Chef Raymond Jackson of Alvin & Friends and his Japanese Slicer
Westchester Home, Spring 2012
Here's my Savor column in layout—sadly, I did not save all the issues from however many years I wrote it, and some of these columns were garbled when they were digitized. That said, I did save a scannable few.
In the last 100 years of kitchen design, the general trend has been that, with each new era, the batterie de cuisine has become more complicated. A century ago, chefs in the top restaurants worked with a basic trio of flame, pot, and pan; these days, even an average restaurant cook is skilled in the use of induction burners and immersion circulators. The progress toward greater intricacy is a boon for the kitchen supply stores that profit from every expensive gadget introduced to the culinary repertoire. But for home cooks, the better news is that some revolutionary designers are trying to streamline the gadgetry, taking even the most overwrought of classic tools and making them cheaper and more functional.
An example of modern simplification is the Japanese slicer, which is a light plastic deck with an angled blade embedded in its center. By scraping vegetables down the deck, chefs can achieve a variety of special cuts—from paper-thin slices and juliennes, to grid or waffle-cuts. The slicer, priced at about $40, challenges the classic French kitchen torture device: the mandoline. The stainless-steel mandoline is identical in function to the Japanese slicer, but it bears hinged, gawky arms that prop the needlessly long, heavy deck into a 45-degree orientation. The mandoline also sports tweaky fittings that require constant adjustment, but the kicker is the mandoline’s prohibitive $160 price tag. Predictably, Japanese slicers have now virtually replaced mandolines in professional kitchens.
We asked Chef Raymond Jackson of New Rochelle’s chic Alvin & Friends to show off this innovative tool’s range. Jackson, an Institute of Culinary Education graduate who cooked at Danny Meyer’s Blue Smoke before heading up the New Rochelle kitchen, says, “I’ve used a French mandoline. Not only have I seen too many injuries with it, but I prefer the light, compact, easy-to-use portability of the Japanese variety.” Freed from the mandoline’s steely grip, Jackson uses the Japanese slicer all over his menus. Here are four recipes that show off what it can do.
NOTE: You may find the Benriner Japanese Mandoline Slicer at Chef Central (45 S Central Ave, Hartsdale 914-328-1376), Harris Restaurant Supply (25 Abendroth Ave, Port Chester 914-937-0404), and online at amazon.com.
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