Grate

Grating is reducing a firm food to small shreds or particles by rubbing it across a grater's sharp-edged holes. Box graters offer several hole sizes, and rasp-style graters produce a fine fluff. It works on hard cheeses like Parmesan, on vegetables such as carrots and potatoes, on chocolate, and on citrus zest or whole nutmeg. Unlike slicing, grating breaks food into many tiny pieces that melt, blend, or distribute quickly and evenly.

Home cooks grate to help ingredients incorporate fast and spread their flavor throughout a dish. Finely grated Parmesan melts smoothly into a sauce, while grated potato is the backbone of hash browns and latkes. Protect your knuckles by keeping fingers back as the piece gets small, and use the last nub for a different task rather than risking a scrape. Grate hard cheese cold and soft cheese chilled so it shreds cleanly instead of smearing.