Left: Breville
sandwich toaster.
Opposite, clockwise
from top: the
Rex peeler, the
Lancashire peeler,
Dalson Aussie
peelers. Far left:
a Tadafusa
“Petty” knife.BREVILLE SANDWICH TOASTER
The Breville Company, based in Melbourne, had been making
electrical equipment since before the Second World War and
mine-detecting equipment during it. Witnessing the beginnings
of a post-war boom, John O’Brien, son of the company’s
founder, launched a Research and Development Centre that
rapidly became a global centre of excellence for small electrical
appliances. According to the creation myth, O’Brien noticed
that his children loved jaffles, but sometimes burned themselves
when the hot filling squirted out uncontrollably. O’Brien’s
solution was a heated press that sealed the sandwich and
cut it diagonally.
The toasted-sandwich maker became popular all over the
world, particularly with children. For a whole generation,
making a toastie was often the first experience of cooking
for yourself. It was popular with students and others living
in accommodation without kitchens–acheapandsimple
appliance that could create a whole hot meal without
any other equipment.●This extract fromThe
Modern Kitchen
by Tim Hayward
(Quadrille, an imprint
of Hardie Grant, hbk,
$39.99) has been
reproduced with minor
GT style changes.POTATO PEELER
The potato peeler means that even an
unskilled cook can do a good job of
peeling vegetables quickly and safely.
The traditional pattern in the UK is
for the blade to be in a straight line with
the handle. It’s held in the same was as a
paring knife, and the blade pulled towards
the thumb. The favourite is the Lancashire
peeler, easily recognisable by the orange
string holding the blade to the handle.
The Rex peeler was launched by the
Zena company in Switzerland in 1947
and has remained unchanged ever since.
It’s a ruthlessly efficient piece of kit
with a skeletal aluminium handle and a
ferociously sharp steel blade positioned at
90 degrees to it. Because the peeler blade
can’t be sharpened, most types need to be
replaced regularly, but for some reason
the Rex type seems to go on forever, even
when used to shave parmesan or chocolate.
The Rex, often referred to by chefs as
the “speed peeler”, is used with a sort of
whittling action. It cuts both ways and is
ambidextrous by design. The eye-gouger is
made of the same blued steel that forms
the blade and it’s hard to imagine any way
it could be made more beautifully minimal.
The design is considered such a classic it
has featured on Swiss stamps – pretty good
for such a prosaic item.
The Dalson “Aussie peeler” was also
designed in 1947, by the Dalsonware
company in Melbourne. It has the same
kind of pivoting blade as the Rex but in
line with the handle in the English fashion.
What’s most strange about peelers is
how weirdly regionally specific they are.
One would imagine the action of vegetable
peeling would be similar the world over
and that the tool would have evolved to fit
common practice. Instead, many different
types have sprung up and different cultures
have adapted to their use.
GOURMET TRAVELLER 87