Culinary History (Part 44): Peelers
It is only since the 1990's that we've had decent vegetable peelers. For centuries, a paring knife was used for this task – a small knife with a small pointed blade. It was very difficult to peel without gouging into your own thumb. In 1906, the Sears Roebuck Catalogue (most Americans bought their kitchen utensils only from here) listed an apple-corer and a wooden-handled paring knife, but no peeler.
Paring knife (1960′s).
Peelers were available by the 1950's, but they were still a pain to use. The main peeler in Britain was the Lancashire peeler (named after the potato-loving county of Lancashire). Its handle was tied around with string, and the blade was an extension of the handle. It was still difficult to get a purchase on the vegetable without cutting yourself.
Lancashire potato peeler.
In America & France, there were swivel-action peelers (which I had growing up). The standard swivel peeler had a waffled chrome steel handle, and a carbon-steel blade with a strip cut out of it. The blade contoured itself to the curve of the vegetable, so it was a big improvement. But they were painful to use, because the more you pressed into the vegetable, the more the handle pressed into your hand.
Swivel peeler.
The Rex-style swivel peeler had a curved metal handle, which was easier to hold. But this shape forced you to peel away from yourself, whereas the usual swivel peeler caused a natural shucking motion.
But then there was a breakthrough. In the late 1980's, Sam Farber's wife Betsey was finding it harder to peel vegetables because of slight arthritis in her hand. Farber had recently retired from the homeware business, and he wondered why peelers had to hurt. He approached Smart Design (a design firm) with his idea, and in 1990, the OXO vegetable peeler was introduced at a San Francisco gourmet show.
The OXO blade is extremely sharp, and angled the same as the swivel peelers. Farber focused on the handle, not the blade. The handle is soft and chunky, made from Santroprene (a plastic-rubber compound, sturdy and squidgy). There are little fins along the top to absorb pressure. The handle is oval-shaped, which stops it from spinning in your hand. It does not hurt to use, no matter how hard you push.
OXO peeler.
Over 10 million OXO peelers have been sold. Many rival peelers were also sold, with various kinds of blades – C-shaped, U-shaped, Y-shaped. A few decades ago, a high-class kitchenware shop would sell perhaps 20 different melon-ballers, but probably just two peelers (the Lancashire & Rex). Now, the situation hs reversed.
Comfortable peelers are part of the new ergonomic movement in the kitchen. Another tool which has been improved in this way is the grater. Until recently, grating a lemon involved a lot of fiddly work, scraping the peel off the box grater, and never getting it all. In 1994, the Microplane grater was launched – the idea came from when a Canadian housewife borrowed her husband's wood rasp to grate the zest for an orange cake.
Microplane grater.
