It's Time To Stop Overlooking The Star-Shaped Side Of Your Box Grater And Learn To Use It

There are plenty of kitchen utensils that aren't used to their full potential. We either stick them in the back of the cupboard, like those surprisingly useful baking tools, or we get in the habit of taking what is essentially a multi-tool, and repeatedly use it for one task. Such is often the case with the versatile box grater. These days it might seem bulky or old-fashioned, but the four-sided box grater (also called a cheese grater) offers different faces for a reason. Many people focus on the side with the larger holes for creating classic shredded cheese or hash brown potatoes. Some may use the face with the long slits as a low-tech mandoline for potato chips or cucumber slices. Those are both fantastic applications of the grater. But what about that one face with the tiny, puckered, star-shaped holes? What's that even for?

That underused side is essentially a zester, perfect for fine-grating Parmesan, garlic, citrus and more. Sure, it may be a little complicated to clean out citrus zest from the star-shaped side than it is to wash shredded potato off the large-hole side, but that shouldn't deter you from using it. If a recipe requires a lot of zest, for example, the four-sided grater provides a much more stable work surface over a hand-held microplane, especially if you position the box grater the right way, protecting your knuckles along the way.

Think of this face of the four-sided box grater as a microplane (one of Andrew Zimmern's must-have kitchen tools), and its function makes sense. The punched-out, tiny holes tear up dense foods in a way the small-holed shredder side cannot. Instead, the star-shaped side is best for aged hard cheeses, citrus peel, ginger or turmeric root, and whole spices like nutmeg.

One challenge with using the rough, raspy side is protecting your fingertips. Using large hunks of Parmesan, whole citrus fruit, and large whole spices, like nutmeg or full cinnamon sticks helps avoid painful contact. The results can be surprising. Where the slicing side works fine for potato chips or salad ingredients, you won't achieve those ultra-thin slices that a proper mandoline produces. But the rasper works basically as well as a handheld microplane at creating fluffy, fine Parmesan for garnish or fresh, powdery nutmeg. There's no need to push hard: Glide your item across the holes and let the grater do the work.

Don't stop at just cheese and spice. Shave hard, dark chocolate for dusting pastries or mixing into whipped cream. Fine-grate coconut or truffles to sprinkle over dishes or blend into sauces. Instead of using a clumsy press, easily zest garlic into a paste. If it seems too hard to clean out the rasper's little holes, one easier way to clean a box grater is to coat it with a little spray oil.