Numerous fruits and vegetables are peeled for a variety of reasons. Some must be peeled in order to be palatable, such as celery root or pineapple. Others have edible skins but are peeled either for personal taste or because of the nature of the recipe. Potatoes, eggplant, green and yellow squash and cucumbers are good examples. Some foods have outer skins that are removed and used as flavoring agents, citrus fruits being the quintessential example. The outer peel or “zest” of citrus fruits has the highest concentration of the fruit’s natural oils and thus more intense flavor. Finally, sometimes peeling is done for aesthetic or decorative purposes. Some chefs will peel the caps of their mushrooms to give them a uniform and pristinely white color. You can semi-peel a cucumber by removing a few equally spaced strips to create an eye-catching design for a salad.

Although a chef’s knife and/or a paring knife could tackle most peeling jobs, peelers are more efficient. You can work faster, shed larger strips, and not remove too much of the edible flesh with a peeler. They also require less dexterity than a knife.

Peelers come in one of two styles. The straight peeler has a blade that is parallel to or aligned along the same horizontal axis as the handle. Y-shaped peelers have a blade that runs perpendicular to the handle. Some peelers have stationary blades and some have blades that swivel. A swivel blade is preferable since it can work its way around the contour of curved foods with greater ease. Choose peelers with stainless steel blades for durability, corrosion resistance, and easy cleaning. Some even have serrated blades. I’ve found these to have more cutting power and work best for tougher skinned items.

Most cooks have at least one of each peeler since they each excel with different kinds of foods. For example, I think a straight peeler is fastest for elongated vegetables like asparagus and carrots. Hold the vegetable at the tip with your left hand, (if you are right handed), and turn it as you run the peeler down the side. For round foods like a turnip or an apple I prefer the Y-shaped peeler. I spin the orb in my left hand as I move the peeler vertically down its revolving sides.

Let’s peruse some common foods and discuss their peelability.