French Find: Nutmegs With Grater Included

Rachel's question yesterday about nutmeg graters and Microplanes reminded me of this little jar I picked up in France last autumn. It turns out that most whole nutmegs sold in the supermarket have a grater included. How enlightened! Read on for a closer look.

The thin metal grater fit perfectly inside the bottle, along with at least eight large nutmegs. (I've gone through several of them already.) The grater is very thin and it warps easily, so it wouldn't replace your Microplane any time soon, but it gets the job done.

Wouldn't it be nice if more of our spices, nuts, and produce came with the specialty tools we need in order to prepare them? Well, maybe that wouldn't usually work out so well (picturing apple corers hanging on the stem of every Red Delicious) but in this case it was a welcome detail for a tourist in France, preparing a dinner party in a rented kitchen.

(Images: Faith Durand)

Comments (8)

I bought a nutmeg grinder from Williams-Sonoma, I believe. It came with about three nuts inside. It is definitely a unitasker and not really necessary, but I do enjoy using it and love the taste of freshly ground nutmeg.

I have the same jar in my spice cabinet (just used it today, actually) since we buy our groceries in France. I find that grater rather annoying since it warps so much -- I threw mine out and use my microplane.

how enlightened? try how wasteful! I'd rather buy a tool once than thow away a free one every jar!

So cute! I don't think they could ever get away with selling this in the US. I think lawyers would worry that people would eat the grater since it is in the jar with the food.

I'm afraid I'm with those who see this as wasteful. Getting a cheap piece of metal that is so flimsy that it has to be tossed and then replaced with a new one each time seems wrong from an environmental viewpoint. And, I'm guessing that if an American company did this, that is exactly what everyone would be focusing on. But, with a French company, well, how wonderful!

My mom used to have these when I was growing up.