Japanese Mandolin - Kitchen Kit of the Month

It might not be an everyday dinner that calls for wafer-thin vegetables, but find yourself at the sharp end of dauphinoise for 12 and a mandolin will prove indispensable.

The Japanese mandolin – not a string instrument, by the way, but a veg slicer -  is one of those bits of kitchen kit you dream of before you have one. Then, as soon as you’ve treated yourself, there’s no call for it for six months and the clunky wooden board and selection of super sharp blades end up wasting valuable cupboard space.

And, in a way, the contraption seems quite contrary to what the Japanese are known for: minimalism, and the ability to fit all their worldly goods into tiny spaces. There’s no chance you’ll find an entire unit dedicated to defunct culinary gadgets in a Japanese kitchen.

But the popularity of the mandolin reveals a definite step-up for British cooks – it shows we’re beginning to understand that preparation matters as much as the cooking itself, and that the shape and weight of an item will change your eating experience, which is precisely why we have so many different ways of chopping potatoes already at our fingertips.

It might not be an everyday dinner that calls for wafer-thin vegetables, but find yourself at the sharp end of preparing a dauphinoise for 12 (don’t forget Christmas and inevitable feasting is fast approaching) and, short of hiring in a skivvy, a mandolin will prove indispensable. A warming brunch of a large Spanish tortilla would be tortuous to prepare without a mandolin to hand to slice the potatoes double-quick.

The Benriner Mandolin, £34.95, is a favourite of Raymond Blanc, who says he couldn’t live without it for cutting julienne strips and slicing all sorts of veg. There’s an Oxo version for a tenner at John Lewis, and Cooks Knives have a Good Grips slicer for £55 (see image).

At this time of year a mandolin comes in handy for creating pretty winter salads out of the root vegetables available. Think of how desirable those candy beetroots look when sliced to a thickness of just a few millimeters and layered up with their pink and golden cousins. Or use it for parsnips and celeriac. You could even pre-prepare slices of pear and apple to accompany a cheeseboard for lazy guests.

And suddenly, it doesn’t seem like such a stupid buy after all.