Pepper, sir, ma’am?

 

Pepper, sir, ma’am?

There’s something very satisfying about grinding pepper or salt with a hand-held mill. On occasions when a waiter has offered to grind pepper over a dish, I have always wanted to grab the super-sized mill and do it myself.

Now, we have been given a mill of our own. It was a joint birthday present for Barry (February) and me (April). It is the ‘London’ design wooden pepper mill, made by Cole and Mason, a company founded in 1919 to sell gifts.

Cole and Mason soon expanded into a business providing many different kitchen and household accessories, from a solid (and extremely heavy!) granite pestle and mortar, to wooden serving utensils and acacia chopping boards. If you want a stylish salt pig, a garlic keeper, or self-watering devices for pots of herbs, or a nifty worktop carousel for herbs and spices, Cole and Mason is the place to look.

1946 was the year in which their first wooden pepper mill was launched. Since then, they have developed different mills, from spice mills to acrylic mills, and mills made from stainless steel. Some are electronic. There is even a rather interesting-looking nutmeg grinder for those who wish to ensure that nutmeg is ground without knuckles.

The mill came with a small, neat information booklet, with instructions in English, French, German and Spanish on how to fill and operate the device.