Mouli-légume

The mouli-légume or food-mill was invented in France in the 1930s and is the manually operated precursor to the electric mixer and food processor of today. It utilizes a hand-cranked blade fitted above a perforated base which, when turned, forces cooked foods through the perforations to produce a purée, the consistency of which can be varied by changing the base plate. You can mill things unpeeled with the side benefit of leaving the skins and any pips in the base, as the cooked centres are extruded through the perforations.