The other jaunt I made on Saturday (after a brunch trip to the Gypsy Kitchen), was to The House of Knives, just around the corner from me in Petone. Some friends were looking for a new bread knife, and being as HOK is the leading purveyor of quality, covetable knives in this neck of the woods, I thought I'd join them in paying a visit.
I find something uniquely comforting about being in a store filled with extremely sharp blades. Sharp knives are one of those things you take for granted when you have them, and when you replace old, blunt, inefficient knives with new, sharp knives, you think "why didn't I do this years ago?"
I also find knives extremely covetable. I used to have a flatmate who had a set of Global knives, which Anthony Bourdain insisted were the coolest knives, because they "look cool", which is a fair point, but these days, the knives I most desire are made by the German brand Wusthof, and this was what my friends bought - a super-stylish and ergonomic serrated blade for slicing bread with a minimum of tearing, and a rounded tip for serving. Oh, so fine.
I reckon if you are at all keen on cooking, you need at least four knives. You need a big (say, 10") thick, broad, sharp, curved blade for chopping big things like pumpkins, kumara or parsnips, as well as chopping herbs and stuff like that. My knife that falls into this category was hand-fashioned by a German chap in Nelson from the chassis of an automobile - no kidding. It has a wooden handle, and a brass hilt, and feels great in your hand. When it has just been sharpened, it is ferociously sharp, as a little knobbly bit on the end of my left thumb would attest.
Next, you need a bread knife - something serrated that will make nice slices from a fresh loaf relatively effortlessly, without crushing the bread. My pals' new Wusthof is probably pretty much the ultimate in this department. I, on the other hand, make do with a trusty old Mundial - plastic handle, unglamorous, but effective enough to make me put off getting a new one (like the lovely Wusthof...)
I reckon you need an in between sort of knife as well - I have a beautiful wood and bone-handled blade, by Central Otago knifemaker Peter Lorimer, that was a gift from an old flatmate - the blade actually broke at one point, and was cut down, so the weight of it is probably a bit off, but I kind of am used to it, and it still feels lovely in your hand. The blade is very thick and heavy. This would be my weapon of choice for chopping and dicing onions, or for smashing up and chopping garlic cloves, or slicing carrots or zucchini, or chopping nuts. Probably my favourite knife, and certainly my most used.
And then I reckon you just need a little, sharp knife - for coring and slicing tomatoes or apples or pears, or for poking into veges to see if they're cooked - just those little jobs. I have never seen the need for anything particularly special in this category - just a little, cheap Wusthof paring knife, and another Victorinox number have been more than serviceable, even if they will need replacing soon.
When it comes to the bigger knives, I store them on a magnetic block on the wall (alongside the massive cleaver The Mexican gave me for my birthday, which is brilliant for dismembering a chicken). They don't ever get thrown in the dishwasher - they just get wiped clean and placed back on the block.
What I don't have is a steel or whetstone - I either take them to House of Knives and get them to grind them to a razor-like edge, or impose on my friend Julie (at Olive Café) for a hand with sharpening; I'm really crap at it - obviously a skill you have to work at.
But I do love my little swag of knives. They are like a weird, misfit family of mismatched shapes and sizes, but they all do their bit on the food prep gig in my kitchen. And, while I would dearly love to replace them with a brand spankin' new set of Wusthoffs, I get the feeling that if I did, I would probably miss the old crew, and all their idiosyncrasies.
What knives are crucial to you in your kitchen, whether you are an enthusiastic amateur like me, or a pro? How many knives do you reckon you absolutely need? What do you most covet at the knife-porn shop? And how do you store and care for your knives?
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Dad's 8'' Sabatier from the 1970's is the ULTIMATE carving knife.
Nice, I have a Global Santoku-ish chef's knife, a Wusthof Schnicken Messer (thin, good all-purpose but especially for fine slicing) and three Victorinox cheapies - a bread knife, a small utility knife and a hooked pairing knife. I like them all, but value for money wise the Victorinox ones are excellent. My dream knife would be a Kasumi chef's knife from the city of Seki in central Japan. Beautiful high carbon folded steel.
we are a little low on knives, with only 3, which has caused serious problems when they are all in the dishwasher! I think ours are all warehouse jobs but they seem ok on almost everything except frozens and the really stubborn pumpkin. We're just too cheap to pay more....
For me it's Japanese knives or nothing...
While over there 2 years ago, brought 2 knives a Chefs knife and a smaller one... Super light and Super sharp..
Not such a fan of the german knives I find them too heavy and not all that well balanced but could just be me.
I use my Chinese-style slicing "cleaver" for almost everything - from slicing meat to peeling fruit. Brought in Hong Kong from CCK cutlery, arguably the best Chinese style knives you can buy. I think it might be stainless over high carbon steel? not really sure. I keep it in it's greasepaper when not in use and sharpen it on an Arkansas stone if req'd.
Only other kitchen knives I have/use are my fish filleting knife and a little Victorinox.
If I need anything else I go borrow the folk's butchers gear.
Hunting/Field knives... well, that's a whole nother game again... Opinels, Svord Peasant, etc.
My Dad is an expert at sharpening knives, so our whole family has lovely knives and lots of rules around using them (do not put them in the dishwasher!!) I can't stand going to the in-laws place and using their blunt knives, might as well be slicing onions with a spoon.
I have a very large selection knives, which is entirely German, except for a few Buck Hunting knives. Mostly they are Zwilling and Wuesthof. I would agree with your general 4 basics, but would add a boning knife and a butcher's knife. The former for, obviously, boning. The latter for slicing steaks. We often buy whole cuts and need to process them further. I would never be without my steel, as I find all knives need to be run on the steel at least after every 3rd or 4th use and I highly recommend you getting one. I even travel with my knives as I found that the majority of my friends that we go and visit or stay with, have bluntness everywhere and perhaps those useless 'as seen on TV' kinda sets. If you can't shave your arm hairs off with it, it's useless. As for care, well, we don't have a dishwasher, so that's no problem. If we did have one, I would not hesitate to put my knives in it though. I like to store them in a wooden knife block, because I find it to be the best protection for the blades. I have looked at those magnetic things, but in my (perceived) mind, there is a risk of running the blade along the metal when taking off the knife. But that's probably just me. The one's that don't have a block to live in go in a frawer. Very carfulle and side by side.
Knives, oh how I love my knives. An older friend of mine noticed her husband was putting her knives in the dishwasher. She quitely ignored it until the wooden handle split on one. Cue tears about her precious knives and a brand new set of Kasumi knives. I then inherited a Wusthof 8" cooks knive, a utility knife, and a boning knife (the one with the split handle, everything else was perfect after they were professionally sharpened). Have since added matching vege and bread knife to the set. My knives are now much coveted by several ex flatmates (who were quickly informed as to what would happen to them if they ever put them in the dishwasher!)
My boyfriend loves knifes too. We got him an awesome 10" folded carbon steel one in San Francisco last year - not sure who makes it but it's got Iron Chef Marimoto's name on it. I got talked into buying him a Global ceramic steel for christmas to go with it.
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I am a knife obsessive. I have a bunch of handmade knives by Svord in Auckland. I also collect a knife on every overseas trip - usually crude machete-like things from roadside stalls in SE Asia, but probably the best knife I've ever bought was from a knife shop near the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo - it cost about $30 but is beautifully sharp.
At that shop I also bought a triangle-shaped Honesuki knife which I'd seen on Anthony Bourdain's Japan episode on the flight over. It has a one-sided bevel and is specifically made for boning small poultry. I don't use it for anything else, so it's still extremely sharp.