S’s lean, mean, slicing machine
A few months ago, S came home with a large, gray and rather suspicious looking case. As an avid-movie junkie with an over-active imagination, the first thing that popped into my head was, “Oh my Lord, my wife’s bought herself a gun.” Seriously, I half expected her to pop open her little suitcase, pull out a state of the art bolt-action rifle with a high-powered scope and tell me she’d given up food writing for life as an assasin. While the case didn’t contain a gun, it did carry one pretty sexy but dangerous looking device. S calls it her lean, mean, slicing machine.
The de Buyer La Mandoline V Professionnelle is a professional quality slicer that makes usually time-consuming kitchen chores a real breeze. The stand that it comes with allows for the mandoline to be placed at a 45 degree angle, which makes it much more comfortable to use. And it can be adjusted for left-handed use, essential for S since she’s a lefty. It’s perfect when preparing dishes that call for ingredients to be julienned or sliced thinly. The mandoline comes with 2 blades and 4 different julienne inserts. You can create everything from waffle-cut potato chips to the thinnest of juliennes. S was close to swooning over the fact that with her new swanky machine she could achieve, in mere minutes, the thin, even slices of potato for Pommes Anna that used to take her ages to slice by hand. The sturdy attachment that protects your hand as you use it slides easily and keeps your fingers from being chopped up by the device’s intimidatingly sharp blades.
Truth be told, I still haven’t given the mandoline a test-drive. For a couple reasons. Firstly, I haven’t read the instructions yet and I’m not about to start playing with anything with such scary blades without really knowing how it works. Secondly, it’s S’s lean, mean, slicing machine. Not mine. And so long as she’s happy to keep using it to make delicious foods for yours truly, then who am I to rock the boat?
The de Buyer, of course, isn’t the only professional mandoline on the market. Our dear friend and neighbor J of Kuidaore uses a Bron Classic Mandoline. S borrowed it once but didn’t end up using it. After setting it up and staring at it for a while, she decided that the device just plain scared her too much. The de Buyer, on the hand, looks and feels reassuringly safe. And given that my darling wife, while an awesome cook, is at times a klutz in the kitchen, I feel much better knowing she’s using something that she feels confident using. If you cook as much as we do, this is a device you might want to consider investing in. It really does save you tons of time and effort. Plus it’s pretty darned cool looking.
About Aun Koh
Aun has always loved food and travel, passions passed down to him from his parents. This foundation, plus a background in media, pushed him to start Chubby Hubby in 2005. He loves that this site allows him to write about the things he adores--food, style, travel, his wife and his three kids!
Cool, where’d S pick that up from? I bought a mandoline (I don’t remember the brand anymore – mastrad or one of the other toy-kitchen brands) which really hasn’t been functioning to the level of my expectations, I always end up chucking it in the sink and hand-slicing, so I’m on the lookout for a new one and this looks awesome!
hiya, i’m still certifiably petrified of the bron 😉 as evidenced by the fact that it takes pride of place in the darkest dustiest recesses of the cupboard. while i claim to use it and would like to think i am the boss of it, it really is the boss of me. so what i really and furtively use is the cheap and cheerful easy to setup/dismantle/wash plastic benriner number…not quite as lethally cool looking of course, but it sure works! the dB looks light years ahead of the bron in the safety stakes
wow! where’d she get it?
Hi W & Maia,
I bought it at Razorsharp which happened to have a great promotion (but this was quite some time ago).
RAZORSHARP
315 Outram Road #01-03,
Tan Boon Liat Building,
Tel: 65-62277515
You might also want to try
Sia Huat
No. 7, 9 & 11 Temple Street
Tel: (65) 6223 1732
I know that’s where J bought her Bron.
And if all else fails trying asking Euraco
Block 219 Henderson Road
#01-03 Henderson Industrial Park
Tel: (65) 6276 5433
They supply professionals, so I don’t know if they will take individual orders, but they do bring in de Buyer products. They don’t have a shopfront, so it is best to call to enquire.
I lived happily without one of these for years until like you, my wife bought one. Now I wonder how we did without it. My F Dick chef’s knife pouted for a little while but soon came to appreciate all the little tricks it could do.
Wowsers. I love that it’s lefty-friendly.
Hey,
Happy Chinese New Year!
already on my wishing list : )
btw, I like your new look and your website is a mine of info. I will visit Hong Kong and Shanghai soon and I search your site for names of restaurants worth a visit. Thanks!
That’s a fairly impressive chopper, you have there!
I always wanted one, but never bought one, for some reason. Maybe a hidden fear of losing my fingers!
I had to have one when they first came out and I used it right away, I cut myself. Now I am afraid of it, but I will master it someday.