Knives Out
Which is the most ubiquitous instrument in all our kitchens and yet the most under-appreciated?
Yes! A knife!
My tryst with knives was limited to the chhuri, chaakoo, and bada chaakoo for a very long time. The more exotic boti was grandmom’s domain and its humble cousin, the Anjali chopper, my mother’s. Every once in a while, I would be dazzled by the sharp sickle wielded by the sugarcane vendor & that glinting, heavy knife used by the butcher. Then there was also the chhura, a villain’s accomplice!
Initially all the chhuris etc were made of iron so one had to be very careful, for one misstep and off for a tetanus shot you went! But it was so much fun to watch the knife sharpeners at work. Those sparks coming off their fast-moving wheel looked so science fiction movie-ish!
Then came the steel knives and the iron ones were kept aside for special purposes only till they eventually became a novelty, only to be seen in the hands of dhaba chefs.
And so, though my love for the culinary art grew, the chopping tools remained almost the same. They felt inadequate at times but I plodded on. Until one day, during my travel to Japan, serendipity lead me to a specialty store for knives. This, I can honestly say, was my ‘Big Bang’ moment, the line that clearly marks the ‘before’ and ‘after’.
The sheer variety was mind-boggling. And they all had their own names! I felt like I had entered an alternate world. This place treated knives as an artist’s instrument. They had classes on how to care for your knife and how to efficiently use those beauties.
Without any further ado, let me share some of what I learnt in the repeated journeys to that store – and a few others like that.
Let’s begin by looking at the anatomy of a knife:
Now, there are two different ways in which knives are made – forged and stamped.
The first choice of professional chefs around the world, forged knives are made out of single piece of metal. Both the blade and the tang are made from one continuous piece of steel, making the knives extremely strong, durable, and well-balanced. But these very features make the forged knives very heavy on the pocket. However, they last a lifetime and you could pass them on as an heirloom!
The stamped knives are more in a home cook’s arena. These are made using a single sheet of steel which is then cut out into the shape of a blade using a powerful stamping machine. The handle is then added and the knife undergoes hardening, sharpening, and polishing to achieve a sharp edge and a smooth finish. These tend to be much lighter in handling as well as on the pocket. But since they’re made of a thinner piece of steel, they lose edge quickly and need sharpening more often. Also, the handle tends to get loose with use.
Now let’s look at the various knives we can use in the kitchen:
The utility knives
Easily available in most of our kitchens, these are short to mid-length blade knives. The differently shaped tips and points make them the perfect choice for dealing with the fruit and veggies in everyday cooking.
Serrated edges are good for softer vegetables and fruits like tomatoes and kiwis. They are also very handy for slicing sandwiches, and cakes.
The plain ones are better for firmer produce. These can also be used to cut meats.
Time to get acquainted with the blades of choice of kitchen champions:
The chef’s knife
A great all-rounder, a chef’s knife is one of the most versatile knives in the kitchen, perfect for everyday dicing and mincing tasks.
Its long, broad, and curved blade and the sharp pointed tip nmake it easy to move around on a chopping board and perform beautifully even when dealing with large quantities.
The bread knife
Well, there’s no mystery to this one. It does what it says. Its grooves let it slice cleanly through bread without crushing it. It’s also very kind to cakes.
The cleaver
This is not a knife usually seen in home kitchens but it is very handy if you’re particular about your meat cuts and would like to do it yourself. This is a heavy and sharp knife with a flat, rectangular-shaped blade that cuts straight through any bones.
The boning and the filleting knife
With these knives you get what you see.
The boning knife is a slim blade with a very sharp edge that tapers to a pointed tip, making it a great choice for cutting around the bone without ruining the surrounding meat. Its blade is generally rigid.
The filleting knife is meant specifically to deal with the delicate task of filleting sea food so it is a long, slim knife with a flexible blade. It has a very sharp edge and a finely pointed tip. Its biggest point of difference from other knives is that it is designed to be used horizontally.
The Santoku knife
Santoku means ‘three virtues’, which are slicing, dicing, and mincing. This knife is an all-rounder and the Japanese version of a western chef’s knife.
The dimples along the blade allow it to cut through any kind of food without it sticking to the blade or disturbing the speed and precision of the cut.
The Nakiri knife
Known as the Japanese vegetable knives, Nakiri knives look like smaller, slimmer versions of a meat cleaver. Their broad, rectangular shape with a deep, flat blade makes them a great choice for shredding larger veggies like cabbage or lettuce or cutting large and tough vegetables like butternut squash.
Cheese knives
These are specially crafted knives for cutting and serving cheese. You may choose a knife depending upon the texture of the cheese being cut. Soft cheeses call for knives with thin blades and holes. Semi-firm cheeses need the plain slicers, while hard cheeses need a cleaver along with a cheese fork to hold the block in place.
Just knowing their names is not enough, you need to take care of these sharp beauties as well. a few tips to ensure a long and sharp life for them:
- Avoid using your knives on metal or ceramic surfaces.
- Knives stay sharper when used on wooden chopping boards.
- When put in the dishwasher, make sure that the blade is not scrubbing against anything hard.
- When washing by hand, do not scrub the blade with abrasive cleaners.
- The knife must be completely dry before being stored.
- Sharpen your knife every once in a while.
- Use only the recommended sharpener for your knife.
There are many more kinds of knives but these are the most common. There are other chopping and cutting and mincing appliances and tools in the kitchen too. But that is a discussion for another time. Right now, it was just about getting the most widely used Knives Out.
Which ones do you have in your kitchen?
Acknowledgements:
Thank you Shamita Mukherjee for suggesting the title
Reference and images:
https://healthykitchen101.com/types-of-kitchen-knives/
https://www.escoffier.edu/blog/culinary-arts
https://www.allianceonline.co.uk/blog/2018/04/
https://kamikoto.com/blogs/fundamentals/understanding-kitchen-knives-types
https://www.castellocheese.com/en-us/articles/
