Cheese plane
A flat Norwegian slicer with a slot in its blade that shaves thin, even slices from a block of cheese.
Also: ostehøvel, osthyvel, cheese slicer
The cheese plane is a Norwegian invention, patented in 1925 by Thor Bjørklund, a carpenter from Lillehammer who wanted slices as thin as the ones he could shave from wood. It has a flat, spade-shaped blade with a sharp slot across it; drawn over a block, it lifts off a single thin slice. Known as ostehøvel in Norwegian and osthyvel in Swedish, it is found in nearly every Nordic kitchen and is how Jarlsberg, Norvegia, Västerbotten and brunost are eaten on crispbread or open sandwiches at breakfast. It works best on semi-hard cheeses; soft cheeses stick and very hard ones resist. It also makes the block last longer, which was part of the idea.