stripper
garlic peeler
fruit peeler
orange peelers
multi peel julienne
4-in-1 y-shaped peeler
ceramic peeler
sharpener and peeler
straight peeler

I love Joseph Joseph kitchen ware, and ‘in the interests of research’ just had a little peep,

Rotary Peeler – 3-in-1 vegetable peeler, green/pink
Multi-peel – Multi-function peelers, green/yellow/orange
The Peeling Perfectionist – 3-piece peeling gift set, multicolour
Scroll – Silicone garlic peeler, green/ grey/ red
The Foodie – 4-piece gadget and utensil gift set, multicolour

I know we’re trying to downsize, I know we are trying to get rid of unwanted unused items, and I know a small sharp knife is my preferred utensil, but…

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/in-the-kitchen/kitchen-utensils/peelers/

https://www.josephjoseph.com/en-eu/catalogsearch/result/?q=peeler

Delicious pirozhki!