Cook Help from Japan

In theory, a good set of knives should be all you need to turn out finely sliced, evenly shredded, and uniformly diced food.

In practice, many of us who own really good knives know that this theory is not bulletproof. In my kitchen, there is no knife that will cut it when the result I’m after is perfect vegetable strands for simple Japanese-inspired garnish or salad. But thanks to a recent purchase of Cook Help, a vertical turning slicer made in Japan by Benriner, strands are literally billowing off my kitchen counter.

The Cook Help slicer looks like the object of one of those late-night infomercial pitches, and its instruction leaflet promises more than I thought this relatively light-weight tool could possibly deliver. Lightweight in this case does not mean wimpy—this is a simple, efficient, and easy-to-use engineering marvel.

There are plenty of online outlets selling the Cook Help for around $50, including fantes.com. If you’re in or near Philadelphia, go directly to Fantes Kitchen Wares in south Philly and pick one up in person. It is a GREAT store that sells absolutely everything you want and many things you don’t even know you want (yet). [Fantes, 1006 S. Ninth St., Philadelphia, PA]