The Chef Knife 🔪
Utility, paring, boning, carving, Nakiri, butcher, filleting, and Santoku are all sorts of knives that all serve different purposes. Some of these knives have been existing for hundreds of years already. For instance, the boning and filleting knife, which are descendants of the ancient Roman sword and kitchen knife, Thracian Sica.
It wasn't until the mid-1800s when the most famous of all knives was born. A knife that is famous for its versatility and efficiency. It's one you will find in every household and, regrettably, on almost every chef's forearm. It is of course the chef's knife.
Newcomer
A month ago I celebrated my 22nd birth year with a group of friends. As you can imagine, a wide variety of foods were served and wine was flowing from the Porron. Believe it or not, but during this amusing event, I received my very own first chef's knife.
Up until now, I had the honor to use the two chef knives owned by Stefan, two solid and trustworthy German knives. The knives I own are three 12 year old Globals: a pairing knife, a utility knife, and a filleting knife. This has brought me far, but I always felt a small hint of guilt when picking up one of Stefan’s knives. And so, this was a perfect present.
As with many of our Edit subjects, the inspiration for topics comes from external factors like dishes, books, and friends. The same goes for this week’s Edit. After receiving my present somebody jokingly shouted: "Now you have to write an Edit about it!" Even though my mind was a bit blurry the day after, this I could still very much remember.
"I love my Phoenix 9 so much I named it. Roxanne is not only beautiful, it is laser-sharp, holds its edge better than any knife I have ever used and is practically invincible. It is an amazing knife. I insist on sharp knives in my kitchen and now buy a New West Knife for members of my team when I give them a promotion" - Eric C. Korn, Executive Chef at Good-Life Gourmet in Westchester.
History of the Knife
It all began with the 'Oldowan' knife almost 2.5 million years ago in the Gona and Omo Basins. These knives are the oldest-known primitive stone tools. By cracking two rocks together sharp-edged flakes were created so the cavemen (well, who are we kidding, cavewomen were probably stuck with the job) could dismember game and harvest plants.
Then Prometheus descended down to earth to bring fire to mankind. Mankind began forging and new technologies were born. And while Prometheus was nailed to a mountain to punish for his deeds, mankind began forging knives with new materials.
Bronze and copper were to first materials mankind began experimenting with. As centuries passed, bronze gave way to iron and then steel. With each new step, the knife began to fulfill more purposes. Knives became useful tools for war activities and were more widely used in the kitchen for purposes like mincing, boning, and paring.
The development of the knife was very closely related to warfare. As I've said before the Roman kitchen knife was based on the Roman warfare knife Thracian Sica. To get a better understanding of this bloody history we have to visit Solingen in Germany and Seki in Japan.
Germany
Solingen is a town situated in the Ruhr Area and has roughly 160 000 inhabitants. Archeologists found remains of blacksmith ovens and melters in the area of Solingen. These remains date back 2000 years ago, this means the people of Solingen have been developing the craft of knife making for two millennia now.
Being situated in the Ruhr Area had its advantages. The soil around Solingen was rich in iron, coal was in abundance and most importantly, the river Wupper ran next to the town. This not only allowed the smiths to forge knives but also to distribute them by ships to other parts of Europe.
If you were so lucky to own a knife factory in Solingen during the Middle Ages, business was booming. Going to war was quite popular during the Middle Ages and so, a sword was essential. Solingen-made swords could be found throughout the many ranks of German, French and English armies.
From Samurai to Sashimi
A somewhat similar story happened on the other side of the world during the 13th century. When master swordsmith Motoshige was forced to leave his beloved Kyushu district, he began searching for a place where he could make swords. Not much later he stumbled upon Seki, a region where a good quality iron sand, charcoal, and water could be found.
It didn't take long before other master swordsmiths heard of this Garden of Eden for swordmaking. During the Murochami Era (1338-1573), 300 different swordmasters were situated in the region of Seki. Kanemoto Magoroku and Saburo Shizu were two of the most famous.
Katana and Tanto swords of the highest quality were made here for century-long. With the fall of the last samurai, Saigo Takamori, the possession of swords became illegal in Japan. Swordmakers were forced to look into other markets and they found one in the food lovers of the world, many of whom revere their Japanese chef's knife with the same awe as the ancient samurai did their swords. However, this is not where the story of the chef's knife began.
So where did it?
For the birth of the chef's knife, we have to go back to Germany in 1731 where a certain Peter Henckel started producing a knife that was never seen before. It was a relatively short, heavy, and thick knife made of soft steel.
It was this knife that was the very first chef knife. With this innovative product, a new company was needed and so Peter founded the company Zwilling J.A. Henckels which is nowadays one of the leading manufacturers of chef's knives. Looking at the growth of Zwilling, one could say that the chef knife became an admired and popular tool to use.
Knife Versions
Solingen is thus the birthplace of the chef knife, but it didn’t stay there. Soon the chef knife began spreading towards other regions and began making their own versions of the chef knife.
The German chef knife can be recognized by the curve of the blade that runs towards its tip. This is advantageous for chefs that use the ‘rocking’ motion. A German blade is most often made out of one piece of stainless steel and tends to be quite thick. The handle is always made of wood or a synthetic substance.
The French chef knife is commonly mistaken for a German-type chef knife. When it comes to looks and materials, they are very similar. The difference is that a French knife has a more flat curve compared to the German one. In addition to that, French knives are often a bit thinner.
At last, we have the Japanese knife. However, the Japanese knife is quite unique because you have multiple versions and each is made with a different material. The Japanese knifemakers in Seki saw that the Western chef knives became immensely popular and reacted by creating the Gyuto, the Japanese version of Western chef knives.
A similar Japanese model that can also function as a chef knife is the Santoku model. Compared to the Gyuto, a Santoku is much shorter which allows you to be more agile Santoku knives don’t have a curve, the blade is flat. A Santoku is excellent for dicing, slicing, and mincing.
For my birthday I received a Kai Shun Santoku with a blade length of 18 centimeters. Even though a Santoku is a very versatile knife, officially it’s not a chef knife because of the blade length and lacking a curve.
So, does that mean I still don’t own a chef knife?