I have a knife block on my counter armed with a sharp, ever-ready arsenal of knives for almost all kitchen purposes. There's a nice, long bread knife, several fancy Japanese knives, a terrific 3-inch paring knife I bought in 1983 at Columbus Cutlery in San Francisco that I lost my first week at Chez Panisse and found it ten years later sitting in a silverware bin, a jumbo Martin Yan Chinese cleaver, and a flexible boning knife, which we used to simply call a 'boner' in the restaurant.
(Which we did simply because in our juvenile fashion, we got a kick out of asking our fellow cooks, "Can I use your boner?")
But the one knife I reach for 97% of the time in my 4½-inch Wüsthof serrated knife. I bought mine at a cookware shop in Ohio that I was teaching at. And when I saw them at Zabar's in New York last week for only $7.99, I started thinking what a fabulous little knife this baby is and how dependent I am on mine.
Dirt cheap, I've had my handy little knife for about six years and it's still as sharp as the day I bought it. (Actually, it seems to get sharper and sharper. Either that, or my other knives are getting duller and duller.) I use mine for everything: slicing crusty baguettes, tomatoes, perfectly-diced beets, cutting up fruit, and a gazillion other things. It does every job with the greatest of ease and its small size also makes it fabulous for space-challenged cooks.
For the money, it simply can't be beat. You can find them online for $11.99, but you can generally pick one up at a good price at your local cookware store.
the last two times we've been in Paris, we've made a point of popping into Dehellerin's to pick out a knife for us and one for a gift for our chef daughter. We manage fairly well in French, but had to use some English to ask what the French equivalent was for a boning knife. One of the fellows there doubles as comedian as he hustles through the crazily crowded shelves, and he answered our question with a "mais oui, un knife de boning"! and then started giggling madly, setting us off as well.
We also got a serrated knife there, a longer blade than the one you describe -- I'm really surprised how much we use it, probably more than any other knife in the block.
And I thought I was weird for using and loving this knife so much. I can't imagine tomato season without it, but, like you, I use it for a multitude of other things.
materfmilias: Ever since the guys at Dehillerin went on commission, going in there is kinda intense. Talk about pressure tactics! A good tip is to get there early when most of the salesmen haven't shown up for work yet—it's far calmer.
But after lunch is dicey as well: Last time I went in there, the guy who helped me reeked of booze and could barely stand up!
Needless to say, I didn't ask him for any help with the knives...
Casey: These are the best knives for tomatoes ever, aren't they? Such a deal!
My other love (and another deal) are these little Quikcut paring knives, which sell for just $1.50, which you can find in supermarkets and other places. I brought a handful to Paris with me.
Funny how those Wusthof knives show up everywhere. I found a few sets with that same knife in my local Marshalls store when we were living in NJ a few years back. Yes, it is a great knife. It even slices your fingers when you least expect it--proving just how very sharp it stays when it gets thrown around with other knives in drawers and packing boxes.
I have a serrated knife that I stole about 20 years ago from a tiny restaurant called Au Petit Poucet in the Laurentian Mountains in Quebec, and I remember sticking it into my purse, as big as it was....i am soo baaad, but that knife is still solid as ever
Natalie:
Be careful! A friend of mine who's a cook put a knife in her new Prada bag. Not only did she cut herself when she reached in, it also poked a hole in her pricey new bag.
Guess which upset her more?
My favourite knife right now is one of my MAC knives, I swear it looks like a miniature sword ... when I first saw it I said to the salesguy "What the heck do you use that for", he came back with a quick, "Pretty much whatever you want".
Just got back from my trip to Paris last week and I have to say I was sad to leave. It began on a great note when the hotel put a little box of Laduree macaroons on my pillow, and turned into an all out eating frenzy. I miss the street markets already, oh and A l'Etoile d'Or, and the Hermes store off the Champs Elysee ... actually this list could pretty much go on forever. :/
I had to laugh when I saw this post -- a little more than a year ago, I picked up this exact same knife for about $6 at one of those gigantic summer Broadway Panhandler sales here in NYC. Since then, it's been my one truly indispensable kitchen companion -- sadly, I love it far more than the big-ticket Santoku that we received as a wedding gift a few months ago.
Julie:
It's funny, we all have all this fancy equipment, but it's some cheap knife that we fall in love with.
I have a dinged up, scratched and dented roasting pan that I refuse to throw away, even though my huge, gorgeous All-Clad roaster is one heckuva magnificent specimen.
David, that is my favorite cookware shop! I love it, it's so much cheaper than Williams Sonoma and Sur la Table...and fulllllll....Let me know when you come back to my neck of the woods!
I work almost exclusively with a cleaver, but could use a better small knife. Thanks for the tip!
A boner, eh?
Nice knife, nice cooking.
I also have a cheap serrated knife that I reach for routinely, despite the Sabatier knives in the knifeblock., And for tomatoes and cheese you just gotta have a serrated knife...
I tried finding your favorite knife (4.5" Wustoff serrated) online at Zabar's and they don't show it. Then I looked at your other link, Amazon.com, and it shows as currently (and indefinitely) unavailable. Can you recommend where else I can look? Williams-Sonoma does not carry it. I live in Northern California.
Hi Maria: You might want to try your local Sur La Table or give Zabar's a call. Follow the link in the post for 'cooking school', which leads to where I got mine when I was in the states; but they do mail order too.
It's official name is the Wusthof Silverpoint 4100, which you can Google as well. Good luck!
This is a great recommendation! Any others for good knives?
Hi Max:
One of my favorite Bread knives is made by Victornox (who makes Swiss Army Knives). This one is a great deal and I've had one for over 20 years that's still razor-sharp.
They also make one with a Fibrox handle which costs a bit less but I've never used it, so I'm sticking with what I know.
As for other knifes, I think a 3" or 6" paring knife and 8-12" Chef's knife should take care of most other needs. I'd buy a heavy-duty one of each category since they take more wear-and-tear than the serrated knives. Whichever in each range feels best and most comfortable in your hands.
Most people don't need a zillion knives; just a few very good ones should do it for most uses.
Here's a few I recommend:
6-inch
3-inch
Chef's Knife
(And you can find more of my recommendations here.)
At last! Somebody who agrees with me about knives.
I bought MY favorite knife (unbranded) which is exactly like the one in your photo, although red, at Sur La Table in a bin with many others. I bought 3 of them, gave one to my son and daughter-out-law and kept the other in reserve. I lost the reserve on a camping trip. It is now their favorite knife. This one was under $5. It's perfect for almost everything. My other Wustoff knives, those that cost hundreds, sit in the drawer making cutting remarks (get it?) about the little red knife.
Hmmm, maybe I could compose a hit song ala Jan and Dean: My Little Deuce Knife...She's my little deuce knife, you don't know what I got.
At last! Somebody who agrees with me about knives.
I bought MY favorite knife (unbranded) which is exactly like the one in your photo, although red, at Sur La Table in a bin with many others. I bought 3 of them, gave one to my son and daughter-out-law and kept the other in reserve. I lost the reserve on a camping trip. It is now their favorite knife. This one was under $5. It's perfect for almost everything. My other Wustoff knives, those that cost hundreds, sit in the drawer making cutting remarks (get it?) about the little red knife.
Hmmm, maybe I could compose a hit song ala Jan and Dean: My Little Deuce Knife...She's my little deuce knife, you don't know what I got.