A large hinged press, like an outsize garlic press, that forces boiled potato through a plate of small holes into strands the size of rice grains. The potato is broken apart without being worked, so the starch cells stay intact and the result is fine, dry and fluffy: the smoothest mashed potatoes short of a tamis, and the light, dry base that gnocchi dough needs. Also called a ricer.
It also purées other cooked root vegetables, apples for sauce and tomatoes for a quick passata, and squeezes the water from cooked spinach or grated courgette. Peeled potatoes can be riced whole while hot; skins can be left on and will stay behind in the hopper. A food mill does similar work with a crank.