On my birthday, in late December, I was presented by the lovely Hilary something I had been drooling over for months and months.
Shun knives. And not the ‘Classic’ series; I got given the ‘Elite’ series. I had given up trying to get these, no one in New Zealand sells them, and I couldn’t even find an Australian outlet. Amazon sell them, but they don’t ship these overseas, and they are extremely expensive with the current exchange rate.
So I was trying to convince myself that I didn’t need these, and that perhaps Globals would be adequate.
Anyhoo, on my birthday, wrapped in yellow paper and a ribbon, I got the surprise of my life. The four knives that I wanted in particular were all sitting in their boxes.
I now have:
- A 3 1/2 inch paring knife
- A 7 inch Santoku knife (my favourite – Amazon sell the ‘Classic’ version and it gets rave reviews)
- An 8 inch chef’s knife
- and an 6 inch utility knife (diabolically sharp).
4 awesome knives
These knives area a joy to use, and absolutely beautiful to look at. Wooden Pakkawood handles, with a brass insignia inlaid into them, with a brass ring at the hilt.
In one swoop, I went from using crappy Briscoes knives which were blunt as… something blunt, to using some of the best knives in the world, and I’m pretty sure there’s no other Shun Elites in the country. If you go into King of Knives or House of Knives, you can see the Classics (they’ll be in a glass cabinet, out of reach by the unwashed masses), but they will have to import the Elites for you -at great cost.
On Christmas, I also got given a large bamboo chopping board, which I understand is the preferred chopping surface for high quality knives.
We have decided to do an alphabet challenge. Cook a meal starting with the letters A-Z. This should give me a good opportunity to chop and slice my way through the year.