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Orhan Pamuk:
Quince graters were popular in Istanbul throughout the 1940s and 50s, before electrical appliances entered our kitchens, and even throughout the years when the novel is set. During the time when I was trying to decide how to describe in the novel and portray in the museum the aftermath of the 1980 military coup – the intimidating atmosphere, the curfews and the random searches the police conducted on the street – I saw and purchased this quince grater in a junk shop in Cukurcuma, and made it a part of the story of the novel.