Manually operated vegetable cutting utensils, such as those described in the patents FR 2726780 and US 2005/0061124, are generally used, in professional kitchens, on horizontal worktops that can be made of stainless steel, wood, marble, etc. In a kitchen, on account of the effected cooking activities in which water and fatty materials are widely used, these worktops are generally damp and/or greasy and thus very slippery, thus making the stability of said utensils and the ability to keep them immobile while they are being used very poor.
Although these utensils are already very often equipped with feet or other non-slip lower parts, these prove to be ineffective to a greater or lesser degree, whatever material they are made of, on smooth or even non-smooth surfaces, as soon as these surfaces are not dry or free of fatty bodies.
More particularly, when the vegetable cutting utensils of the “mandolin” type are in the work position, their cutting parts are usually located in an inclined plane at an angle of around 35 to 40 degrees with respect to the horizontal worktop. Thus, during use, forces caused by the pushing of the vegetables to be cut against the cutting parts have a horizontal component which tends to cause a forward movement of these utensils, this movement being made easier when the surface of the worktop is slippery.
Such instability can thus be dangerous for the user. This is because, although these manually operated utensils are mostly delivered with safety devices to avoid the user handling the vegetables or fruits directly with his fingers, and thus risking cutting himself, the slicing blades of these utensils remain accessible and are not out of reach of the user's fingers. Thus, if the utensil slips while it is being used, the user incurs a not insignificant risk of injuring his fingers and hands.
This instability also limits the productivity of the instruments in question. This is because the user is required to constantly keep an eye on the position of his utensil, and reposition it if necessary on the worktop, instead of concentrating on the action of cutting vegetables with to and fro movements, thereby causing slowdowns and losses of time.