Grating

Why grated is not just smaller

A grater tears rather than cuts. It ruptures a very large number of cells and exposes an enormous surface area relative to the volume of food, and both of those change how the food behaves.

In an onion or garlic, ruptured cells release enzymes that generate pungent sulphur compounds — which is why grated garlic is much harsher than sliced and why a grated onion in a marinade is doing something a chopped one is not.

In a potato or courgette, the released water appears within minutes. In cheese, the increased surface area is why grated cheese melts faster and why it also dries out faster.

The sides of a box grater

Large holes

Cheese for melting, potato for rösti or latkes, courgette, carrot for cake.

Small holes

Hard cheese, chocolate, coarse breadcrumbs, apple for a sauce.

The rasp or microplane

Zest, garlic, ginger, nutmeg, parmesan for finishing. Produces a fluffy pile rather than shreds.

The slicing blade

The side almost nobody uses. Thin slices of cucumber, potato, courgette — a mandoline for people without one.

The star-shaped punched side

Largely useless. It shreds and tears and produces a wet mush.

Grating specific things

• Hard cheese — chill it first. Warm cheese clogs the grater and smears.
• Soft cheese like mozzarella — freeze it for fifteen minutes and it grates instead of squashing.
• Butter — freeze it, then grate it into flour for pastry or scones. Excellent trick.
• Ginger — no need to peel if it is fresh. Use a rasp and grate across the fibres, or the fibres tangle.
• Garlic — a rasp gives a paste. Much stronger than chopped, so use less.
• Citrus zest — a rasp, moving the fruit rather than the grater, taking only the colour.
• Potato and courgette — grate, then salt and squeeze hard in a cloth. The water that comes out is startling and it is what makes fritters soggy.
• Tomato — halve it and grate the cut face against the large holes; the skin stays in your hand. The fastest way to a fresh sauce.

Doing it without grating yourself

1. Put the grater on a board rather than holding it over a bowl. Stability matters more than convenience.
2. Use long full strokes rather than short scrubbing ones.
3. Stop while there is still a usable piece to hold. The last centimetre is where injuries happen.
4. Keep the ends and the offcuts — grate them another way, chop them, or put them in a stock.
5. A cut-resistant glove is not excessive if you grate a lot.
6. Clean the grater immediately, from the outside towards the inside, with a brush rather than a cloth.

Common questions