As part of FoodBuzz Daily Specials, I’ll be making a some special posts over the next couple of weeks that relate to a specific topic. Today’s special is about Mandolines.

Mandolines are GREAT tools that make slicing a cinch. You can make paper thin cucumbers for salad, julienne carrots for stir fry, thick sliced potatoes for roasted potatoes, and the list goes on and on. You basically attach your food to the safety grip and then run it up and down the mandoline which drags it across the blade and creates the cut.

You change the blade by dialing a knob which rotates and sets the blade in position for cutting.

My main pieces of advice for using a mandoline – do NOT try using it without the safety grip. It’s more comfortable to just grab the potato or whatever in your hand, but the blades is sooooo sharp and it takes but a second to loose a good part of your finger 🙁 (poor Josh !!!) I go an extra step and wear a cooking glove that has kevlar in it – then you can just fly through the prep without a worry.

Try a mandoline and you’ll see why chefs around the world use them on a daily basis.