When I was a kid my assigned chore in our Italian kitchen waa the dreaded grating the Parmesan. We had a drum shaped grater — all metal — about 6 inches across. The bottom container held the cheese, the screw- on top had a grater made of tiny star shaped, really sharp holes that could get your knuckles bleeding in a heart-beat. But I always loved the stars… I’ve adored microplane forever. I bought one of the very first ones available as soon as the NY Times wrote about it. It lasted decades til it broke and Microplane was kind enough to send me a replacement. When they first came out they had a lifetime guarantee. Don’t know if they still do — but I am getting the parmesan one anyway.

I’m the PR rep for Microplane. The Gourmet Parmesan Grater is paddle-shaped, which gives you more grating surface than the narrower rasp-style Classic grater. Also, this new grater has a patent-pending ‘star” blade pattern that gives you fluffier, pillow-soft mounds of cheese. Hope this helps.

Julia