Is your life missing a Flotte Lotte? Read on to find out
Andrew Bluett-Duncan
Director
Many years ago, one of our suppliers Eddingtons, started to import product from a German company called Gefu. Strange name, but their kitchen tools were nicely put together and for a good number of years we happily stocked their stuff. As time went on, we maybe let things lapse and as new stuff came along from other sources, so the sales of Gefu slowed. When Eddingtons decided to drop them altogether, I wasn’t that surprised and managed to source replacements, as needed, from elsewhere.
About a year ago we came across them, exhibiting under their own name for the first time in this country. It was at the annual Exclusively Housewares Show in June 2023. Tony Butler (a sales agent who I’ve known for over 30 years) was representing them in our neck of the woods. I’m not quite sure how I’ve managed to take all this time, but anyway I have, and at long last here we are, with a small range of product in stock from them, for the first time in years.
And so, if you like high quality kitchen tools, then its likely that you’ll like some of what I’m going to tell you about. Whether you need it or not, is of course another matter!
Gefu Food Mill FLOTTE LOTTE with 2 interchangeable discs
This is a delight. It’s a generously sized “Mouli Legume” to use the more generic term (inaccurate in this case, as its not Mouli, it’s Gefu) but this French term is the one most commonly used in the trade.
It comes with two cutting/mashing discs. One smooth faced, and the other with sharp edges to the holes. When I spoke to Paul in the shop earlier this week, he said he thought the sharp-edged one would be good for say a raw passata, where it would help in gripping/tearing the skin of the tomatoes. The smooth disc is more suitable for cooked food for example if are making baby food or even for mashing potato. If you have a glut of fruit, this will dispatch it with alacrity, leaving you with a delicious puree.
The body of the mill is made of stainless steel that’s getting on for 1mm thick (that’s pretty heavy duty). The handle and two bowl supports are made from stainless steel bar that’s a good 5 or 6mm thick. Rather cleverly, it has a wiper underneath the discs, that cleans off any remaining food that may have stuck to the underside. Very neat, very clever and very substantially built.
It might be said that it’s also a substantial price at £79.00….the price of quality! See this weekends OFFER below.
Gefu Potato Press DAS ORIGINAL
This is another great product. A simple device that with cooked potato will turn it into strings of potato, in the twinkling of an eye. The difference between the Gefu version, and others that we sell, is that this one is made for the commercial market.
I recall the first one of this type that I saw, probably 40 + years ago, that was made in carbon steel (that rusts) but it was then coated in tin, to prevent it from rusting and make it easy to clean. Well, this one is just as substantial but now made from stainless steel.
It comes apart for cleaning if required, and has a nice industrial feel to it. Normally £44.95 ... See this weekend’s OFFER below.
Gefu Cherry Pitter CORER with Container
Now, this is a product that is getting very niche. A Cherry Pitter. This has a hopper that you fill with cherries. Then press the plunger that makes four incisions in the cherry that neatly stones it. The cherry is then propelled into a bowl or container that you’ve placed under the chute.
A simple and quite clever design that has non-slip feet that makes the whole operation easy and stable. We found in testing this out (a tasty experience that Jeanne imposed on the Cobham team last week), that it’s best to push smartly on the plunger and allow it to return under the power of the built-in spring. This encourages the stoned cherry, off down the chute.
You may remove the plunger from the main body for cleaning, if things have got very messy! In common with the previous two products, and despite the large amount of plastics in its construction, it still feels well made and comes with a 5 year guarantee £31.95 See this weekend’s OFFER below. We also have a hand held version without the hopper at £21.95.
Gefu Spiral Slicer SPIRELLI Spiraliser
Not a new idea, but one that is again well made from a mixture of plastics and stainless steel. This spiraliser produces Juliennes/coils of veg (Courgette, Carrot, Radish, Cucumber and other firm veg) at the drop of a hat. And does so, using the pencil sharpener principle in 3 or 5mm width, depending on which end of the unit you use.
It has Japanese stainless steel blades that are fiercely sharp, and to prevent you loosing the ends of you pinkies, it comes with a well designed holder that not only saves lacerated fingers, but also allows you to use all the vegetable up, with little or nothing being thrown away. £19.95 See this weekend’s OFFER below.
Gefu Gourmet Slicer VIOLINO
Leaving arguably the best to last, when you see the size of this fella, and then pick it up in your hand, you maybe forgiven for thinking several things. Such as, where do I store this behemoth of a mandolin? Do I really need anything this big and substantial?
But, as you look further at the way it’s been put together, you will begin to appreciate the thought and care that gone into its design. You can see this in the roughly equal amounts of stainless steel and heavy duty plastics, how the three different blades that are incredibly sharp are stored safely, either in the body of the mandolin itself and the way in which the spare blades clip safely into their storage box. Rather than a straight blade, the Violino’s is V shaped. A V shaped blade concentrates the pressure you exert on a smaller area, meaning slicing is both easier and quicker.
The machine has five easily dialled-up depths of cut for the three different cutting inserts that deliver straight cuts, julienne and dicing. The food holder itself is substantial, safe and automatically adjusts for the size of the vegetable in use. Everything clicks satisfactorily in place when assembling it and also when returning the blades to their box.
£110.95 worth of mandolin heaven See this weekend’s OFFER below.
This weekend, as is often the case, I’m rewarding you for reading my emails, take 20% off any Gefu product using code GEFU20 if you shop with us online. If you live locally, and are coming into either Cobham or Reigate shops, then just let us know who you are.
I’ll leave the last word to Arianna Huffington. A woman who comes across as both insightful, down-to-earth and for whom I have a growing respect.
“Failure” she says “is not the opposite of success. Failure is a stepping stone to success!”
I trust you have a pleasant and peaceful weekend.
Warm regards
Andrew
Andrew Bluett-Duncan
Director
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