KITCHEN NOTES

WHAT IS IT?

While this tool looks like a twist corkscrew, it is actually an implement used to do the opposite: place a cork into a bottle. Prior to the advent of the screw-top bottle in the 1920s, if a home cook wanted to bottle a homemade wine, vinegar, cider, or other liquid, they would turn to a corker to seal the top.

Armed with empty bottles and a handful of corks, I headed into the kitchen to see how this model, a brass version made in France in the early 1900s, might work. A century ago I would have needed to boil my corks to soften and sterilize them, but luckily, modern corks come sterilized and have more give, so I could skip this step. I opened the arms of the corker to expose its barrel, loaded a cork, and then squeezed the arms shut to slightly compress the cork. I centered the tool over