Potato masher , pusher - pestle for making mashed potatoes .
According to its structure, the potato masher consists of a vertical straight or curved handle and a horizontal plate, with the help of which the milling of a particular substance is carried out. The head may have a semicircular shape with long longitudinal slots or, for example, be a metal washer with holes [1] .
In England, during the Victorian era, potato mashers were made of wood, modern ones are made, as a rule, of metal or plastic. The plate is usually made of metal, and modern potato mashers can be a solid structure, ending with a wave-like element for stretching or a round head with a wire rack. The original design of the potato masher was patented by Lee Kopmen, who did not like mashed potatoes with lumps, in 1847 [2] , although it is believed that the Frenchman Antoine Parmantier made the first special device for mashing potatoes [3] . By the eighteenth century, potato mashers were already quite widespread in Europe and the North American colonies [4] , by the beginning of the twentieth century they became a commonplace and affordable attribute: for example, in 1908 in the UK, a wooden potato masher together with its manufacture cost 4 cents [5] . In the USSR, potato mashers were, as a rule, made of wood in the form of a “bell”, with straight and sometimes curly handles [6] .
The world's largest collection of potato masters is owned by German collector Rolf Scholz. This collection, numbering 243 variants of this utensil, attracted the attention of the German press [7] .
Potato mashers are used mainly in households, but sometimes in catering establishments . With the help of a potato masher, various dishes are prepared, primarily mashed potatoes , where its name comes from, as well as, for example, applesauce or mashed vegetables and melons, egg salads and refried beans , some types of sauces .
Another kitchen appliance for making mashed potatoes from boiled vegetables, berry juices and tomato puree is press mashed potatoes . In Russian, the term “potato masher” can also be called an agricultural machine for kneading steamed potatoes [8] .
Notes
- ↑ Potato masher // New Products, 1996. P.124.
- ↑ Mashers & Pestles "Kathleen Hill Culinary Collection (Link not available) . Date accessed October 15, 2014. Archived October 19, 2014.
- ↑ Diana Bulls. History of the Potato Masher & How to Make Mashed Potatoes . Kings River Life magazine (October 9, 2010). Date of treatment October 15, 2014.
- ↑ You did the mash ... the potato mash! | High plains museum
- ↑ Mary Ellen Snodgrass. Encyclopedia of Kitchen History . - Routledge: Fitzroy Deaborn, 2004 .-- P. 760. - 1126 p. - ISBN 0-203-31917-6 .
- ↑ Retail Price Bulletin. Gosplan of the USSR, 1959.V.25, issue 1-9, p. 51. .
- ↑ Marion Jentsch. Die Küche als Waffenkammer (German) . Berliner Zeitung (13. Januar 1996). Date of treatment October 15, 2014.
- ↑ Potato masher // TSB, 1st ed., 1937.V.31, p.663.