The edgy art of staying sharp in the kitchen

When it comes to his knives, top chef Al Brown is old school. Very old school. In fact, most of the carbon- steel knives he collects for use in his kitchen aren't made any more.

"I look for them all over the world when I'm travelling and you can still pick some up in New Zealand."

Al, co-founder of Logan Brown and author of the bestselling Go Fish book, became a convert to carbon steel when studying at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont 22 years ago.

"The master chef was Michel Le Borgne and he had carbon-steel knives that he used to talk about. They were things of beauty and he looked after them as if they were his children. I guess I became slightly obsessed by them."

He loves the high-carbon knives because they are immensely strong and the metal "keeps an incredible edge".

Carbon-steel knives have largely been replaced by stainless-steel blades because the acids in food can react with the carbon and this can cause staining of the food. Getting around it just means keeping the knife clean, Al says.

"If you cut an onion or a lemon and leave it sitting there, the carbon will react and leave quite a stain on the knife, but if you keep it really clean, scrub them with something like a poly pad, and keep them dry, they're fine."

He often goes nosing around op-shops to see what he can find, looking for the telltale darker-coloured blades. "They're generally pretty old. Some of the old bone-handled carving knifes are the carbon steel."

New Zealand company Svord is still making carbon-steel knives, but Al has never lost his love of French firm Sabatier's products. "The old Sabatier knives are things of beauty," he says.

Once he cleans and dries his knives, Al puts them on a magnetic knife board, which is also an eye magnet for visitors. "I look at them as if they're works of art. You'd be amazed how many people gravitate towards the knife board when they walk into my kitchen."

The knife he has in the photo is a 4 1/2-inch utility knife. "That's my mid-range knife that I use the most. It's great for peeling onions.

"For a chef it's all about a sharp knife. They're my tools of the trade."

- © Fairfax NZ News