Are these melon scrapers (shredders?) uniquely Filipino kitchen tools?
Perhaps not. Several readers who live in the West have emailed to ask where they can order this melon scraper and complaining that no one seems to carry it “abroad.” First of all, what is it? The melon scraper is a simple tool designed to scrape the curved insides of a small melon, cantaloupe, honey dew or similar fruit. Thin pieces of stainless steel or tin are twisted and anchored in a handle so that they cut through the soft melon and create long strips of melon for desserts or drinks. They are particularly useful for making cantaloupe strips that are used in a refreshing cantaloupe juice during the hot summer months. A box or plane shredder or mandoline do not achieve the same type of melon strips and are far messier and or dangerous to use with soft slippery melon slices. While I have always had a melon scraper in our kitchens from childhood until midlife, I never assumed it was a native invention. After some miniscule research, it seems that some other Asian countries have a simi
