Let me introduce you to my poshest kitchen gadget, the Jacket Potato Peeling Fork (JPPF) from WMF. I don't consider a JPPF posh per se, only one from WMF. I love potatoes, I can't imagine living in a country with a cuisine not based on potatoes. Occasionally I peel the potatoes before boiling them, especially when they're old and the peel has become a bit hard. But more often I boil them first and peel them afterwards. I've learnt that what is nutritious in a potato lies directly under the peel and thusly the second method is more advisable. I'm not a fakir, I can't hold a potato directly in my hand after taking it out of boiling water. Besides, I think it's not hygienic to hold a potato in one's hand before eating it. I don't use a normal fork to hold it because the tines are too big and can break it into pieces. I use a JPPF. In my other hand I hold a small kitchen knife with a sharp point with which I take off the peel.

I've used several no-name JPPFs, they all disappeared sooner or later. Where? The American Vance Packard wrote in his book The Waste Makers (1960), "Investigation reveals that they (potato peelers, but also true for JPPF) get thrown away with the potato peelings." One of his colleagues...(came) up with a dazzling plan for helping along this throw-away process. He proposed that their company paint its peelers a colour 'as much like a potato peeling as possible'. However, a potato-coloured peeler wouldn't have much eye appeal on the sales counter. They decided to solve that by displaying the peeler on a colourful card. Once the housewife got the peeler home and removed the bright card, the chances that she would lose the peeler were excellent...'As most people wrap their peelings in newspaper we figure that if they once lay the knife down, it will disappear and be thrown out. Next year we expect to double our sales.'

When I needed a new JPPF, I couldn't find a cheap one in the few shops which sell such things in our town. I didn't think of checking online. Had I done it, I'd have found several cheap specimen on Amazon. In one shop I saw a JPPF from WMF for the price of 10 Euro (8.30 GBP) . Madness! I'm such a modest person when it comes to the equipment of my household. But then I thought, "Why not?" Just because I'm so modest, I can give myself a present every now and then. Besides, I've always had a certain affection for WMF since I took part in a guided tour through the factory many years ago. WMF HQ is not far away from where I live. WMF (Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik AG) is a manufacturer of stylish tableware, founded in 1853 in Geislingen an der Steige (55 km southeast of Stuttgart as the crow flies).

My JPPF is 15.5 cm long including the top with the stem which opens into three 5 cm long tines so-to-speak. They're very sharp, if you're afraid of pricking your fingers, you can put a cork on them before storing the JPPF in the drawer. The material is polished Cromargan 18/10 stainless steel. From the homepage: 'It's absolutely stable and durable, watertight, perfectly dishwasher-safe, just indestructible. The design which is both sophisticated and timeless fits into every modern kitchen.' Right they are, but it also fits perfectly into my not modern kitchen.

After writing this review I was hit by a (small) bout of spring cleaning fever and went through the drawers of my kitchen cupboard. To my great surprise I found an old JPPF. How ugly it looks compared to my new WMF specimen! No chance that I'll ever go back to it. Hopefully the gleaming steel body of my WMF JPPF will hinder me from throwing it into the bin accidentally.

Amazon sell the JPPF from WMF for 10.22 GBP. Buy one on your next trip to Germany, it's cheaper here.