Colander



A colander (or cullender) is a kitchen utensil used to strain foods such as pasta or to rinse vegetables. The perforated nature of the colander allows liquid to drain through while retaining the solids inside. It is sometimes also called a pasta strainer or kitchen sieve.

Description and history
Traditionally, colanders are made of a light metal, such as aluminium or thinly rolled stainless steel. Colanders are also made of plastic, silicone, ceramic, and enamelware.

The word colander comes from the Latin colum, meaning sieve.

Types



 * Bowl- or cone-shaped – the traditional colander
 * Mated colander pot

Other uses


The colander in the form of a pasta strainer was adopted as the religious headgear of the religion Pastafarianism in deference to the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Colanders are also used during solar eclipses to project multiple images of a partial eclipse onto the ground for safe viewing of the eclipse.