In 1994, a Canadian housewife made an orange cake. Out of frustration with her old grater, she commandeered one of her husband’s favourite woodworking tools from his workshop

The blade slid effortlessly across the orange and the zest fell like snowflakes and didn’t remove the bitter pith. She marvelled at the tool, ate the cake, tested the grater with lemons, chocolate and garlic and noted that the “Microplane® woodworking tools work very well with wood … but even better with food”. This discovery laid the foundation for the creation of Microplane® kitchen graters and a range of revolutionary graters was born.

Globally recognized as the grater/blade specialist, Microplane® is the original manufacturer to apply photo-etching technology to graters, an innovative process specifically designed to create ultra-sharp cutting edges.

Made in the USA, the tiny teeth behave like extremely sharp knives to cut ingredients with precision rather than tearing or shredding like most stamped graters. The blade ensures that food does not stick or block, but instead gently slides along the cutting surface effortlessly to produce perfect results every time. Microplane® is now the preferred grater of choice of professional chefs, TV cookery show presenters and home cooks around the world.

Microplane® Premium Classic Zester
Initially launched without a handle as a woodworking tool, the iconic long, narrow, rasp-style design of the Premium Classic Zester has since been manufactured with an ergonomic soft-touch handle in 13 colours. The latest addition – to celebrate 25 years of grating excellence – NEW Coral Red, a trending colour for 2019.

The Premium Classic Zester is perfect for all citrus fruits, parmesan and other hard cheese, chocolate, ginger, garlic and nutmeg. Anti-Scratch end caps protect the worktop, plate or board when grating horizontally and provide better stability when grating vertically over pans or bowls. The protective case enables safe storage in a drawer. The Zester is dishwasher safe, although rinsing under water is usually enough and recommended.

The Microplane® Premium Classic Zester, RRP £19.95, is available from hartsofstur.com and independent cookshops nationwide