Does the knife your chef uses seem to have been through a struggle with a loaf of lost crusty bread? Many throw their blades away when all they need is a touch-up. Imagine a knife that cuts vegetables more smoothly than a hot knife over butter. That is the enchantment of a knife with perfect sharpness.
One for the pros is the dog’s supper chore of knife sharpening services. Though performing it perfectly is like aiming the dartboard blindfolded on the bullseye, you could find it really easy. Many avoid blade sharpening as the very thought sets their teeth on edge. Still, it’s never been easier—or more crucial—to re-edge those workhorses in the kitchen since professional services abound more often than daisies in spring.
Think back to Granny’s stories of sharpening her blades with river stones. The procedure nowadays resembles armed alchemy more or less. These astute experts give your knife new life by combining old-school grit with technology more sophisticated than a porcupine’s quills. Experts hang onto their well-guarded secrets that previously felt like sifting for undetectable fingerprints among the clamor of technologies offering razor-steel edges.
Bonds created with these instruments are holy. A reliable knife might be the best friend of a home cook, a silent friend throughout many evenings. Even the best friends, though, need some sprucing-up. Would you let your car run empty-tipped? No, so why would you expect your blade to stay in immaculate condition without some care? For the Big Kahuna of culinary mastery, the cost is little.
You’ll find that turning in your dull blades may feel as freeing as throwing off a terrible haircut. That is the daily meal, people. Blades polished perfectly, slices neatly, and dinners divine.
He followed the advice of a well-worn cook: Let the knife speak; preserve the edge. Whether you’re cutting onions—or fancying yourself as a samurai chef—searching out sharpening artists might have you asking why you didn’t do it sooner. The comfort is obvious; the happiness is incomprehensible. Think about this: is it time to pay tribute to the steel that supports many feasts?