A post for Cindy

Since she had a couple of roughish days, I wanted to demonstrate how some people spend on the idiotic consumerist pursuit of kitchen knives. From left to right:

1. Wusthoff 5 inch utility knife. I had it for about 8 years, sharp, pretty indestructable, but too long for paring and too light for most other things.
2. JCK Gekko Damascus GE-1 Petty 140mm. Damascus blade of Hitachi white steel and 420. Brilliantly sharp and it has this really interesting hammered surface texture they leave and don't polish out. THE onion knife. Unfortunately not entirely stainless.
   
3. Global 5 1/2 inch vegetable knife. I bought this mostly due to the fact that the 8" Wusthoff was a bit heavy for veggie cutting--and because I read Kitchen Confidential and this was the cheapest one. OK, totally stainless and plenty sharp, just not as much as the two other Japanese knives here.
   
4. $20 Cold Steel 7inch serrated knife from a bargain bin in Chicago. Actually, even at full price, this is a bargain. Not very good steel on the face of it, but I've had it for 10 years and it's still pretty sharp. Great bread and tomato knife. My dad ruined the other one by cutting drywall--a lot of drywall.
5. Hattori 7inch V-10 Damascus kitchen knife. I'd lick it if it wasn't so sharp. Cutting with it feels as if the blade gets sucked through the food. Hard to describe, but it's an incredibly sensual experience. It's perfect for microscopic mirepoix. If a recipe calls for 1/4", I do 1/16", just because it's so much fun. Due to the 15 degree bevel, it's not that robust, though. (Unrelated side note, this is the only one that's completely hand made by a guy named Hattori)
   
6. 8" Wusthoff Global chefs knife. Can do everything from smashing garlic to trussing a chicken or breaking down beef ribs--it's a total tank. My dead-cold-hands knife. I think I bought this in my sophomore year, has to go for professional sharpening every couple of years, though.
7. Wusthoff paring knife. Bought it because everyone tells you you need a paring knife and because it was on sale for like $10. I found out that I can do most paring jobs three times faster with the 8" and ten times faster with the Petty, so I hardly ever use it.
8. El cheapo carbon steel French paring knife from Crate and Barrel, for opening letters, cutting tin foil off wine bottles, packages, duct tape. $5 or so.