This kitchen tool was used for forcing cooked potato through the small holes in the mesh about the size of a grain of rice - called ricing. Milk and butter were added to make mashed potato Other cooked soft vegetables or fruits could be pressed to create puree. This was useful for pureeing baby food. An antique metal vegetable or potato masher, sometimes called a ricer. It has two long metal handles, one, which when lifted, has a curved flat metal plate which when closed presses the cooked potato through the mesh section below to look like rice grains. C.1900cooking, cooking equipment, food press, foodstuffs, kitchenware