I bought a nice looking circa 1980's Spong Bean Slicer for a buck at a
thrift shop in excellent cosmetic condition. I think it was only a buck
though, because for some reason the cutting blades on the slicer drum
had become raised and would catch on the cast iron body of the slicer
when you tried to turn the handle. I fixed it by gently tapping the
blades down a bit with a hard hammer and now it works great, but I am
wondering about the uses of this slicer, and if perhaps, it is mainly a
European thing.
I know Spong is a UK company of many years and quality, however, though
we use their meat grinder (not for meat though, but tomatoes), I can't
quite figure out what to do with these cute little 1" wedge cut slices
the machine manages to produce, even with the most gnarly of our raw,
home grown green and yellow beans.
The slices look charming, sharp and even, but they're so tiny, short
and thin, I would think cooking them would cause them to shrivel up
into nothing. Is this type of slice what they call a French Cut Bean,
and if so, what would be the uses for North American cooking with this
utensil?