Historical information

François Boullier of France and Isaac Hunt of England both took credit for inventing the cheese grater in the 1540s. Ingredient supplies, mainly milk, ebbed and flowed in both France and England, as they have in the United States during this coronavirus pandemic.

Boullier originally aimed to use up an overabundance of cheese in Paris. An avoidance of meat led French farmers to convert their meat herds (often boys) to dairy-producers (girls), which led to more milk and even too much milk, which led to a market flooded with cheese. Boullier made his first cheese grater out of pewter to grate hard, sometimes dried out cheeses, which turned them into a sort of condiment. Pewter is known as a rather soft metal, and Boullier’s original grater is reportedly on display in a museum in Le Havre, France.

Isaac Hunt wanted to stretch cheese due to a shortage in England, so he grated and melted it for Welsh rarebit and other dishes. Grating cheese allowed more even distribution of the cheese to melt it in cooking and still does. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Philadelphia cheesemonger and entrepreneur Jeffrey Taylor also wanted to stretch cheese for to bulk up cheese features, including vegetables, to make them look like more filling food during difficult economic times. Taylor read about Boullier’s invention and made his own by sharpening the holes of a metal shower drain.

For the last century, many companies have tried to improve the cheese grater and invent a new “latest” one that we all must-have. Graters are now made of all sorts of materials including bamboo, wood, and various metals. Some are decorated with clowns’ heads, some are shaped like plastic frogs, while others bear knuckle protectors. They vary in size, shape, and function. Grating slots come with different angles and shapes of slots and can grate everything from zucchini, onions and cheese, to cooked eggs, coconut, potatoes, cabbage, and lemon and orange peel, and possibly even create wood shavings. Smaller graters grate ginger and garlic.

https://www.cheeseprofessor.com/blog/antique-cheese-graters

Significance

The grater has been used for hundreds of years and has proved its worth in the kitchen throughout history.

Physical description

Grater metal (3 parts) Tripartite with hinges for folding.

Inscriptions & markings

None.